The Treeline
The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth
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4.8 • 9 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
Winner of the 2023 Helen Bernstein Book Award for Excellence in Journalism
"Original and readable." ―Financial Times' Best Environmental Books of 2022
"Superb, inspiring." ―Winner, National Academies of Science Schmidt Awards for Excellence in Science Communications
“Illuminating.” —Silver Medalist, National Outdoor Book Awards
Longlisted for the American Library Association's 2023 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction
Finalist, 2023 Banff Mountain Book Competition
Finalist, 2023 Dayton Literary Peace Prize
In the tradition of Elizabeth Kolbert and Barry Lopez, a powerful, poetic and deeply absorbing account of the “lung” at the top of the world.
For the last fifty years, the trees of the boreal forest have been moving north. Ben Rawlence's The Treeline takes us along this critical frontier of our warming planet from Norway to Siberia, Alaska to Greenland, Canada to Sweden to meet the scientists, residents and trees confronting huge geological changes. Only the hardest species survive at these latitudes including the ice-loving Dahurian larch of Siberia, the antiseptic Spruce that purifies our atmosphere, the Downy birch conquering Scandinavia, the healing Balsam poplar that Native Americans use as a cure-all and the noble Scots Pine that lives longer when surrounded by its family.
It is a journey of wonder and awe at the incredible creativity and resilience of these species and the mysterious workings of the forest upon which we rely for the air we breathe. Blending reportage with the latest science, The Treeline is a story of what might soon be the last forest left and what that means for the future of all life on earth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Rawlence (City of Thorns), founder of Black Mountains College, in Wales, explores the boreal forests along Earth's shifting treeline in this eloquent account. Because of climate change, trees are migrating north, though "they shouldn't be," Rawlence writes, and to find out more about why, he travels across Canada, Siberia, Norway, Greenland, and Alaska to speak with ecologists and naturalists. He visits Sami reindeer herders in Norway who want the government to stop birch trees from encroaching on the tundra, because they disturb the lichen that reindeer feed on; treks over sea ice on Russia's Taimyr Peninsula to meet with Nganasan families who call a "cryolithic larch forest" home; and describes in exquisite detail some of the world's hardiest trees—Alaska's spruce, Canada's balsam poplar, Siberia's larch, Norway's downy birch, and Greenland's mountain ash, which "disconnected from other populations... kept its own time, evolving to suit its new habitat." Rawlence's research leads him to conclude that change is inevitable, and every person—and every tree—must adapt to survive. His awe at the beauty and power of trees is moving: "Ancient trees are a source of wonder." he writes. Nature lovers and travelers alike will find this a lovely paean to a rapidly changing landscape.
Customer Reviews
The Treeline
The most authentic window into what we are heading for.
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