According to the United Nations website, climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns. Sometimes these shifts are naturally occurring, but over the last 200 years humans are responsible for virtually all global warming. Why? Mainly due to the increase in greenhouse gases from fossil fuels. Global warming is a problem because the Earth is a system, and changes in one part of the system cause a ripple effect. So, raising the temperature of the Earth by one degree can lead to (among other problems) droughts, water scarcity, fires, and decreased biodiversity.
Earth Day is on April 22 this year, and the theme for this year is Our Power, Our Planet - encouraging everyone worldwide to unite behind renewable energy and expand the generation of clean electricity. You can visit the Earth Day website and find ways to get involved, or you can do something as simple as planting trees or plants in your garden. Or taking a walk around your neighborhood and picking up trash. Or committing to not using your car for one day.
Climate change is not a new topic, but the amount of research and recommendations in this field have grown exponentially in the past few years. Here is a list of recent books about climate change, global warming, and renewable energy.
Adults
- Dark Laboratory: On Columbus, the Caribbean, and the Origins of the Climate Crisis by Tao Leigh Goffe (2025)
- The Lost Trees of Willow Avenue: A Story of Climate and Hope on One American Street by Mike Tidwell (2025)
- The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power our Lives by Ernest Scheyder (2024)
- Gaia’s Web: How Digital Environmentalism Can Combat Climate Change, Restore Biodiversity, Cultivate Empathy, and Regenerate the Earth by Karen J. Bakker (2024)
- On the Move: The Overheating Earth and the Uprooting of America by Abrahm Lustgarten (2024)
- Power Metal: The Race for the Resource that will Shape the Future by Vince Beiser (2024)
- Charged: A History of Batteries and Lessons for a Clean Energy Future by James Morton Turner (2022)
Kids/Teens
- YA - How Can I Help?: What Individuals Can Do about Climate Change by Stuart A. Callen (2025)
- YA - How to Manage your Eco-Anxiety: An Empowering Guide for Young People by Anouchka Grose (2024)
- J - How to Explain Climate Science to a Grown-Up by Ruth Spiro (2025)
- J - Climate is Just the Start by Mikaela Loach (2025)
- J - Loop de Loop: Circular Solutions for a Waste-Free World by Andrea Curtis (2024)
- E - Change is in the Air: Carbon, Climate, Earth and Us by Debbie Levy (2024)
New at the Library
Fiction
- The World’s Fair Quilt: A Novel by Jennifer Chiaverini
- Vera Wong’s Guide to Snooping (on a Dead Man) by Jesse Q. Sutanto
- Kills Well with Others by Deanna Raybourn
Nonfiction
- Free: My Search for Meaning by Amanda Knox
- Resolute: How we Humans Keep Finding Ways to Beat the Toughest Odds by Benjamin Hall
- Conflict Resilience: Negotiating Disagreement without Giving Up or Giving In by Robert C. Bordone
Picture Books
- The Little Cloud by Pam Fong
- Everybelly by Thao Lam
- I Wish I Had a Dragon with Marshmallows by Diane Alber
