Tried reading this one and it just was not meant for me. This does not mean that it is not a good book, I just was not in the right place to be reading it and have decided to not try picking it up anytime in the near future.

This was a very important read. I dipped n and out of it. I didn't read it all as found it quite heavy but it is necessary.

This is a brilliant way to read more on the climate emergency from a magazine archive that I wouldn't normally have access too. The introduction was fascinating too and really led well into the essays. I am still reading through due to the length and wonder if this would be a chunky HB. Look forward to seeing - and buying - a nice chunky PB edition if one comes out. It is a book that I will spend time absorbing plus checking out who all the authors are.

The globe is warming up. Many European countries are suffering floods and the damage that comes with them. Global warming is starting to affect our lives, and it’s only just begun. So, it is an apt time to finish reading this book.

Fragile Earth is a collection of essays extracted from the pages of The New Yorker Magazine. It contains work from well-known authors, such as Jonathan Franzen and Elizabeth Kolbert, alongside lesser-known New Yorker writers. It includes the topics of; melting of the ice caps, extinction of animal species, global warming, and climate Justice.

Some essays are better than others. However, it is an interesting collection and well worth a read.

As compelling and au courant as it is dense and didactic, The Fragile Earth collects the fruits and traces the footprints of recent decades' crop of eco-journalism to exhibit some of the finest contributions to this evolving tradition in the fourth estate. All-encompassing and ahead of its time, this crucial anthology of formative essays and forward-thinking articles is an essential companion for anyone eager to educate themselves or expand their awareness and the extent of their acquaintance with these critical topics.

I really liked this collection of essays. I loved the variety of authors, subjects and approaches to the climate crisis. I’m still thinking about so much that I read in this collection. However, I read a lot of climate non fiction so there wasn’t much in this that was new and I think there are more digestible formats for this information for those that are new to the topic. I’m not totally sure who this book is aimed at!

On one hand this is great reporting. On the other hand, my grandmother described the new yorker as hard boiled and I swear that applies here.

BOOK REVIEW: This Fragile Earth by David Remnick and Henry Finder

3.5 stars

This was a really interesting book filled with over 20 articles from The New Yorker about climate change and related issues. I have worked for a climate change charity and keep up with news surrounding this area so I was interested to see how much I would find new and interesting.

This is a long book! At 560 pages, I found that the 20+ articles were a few too many and that there was a lot of repetition. I felt some articles could have been left out and that it would have been a better book.
The Fragile Earth covers many different areas related to climate change including the science and history of climate change, effects on oceanic creatures, acidification of oceans and coral reefs, melting of ice caps, mass extinctions, carbon neutral power, carbon footprints and the horrendous effects of the meat industry. There are a lot of case studies and each article has it's own focus.
I really enjoyed reading about half of the articles and the rest I found rather monotonous and not needed. I personally didn't learn a great deal but still found the content to be interesting and useful to know.
Some articles were written in a more approachable manner than others which makes a huge difference especially when some readers may not be that knowledgeable about climate change.
I am unsure who the target market is for this book as I don't think those that know nothing about climate change should read this book as there are much better and more succinct books out there. For those that are already knowledgeable, there wasn't a huge amount of new information as all of the article was written over a decade ago.

Please note that I was gifted this ebook in exchange for an honest review .

In a way, it's hard to put my thoughts about this book into words. I don't think I can do better than what the publisher has already said: this collection of essays is urgent. So very, very urgent.

I've never read The New Yorker beyond the odd online article or two. So what an excellent idea this book is - to reach new audiences. I'd heard of writers/journalists like Bill McKibben, but to my shame, I'd never actually read his work. Now, while I may be the choir this book is preaching to, I still learned many new things; and I saw familiar things through new lenses.

The book is actually a little hard-going at the beginning, and I think that's because the first two essays (by Bill McKibben and Elizabeth Kolbert) aren't particularly "grounded" - they don't focus on any particular events or places. That isn't to say they aren't powerful, and eloquently, passionately written. Yet I really hit my reading stride when the essays took me to far-away lands: a glacier in India, Inuits in Alaska, solar-power users in Tanzania, fire managers in California. Each of these essays captivated me. Many terrified me. In fact, this book has probably sealed my decision not to have a child. The thought of bringing a new person into this almost-certainly doomed world (as we know it) is unbearable.

There is little comfort to be found in this book. If you're looking for cherry-picked optimism, try something like Gaia Vince's 'Adventures in the Anthropocene'. Reading 'The Fragile Earth', meanwhile, felt like bearing witness.

(With thanks to William Collins and NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review)