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About Andrew Revkin
He has written on global environmental change and risk for more than 30 years, reporting from the North Pole to the White House, the Amazon rain forest to the Vatican - mostly for The New York Times. From 2016 through early 2018, he was the senior reporter for climate change at the nonprofit investigative newsroom ProPublica. From 2010 through 2016 he wrote his award-winning Dot Earth blog for The Times's Opinion section and was the Senior Fellow for Environmental Understanding at Pace University. There, he developed and taught a graduate course called "Blogging a Better Planet" and co-created an award-winning field course on environmental filmmaking.
Through that span he was also a member of the Anthropocene Working Group, which has assessed evidence that humans are creating a new geological epoch. An essay on this work is here: http://j.mp/revkinanthropocene
Revkin has written acclaimed books on humanity's evolving relationship with the elements, global warming, the changing Arctic and the fight for the Amazon rain forest, as well as three book chapters on science communication. He has won most of the top awards in science journalism, a Guggenheim Fellowship, Columbia University's John Chancellor Award for sustained journalistic excellence and an Investigative Reporters & Editors Award.
His writing has twice been the basis for films: "The Burning Season" (HBO, 1994) and "Rock Star" (Warner Brothers, 2001). In spare moments, he's a performing songwriter and leader of a roots band, Breakneck Ridge.
Longer bio: http://j.mp/revkincv Music: http://j.mp.revkinmusic Talks: http://j.mp/revkintalks
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Blog postBy Bill Revkin (written in 2018; published here by his son Andy)
Boating Magazine advertisement, 1961 I am truly an old salt now, in my 90s, and that allows me to reflect on a remarkable span of activities on and around the sea, both cruising and racing in pleasure boats and stints in the Merchant Marine and boatbuilding and marine industries around Rhode Island.
There are stories of all kinds to tell, from boring — like standing watch in the oven-like engine rooms of 13 days ago Read more -
Blog postThrough this pandemic time, I’ve hosted more than 150 episodes of Sustain What, my webcast from Columbia’s Earth Institute exploring constructive paths when complexity and consequence collide. Few segments have been as bracing and, yes, fun as this one with the Anthropocene-focused writers Elizabeth Kolbert and Annalee Newitz on their new books, Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future, and Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age.
I encourage you to save it for some2 months ago Read more -
Blog postFamily statement on the passing, at 79, of Rajendra Pachauri, who led the U.N.’s climate panel through triumphs and challengesRajendra K. Pachauri, right, with former U.S. Vice President Al Gore, celebrating the Nobel Peace Prize awarded to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and Gore in 2007. (Photo Hr2, Wikimedia Commons) I reported on the rise, triumphs, tribulations and troubles of Rajendra K. Pachauri, the longest-serving chairman of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Chang1 year ago Read more
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Blog postA parable about a fire-dousing bird in the Himalayas holds lessons for humans in this “Pyrocene” centurySlaty-headed parakeet, India, Francesco Veronesi, Wikimedia Commons A friend and Earth Institute colleague, Brighton Kaoma, posted a Buddhist parable on Facebook that prompted me to think about the firefighters and citizen volunteers who’ve spent months trying to protect communities, and species, threatened by the massive wildfires in Australia.
The Selfless Parrot
In a thick1 year ago Read more -
Blog postSeven years ago, my brain hinted to me that I might be having a stroke.
During a rare run in the woods with my super-fit elder son on a hot Fourth of July weekend in 2011, my brain — which I hardly ever think about — gave me a strong hint something was seriously wrong with the inputs it was receiving from my eyes.
My left eye was telling my brain the world was paisley. My right eye was, “meh.”
Thank you, brain.
If it hadn’t been for you, I would3 years ago Read more -
Blog postAfter nine years and 2,810 posts, a blog seeking a sustainable path for humans on a finite planet comes to an end.4 years ago Read more
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Blog postIntensifying Indian protests prompted the Obama administration to block a pipeline's path in North Dakota.4 years ago Read more
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Blog postIn the Sierra Nevada, California's main forest fire problem lies in not letting forests burn.4 years ago Read more
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Blog postA tribute after the death of a young and innovative field researcher who used a scat-sniffing dog to help figure out polar bears' changing diets.4 years ago Read more
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Blog postTED's new curator of science, David Biello, explains why he sees hints of hope in Earth's emerging Anthropocene "age of us."4 years ago Read more
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Blog postAfter the murder of Chico Mendes in 1988, a new brand of green governance developed on Brazil's rain forest frontier, but political instability poses fresh threats.4 years ago Read more
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Blog postAdvisors to President-elect Trump see little merit in NASA emphasizing "Earth-centric" science.4 years ago Read more
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Blog postDrones, mainly associated with missiles, are poised to deliver medicines in Madagascar.4 years ago Read more
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Blog postA web-sifting exercise that helps students of all ages figure out how facts or fakery flow online.4 years ago Read more
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Blog postAndy Revkin argues that a first step toward a successful human journey is a little positive self regard.4 years ago Read more
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Blog postA look at the worst-case environmental outcomes under a Trump White House and Republican Congress.4 years ago Read more
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Blog postAndy Revkin shifts from blogging and teaching back to long-form in-depth reporting, at ProPublica.4 years ago Read more
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Blog postExploring prospects for the environment, and challenges for environmentalists, in a Trump presidency.4 years ago Read more
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Blog postThe core issue in the Dakota Access Pipeline fight is Sioux rights, not oil.4 years ago Read more
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"In the rain forests of the western Amazon," writes author Andrew Revkin, "the threat of violent death hangs in the air like mist after a tropical rain. It is simply a part of the ecosystem, just like the scorpions and snakes cached in the leafy canopy that floats over the forest floor like a seamless green circus tent."
Violent death came to Chico Mendes in the Amazon rain forest on December 22, 1988. A labor and environmental activist, Mendes was gunned down by powerful ranchers for organizing resistance to the wholesale burning of the forest. He was a target because he had convinced the government to take back land ranchers had stolen at gunpoint or through graft and then to transform it into "extractive reserves," set aside for the sustainable production of rubber, nuts, and other goods harvested from the living forest.
This was not just a local land battle on a remote frontier. Mendes had invented a kind of reverse globalization, creating alliances between his grassroots campaign and the global environmental movement. Some 500 similar killings had gone unprosecuted, but this case would be different. Under international pressure, for the first time Brazilian officials were forced to seek, capture, and try not only an Amazon gunman but the person who ordered the killing.
In this reissue of the environmental classic The Burning Season, with a new introduction by the author, Andrew Revkin artfully interweaves the moving story of Mendes's struggle with the broader natural and human history of the world's largest tropical rain forest. "It became clear," writes Revkin, acclaimed science reporter for The New York Times, "that the murder was a microcosm of the larger crime: the unbridled destruction of the last great reservoir of biological diversity on Earth." In his life and untimely death, Mendes forever altered the course of development in the Amazon, and he has since become a model for environmental campaigners everywhere.
Is hydro-fracking safe? Is climate change real? Did the moon landing actually happen? How about evolution: fact or fiction? Author-illustrator Darryl Cunningham looks at these and other hot-button science topics and presents a fact-based, visual assessment of current thinking and research on eight different issues everybody’s arguing about. His lively storytelling approach incorporates comics, photographs, and diagrams to create substantive but easily accessible reportage. Cunningham’s distinctive illustrative style shows how information is manipulated by all sides; his easy-to-follow narratives allow readers to draw their own fact-based conclusions. A graphic milestone of investigative journalism!
“Cartoonist Darryl Cunningham . . . is a welcome voice, shedding some much needed light on the darker areas of science and culture. . . . Cunningham does a remarkable job with difficult material and for high school students, just opening their eyes to the world around them, this is a terrific primer.” —ComicMix
Andrew Revkin, strategic adviser for environmental and science journalism at the National Geographic Society and former senior climate reporter at ProPublica, presents an intriguing illustrated history of humanity’s evolving relationship with Earth’s dynamic climate system and the wondrous weather it generates.
Colorful and captivating, Weather: An Illustrated History hopscotches through 100 meteorological milestones and insights, from prehistory to today’s headlines and tomorrow’s forecasts. Bite-sized narratives, accompanied by exciting illustrations, touch on such varied topics as Earth's first atmosphere, the physics of rainbows, the deadliest hailstorm, Groundhog Day, the invention of air conditioning, London’s Great Smog, the Year Without Summer, our increasingly strong hurricanes, and the Paris Agreement on climate change. Written by a prominent and award-winning environmental author and journalist, this is a groundbreaking illustrated book that traces the evolution of weather forecasting and climate science.
Ben A. Minteer and Stephen J. Pyne bring together a stunning consortium of voices comprised of renowned scientists, historians, philosophers, environmental writers, activists, policy makers, and land managers to negotiate the incredible challenges that environmentalism faces. Some call for a new, post-preservationist model, one that is far more pragmatic, interventionist, and human-centered. Others push forcefully back, arguing for a more chastened and restrained vision of human action on the earth. Some try to establish a middle ground, while others ruminate more deeply on the meaning and value of wilderness. Some write on species lost, others on species saved, and yet others discuss the enduring practical challenges of managing our land, water, and air.
From spirited optimism to careful prudence to critical skepticism, the resulting range of approaches offers an inspiring contribution to the landscape of modern environmentalism, one driven by serious, sustained engagements with the critical problems we must solve if we—and the wild garden we may now keep—are going to survive the era we have ushered in.
Contributors include: Chelsea K. Batavia, F. Stuart (Terry) Chapin III, Norman L. Christensen, Jamie Rappaport Clark, William Wallace Covington, Erle C. Ellis, Mark Fiege, Dave Foreman, Harry W. Greene, Emma Marris, Michelle Marvier, Bill McKibben, J. R. McNeill, Curt Meine, Ben A. Minteer, Michael Paul Nelson, Bryan Norton, Stephen J. Pyne, Andrew C. Revkin, Holmes Rolston III, Amy Seidl, Jack Ward Thomas, Diane J. Vosick, John A. Vucetich, Hazel Wong, and Donald Worster.
The Human Planet is a sweeping visual chronicle of the Earth today from a photographer who has circled the globe to report on such urgent issues as climate change, sustainable agriculture, and the ever-expanding human footprint. George Steinmetz is at home on every continent, documenting both untrammeled nature and the human project that relentlessly redesigns the planet in its quest to build shelter, grow food, generate energy, and create beauty through art and architecture. In his images, accompanied by authoritative text by renowned science writer Andrew Revkin, we are encountering the dramatic and perplexing new face of our ancient home.