Protecting the Planet

September 12, 2016
In this lengthy father-daughter collaboration, wildlife biologist Titlow (Bird Brains) and environmental management specialist Tinger discuss climate change in the context of environmental movement history. The book’s early sections explain how greenhouse gases in the earth’s atmosphere, and carbon dioxide in particular, “trap solar radiation from the sun and form a blanket of insulating warmth around the planet.” Audiences may get turned off by the gritty details of compounds and percentages, but subsequent chapters read more easily. Highlighting key players in the conservation movement, Titlow and Tinger provide a broad survey of notable figures, including ornithologist John James Audubon, landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, photographer Ansel Adams, environmentalist Rachel Carson, and biologist E.O. Wilson. The authors also chronicle major events in American environmental history, such as the Dust Bowl of the 1930s and Superstorm Sandy in 2013. Winding down their comprehensive narrative with ways in which “the climate change war can be won,” the authors cite potential solutions such as divestment from “companies that are funding denial and polluting our health” and the elimination of federal subsidies to fossil fuel companies. Titlow and Tinger maintain optimism in spite of a litany of frequent disasters.