Environmental science, engineering and technology Books

‘Fascinating’ Greta Thunberg‘Extraordinary’ Merlin Sheldrake‘A must-read’ New Scientist‘Enthralling’ George Monbiot‘Brilliant’ Philip Hoare Wildlife filmmaker Tom Mustill had always liked whales. But when one breached onto his kayak, nearly killing him,...

The impacts of climate change keep getting worse, but the typical framing of the problem and the solutions so far being pursued are seriously insufficient. As a result, the steps we're taking to build a clean energy economy and move beyond fossil fuels...

In the face of escalating water scarcity, effective water management has become a central concern globally. The MurrayDarling Basin, spanning over a million square kilometres across four states and one territory, is a lifeline for Australian agriculture...

For nearly 200 years the visions and aspirations of the people of Australia's west have been characterised by an unquenchable thirst. Ruth Morgan uncovers the fear of running out of water - a fear that has long gripped the region's inhabitants and loomed...

Algal blooms have the potential to wipe out fish farms virtually overnight. Contamination of seafoods with algal toxins can poison human consumers of fish and shellfish. During the past two decades, globally there have been significant increases in...

Many informal organisations around the world are making a positive impact on the environment and their communities by turning waste into a resource, increasing the social capacity of their community and reducing the amount of pollution in their...

Australia's coral reefs stretch far and wide, covering 50 000 square kilometres from the Indian Ocean in the West to the Pacific Ocean in the East. They have been viewed as a bedrock of coastal livelihoods, as uncharted and perilous nautical...

We are currently facing significant challenges in environmental management that must be addressed to maintain the health of our planet and our population. While carbon offsetting in its various forms is widespread globally, few countries have fully...

Freshwater scarcity is a critical challenge, with social, economic, political and environmental consequences. Water crises in Australia have already led to severe restrictions being applied in cities, drought ravaging farmlands, and the near-terminal...

Long-term monitoring programs are fundamental to understanding the natural environment and managing major environmental problems. Yet they are often done very poorly and ineffectively. This second edition of the highly acclaimed volume Effective...

The perfect journal for the sustainably minded, Eco combines the classic, sophisticated Grids & Guides format with a fresh, green–themed design. Featuring 160 pages of post-consumer recycled graph paper in a variety of designs, the eight infographics...

Plastic pollution has been headline news since David Attenborough's shocking Blue Planet II in 2017. But plastics are only part of the story, and the invisible world of chemical pollutants – in the soil, the air, our water systems and our own bodies – is...

Delving deep into the Australian landscape and the environmental challenges we face, Fire Country is a powerful account from Indigenous land management expert Victor Steffensen on how the revival of cultural burning practices, and improved 'reading' of...

United Nations Champion of the Earth, climate scientist, and evangelical Christian Katharine Hayhoe changes the debate on how we can save our future in this nationally bestselling “optimistic view on why collective action is still possible—and how it can...

Can flying be green?Everyone loves to travel, and the industry's room for growth seems almost limitless - except that flying will soon be responsible for 19 percent of global emissions. Some people have even decided never to fly. Over the coming decades,...

The science is conclusive: to avoid irreversible climate collapse, the burning of all fossil fuels will have to end in the next decade. In this concise and highly readable intervention, Ashley Dawson sets out what is required to make this momentous...

A synthesis of more than three decades of interdisciplinary research and practice, Agroecology and Regenerative Agriculture: An Evidence-based Guide to Sustainable Solutions for Hunger, Poverty, and Climate Change, provides evidence-based solutions to...

In this edition of their bestseller, the sequel to the best-selling Good News for a Change, authors David Suzuki and Holly Dressel provide the latest inspiring stories about individuals, groups, and businesses that are making real change in the world...

A comprehensive training resource for producing electric power from the sun. Producing electricity from the sun using photovoltaic (PV) systems has become a major industry worldwide. But designing, installing and maintaining such systems requires...

Following Russia's aggressive war in Ukraine, the world is suddenly gripped by concerns over energy security. And yet, there is an even greater threat ahead - one that is even more likely to shape the events of the 21st century than the competition for...

Set in Charlotte Bay, a masculine town with a feminine name, the 50,000-word novella unfolds in the week before the local Aussie Rules grand final, where Lucas Walker is expected to lead the Hawks to victory. After a beach party, Lucas's...

Earth Is a Nuclear Planet is a book on nuclear energy unlike any other. It makes the reader feel like a genius by clearly explaining all the relevant basic science in a fun and entertaining way.Faced by the looming catastrophe of devastating climate...

Closer to the North Pole than to the Arctic Circle, on an island in a remote Norwegian archipelago, lies a vast global seed bank buried within a frozen mountain. At the end of a 130-meter long tunnel chiseled out of solid stone is a room filled with...

The media often portrays our climate future as a choice between bleak and bleaker, which may seem justified given the many impacts of global warming that we are already seeing. But it doesn' t have to be that way, because if we understand the science...

A global account of the grassroots environmental movements on the frontlines of the climate crisis.Environmentalism from Below takes readers inside the popular struggles for environmental liberation in the Global South. These communities - among the most...

A decade to save the planet.That's the current call to arms. Targets are set, governments vow to do their bit and on a societal level we are encouraged to do ours by choosing to forego all things plastic. The question is whether this is the...

The seaweed revolution is a fresh hope for tomorrow.Seaweed develops in water everywhere, from the eternal glaciers to lagoons heated by the sun, from seas saturated with salt to the fresh water of our rivers. Yet we only know how to cultivate a few...

It is rare for life to change Earth, yet three organisms have profoundly transformed our planet over the long course of its history. Elemental reveals how microbes, plants, and people used the fundamental building blocks of life to alter the climate, and...

This book documents the intersection of architecture and design with ecology, environmental history, policy, governance and law from the 19th century to today. It presents conflicting definitions and concepts of architects and designers and the parallel...

This is the essential guide to the plants suited to our changing climate of warmer, drier summers, written by Kew expert Tony Hall.With over 20 years' experience of working with drought-friendly and Mediterranean plants, Tony profiles more than 200 plant...

A global energy revolution is unfolding before our eyes: ever-growing numbers of electric vehicles on our roads, laptops that last all day on a single charge and solar panels on our roofs, all reliant on lithium-ion batteries. This revolution is...

Finalist for the Wilfrid Eggleston Award for Nonfiction Alberta Literary AwardsAn in-depth look at the people and the science behind our attempts to pull carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere with direct air capture.Drawing on interviews with stakeholders...

Come along on an informative, whirlwind tour of urban species - from intelligent crows to backyard lichens - and discover that you are surrounded by wild nature, even in your own backyard.When biologist Hanna Bjrgaas spots a fairy cup lichen in...

'Meet the forensic scientists of climate change; if you like CSI, you'll be equally enthralled with the skill and speed these folks exhibit. But the stakes are infinitely higher!' - Bill McKibben, author of Falter and The End...

*Winner of the Australian Book Design Award 2021: Best Designed Autobiography/Biography/Memoir Nonfiction Cover*'I'm going plastic free next month, who wants to join me?'When Rebecca Prince-Ruiz asked her colleagues this...

*Winner of the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Australian History 2017**Winner of the CHASS Australia Book Prize 2017*In September 2016 it will be 60 years since the first British mushroom cloud rose above the plain at Maralinga in South Australia...

WINNER of the 2022 Oregon Book Award for Creative Nonfiction! WINNER of the 2022 CLMP Firecracker Award in Creative Nonfiction! "Plastic is powerful and moving, a deep, personal exploration of the modern world."-Richard Rhodes, Pulitzer Prize recipient...

An energising case for hope about the climate, from Rebecca Solnit ("the voice of the resistance" - New York Times), climate activist Thelma Young Lutunatabua, and a chorus of voices calling on us to rise to the moment.Not Too Late brings strong climate...

Climate change is threatening our world. How are you responding? Heat waves, flooding, extreme storms, harsh winters. The effects of climate change are only getting worse. How can you ensure your organisation is taking the right steps to...

*Shortlisted for Australian Book Design Awards 2021: Best Designed Autobiography/Biography/Memoir Nonfiction Cover* Like many people, Beth Terry didn't think an individual could have much impact on the environment. But while laid up after...

Climate change has been a perplexing problem for years.In Dark Winter, author John L. Casey, a former White House national space policy advisor, NASA headquarters consultant, and space shuttle engineer tells the truth about ominous changes taking place...

We've always lived on a dangerous planet, but its disasters aren't what they used to be. How the World Breaks gives us a breathtaking new view of crisis and recovery on the unstable landscapes of the Earth's hazard zones. Father and son...

Informative, entertaining, lucid, forceful, frequently witty . . . never dull . . . should be read and remembered for a long time."-New York Times Book Review "The authors argue persuasively that biological explanations for why we act as we do are based...

An unparalleled how-to guide to citizen-sensing practices that monitor air pollutionModern environments are awash with pollutants churning through the air, from toxic gases and intensifying carbon to carcinogenic particles and novel viruses. The effects...

Presents thirty novel terms that do not yet exist in English to envision ways of responding to the environmental challenges of our generation As the scale and gravity of climate change becomes undeniable, a cultural revolution must ultimately match...

A David and Goliath battle for truthA specialist in GM foods and pesticides, the biologist Gilles-ric Seralini has studied their toxicity and effects on people's health for many years. In September 2012, for the first time in a major scientific journal...

Easy and Effective Strategies to Jumpstart a Sustainable, Waste-Free LifestyleWe have a worldwide trash epidemic. The average American disposes of 4.4 pounds of garbage per day, and our landfills hold 254 million tons of waste.What if there were a...

During recent years, environmental debate worldwide has been dominated by climate change, carbon emissions and eff orts to achieve low carbon economies. But a number of academic, technical, political, business and NGO initiatives indicate that there is a...