Breakpoint

An insightful look at the American environmental crisis and emerging solutions from the heartland to the coasts in the era of global climate change

Eminent ecologist Jeremy B. C. Jackson and award-winning journalist Steve Chapple traveled the length of the Mississippi River interviewing farmers, fishermen, scientists, and policymakers to better understand the mounting environmental problems ravaging the United States. Along their journey, which quickly expands to California, Florida, and New York, the pair uncovered surprising and profound connections between ecological systems and environmental crises across the country. Artfully weaving together independent research and engaging storytelling, Jackson and Chapple examine the looming threats from recent hurricanes and fires, industrial agriculture, river mismanagement, extreme weather events, drought, and rising sea levels that are pushing the country toward the breaking point of ecological and economic collapse.
 
Yet, despite these challenges, the authors provide optimistic and practical solutions for addressing these multidimensional issues to achieve greater environmental stability, human well‑being, and future economic prosperity. With a passionate call to action, they look hopefully toward emerging and achievable solutions to preserve the country’s future.

“Moving, poignant, and timely, Breakpoint is both a stark reminder of the urgent environmental challenges facing the planet and a hopeful call to action to those in power. This is boots-on-the-ground science at its finest."—Leonardo DiCaprio

"Jeremy Jackson and Steve Chapple travel from Iowa to Louisiana to investigate the connections among some of America's greatest environmental problems—climate change, ocean "dead zones," wetland destruction, and groundwater contamination. The result is at once thought-provoking, informative, and, ultimately, hopeful."—Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History

“Breakpoint is a stunning book of ecological anthropology from consummate storytellers. The human narratives they bring to light allow us to understand and appreciate how America farmed, drilled, degraded, and overheated the land of the free and the home of the brave. It is fair, compelling, and heartbreaking, as good as anything written by Margaret Mead or Claude Levi Strauss."—Paul Hawken, author of Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming

“Breakpoint contains important data for today’s policy-makers. Those who have heard Jeremy Jackson discuss his research at the Naval War College will understand the need to adapt quickly to the multitude of conditions changing all around us. Those who use the science to adapt will be the winners.”—Vice Admiral, USN (ret) James P. Wisecup, former director, CNO Strategic Studies Group

“In a firsthand tour de force, the Jackson and Chapple tag team reveals how America’s environmental challenges and solutions are deeply enmeshed with our daily lives. Breakpoint transforms required reading into a page turner.”—Thomas E. Lovejoy, George Mason University

A conversation with Jeremy B. C. Jackson and Steve Chapple:

Why did you write a book about going on the road to interview people, not one that focused mainly on what science has revealed about the state of the environment?
 
What’s more American than a road trip? On this road trip, readers begin to learn something about the truth of the future we face. Science gets to the root causes of environmental degradation, and good science points the way to commonsense solutions. But the language can be dry.  We wanted to make science come alive with stories of real Americans adapting to climate change, sea level rise, and the threats to our major cities and our valuable agricultural heartland. Americans are smart and resilient, so the science of what’s really going on will increasingly be understood and embraced. Change is upon us, and smart science informs us all.
 
How did you decide on sea level rise and agriculture as your principal topics?
 
Sea level rise is real, dangerous, and hard to deny. Over the years and decades—and now—the consequences of sea level rise and storm surge for this country and the world are dire, and must be faced soberly. As for agriculture, climate change will cause a major reshuffling in America.  Some states will be winners, others losers, but all will need to adapt. Those regions that understand what is going on and utilize the available science will prosper.

 
What do you hope readers will absorb as your take-away message?
 
There are measurable, practical solutions that focus on accountability and are good for business and economic growth as well as human well-being. We hope this book will move us away from academic preaching to common sense and action; we need to abandon ideology and look at the bottom line, and at who will be hurt and why, and protect accordingly.