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Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change Paperback – December 26, 2006

by Elizabeth Kolbert (Author)
4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 648 ratings
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Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change
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Long known for her insightful and thought-provoking political journalism, author Elizabeth Kolbert now tackles the controversial and increasingly urgent subject of global warming. In what began as groundbreaking three-part series in the New Yorker, for which she won a National Magazine Award in 2006, Kolbert cuts through the competing rhetoric and political agendas to elucidate for Americans what is really going on with the global environment and asks what, if anything, can be done to save our planet. Now updated and with a new afterword, Field Notes from a Catastrophe is the book to read on the defining issue and greatest challenge of our times.

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  1. Print length
    240 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Bloomsbury USA
  4. Publication date
    December 26, 2006
  5. Dimensions
    5.8 x 0.66 x 8.2 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1596911301
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1596911307
  8. See all details
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Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
Previous page
  1. H Is for Hope: Climate Change from A to Z
  2. The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming
  3. This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate
  4. The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet
  5. Silent Spring
  6. The End of Ice: Bearing Witness and Finding Meaning in the Path of Climate Disruption
Next page

Editorial Reviews

Review

“[A] small miracle of concision, gaining by its brevity and its plan of attack a rhetorical power that elucidates, rises to meet and deftly answers the historic crisis in which we find ourselves.” ―Los Angeles Times

“Important…Precise and measured. Visiting an Inupiat community in Alaska, a butterfly expert in England, or a midlevel Bush administration official in Washington, D.C., [Kolbert] lets readers connect the dots to form a frightening (and still avoidable) vision of our future…[Grade:] A.” ―Entertainment Weekly

“If you have time this year for just one book on science, nature or the environment, this should be it.” ―San Diego Union-Tribune

“Passionate…well-researched.” ―New York Times Book Review

About the Author

Elizabeth Kolbert is a staff writer at The New Yorker. She is the author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change. She lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts, with her husband and children.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury USA; First Edition (December 26, 2006)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1596911301
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1596911307
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 8 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.8 x 0.66 x 8.2 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 4.5 out of 5 stars 648 ratings

About the author

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Elizabeth Kolbert

Elizabeth Kolbert

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Elizabeth Kolbert is a staff writer at The New Yorker. She is the author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change. She lives in Williamstown, Massachusetts, with her husband and children.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
648 global ratings

Customers say

Customers find the book very informative and a great read on climate change. They also say it's well worth reading for anyone interested in the truth of our time. Readers describe the writing style as concise, nice, and quick. They praise the writing quality as brilliant and the overall presentation of the story as engaging.

AI-generated from the text of customer reviews

Select to learn more
ContentReading experienceWriting styleWriting qualityStoryMature contentStoryline
40 customers mention "Content"40 positive0 negative

Customers find the book very informative, convincing, and interesting. They also say the facts are thoughtful and logical.

"...carefully researched, her presentation of the facts is thoughtful and logical. The overall presentation of her story is engaging...." Read more

"...has written this book, as a story of her travels, was a great way to inform the public...." Read more

"...I would recommend this book as a very good primer on global warming...." Read more

"...This book was very informative about global warming and how it is affecting the world. The author’s writing style is very comprehensive...." Read more

29 customers mention "Reading experience"29 positive0 negative

Customers find the book well worth reading for anyone interested in the truth of our time. They say it's well written, entertaining, and an excellent companion piece to the just released 4th report.

"...This book makes an excellent companion piece to the just released 4th report by the IPCC. Buy it, read it, share it...." Read more

"...She really tries to engage the reader through a lot of visuals, including a brief description of each person she works with, interview, or..." Read more

"...Fascinating book!" Read more

"...of us must urgently educate ourselves about, and this is one of the best books available for the general reader...." Read more

26 customers mention "Writing style"26 positive0 negative

Customers find the writing style concise, well presented, and simple. They also say the book explains scientific topics in an approachable manner and presents a well-reasoned case for action on climate change.

"...I rated this book as five stars because it a very easy to understand description of what is happening with regard to climate change...." Read more

"...However, its brevity focuses the mind. The world is primed to take us all on a wild ride through hell...." Read more

"...the world’s rising oceans and temperatures, I can say this book is a nice, quick and easy read...." Read more

"...Ms Kolbert's style of writing is easy to follow, & I believe she's earnestly concerned about climate change...." Read more

14 customers mention "Writing quality"10 positive4 negative

Customers find the writing brilliant and marvel at Kolbert's talent for explaining the science of climate.

"...The text is understated, considering the downward spiral of the earth and its resources and the grim future of humanity that the book portrays...." Read more

"...and the possible implications of those studies, with equal brevity and clarity...." Read more

"I seldom read non-fiction and this book certainly does not read like a fiction book. But, I was gripped from the moment I began reading it...." Read more

"Kolbert writes well and has collected many anecdotes to support her catastrophist view. She is...." Read more

6 customers mention "Story"6 positive0 negative

Customers find the story engaging, informative, and challenging. They also say it goes into just enough detail.

"...The overall presentation of her story is engaging...." Read more

"...society due to man-induced climate change are well presented and compelling...." Read more

"Elizabeth is an amazing storyteller and also on the ground and in the thick of it...." Read more

"...In my opinion, it goes into just enough detail. The vocabulary is easy for the layperson to understand...." Read more

4 customers mention "Mature content"4 positive0 negative

Customers find the book eloquent and frightful.

"This work is eloquent and frightful...." Read more

"...I had a very strong emotional reaction to this book. It's absolutely terrifying but, at the same time, Kolbert writes so well that it was an..." Read more

"...published, the material with the passage of time is relevant, disturbing, and unfortunately spot on." Read more

"fascinating and fear-inducing..." Read more

4 customers mention "Storyline"0 positive4 negative

Customers find the storyline of the book to be open-ended and unsatisfying. They also say the book focuses on teaching and does not summarize things at the end.

"...This book does not tell you a story, instead if focuses on teaching the readers actual facts about what is happening with our climate and reasons..." Read more

"...in increasing the Earth's temperature, leaves the reader without any useful additional information...." Read more

"...seem to have her own view but left it open ended and did not summarize things at the end. I was left hanging a bit...." Read more

"...an interesting read, written in an easily readable style but rather shallow in content." Read more

Top reviews from the United States

brian casey
5.0 out of 5 stars Researched, thoughtful, well written
Reviewed in the United States on February 9, 2014
Verified Purchase
I listened to the audio version of this book about a year ago. Kolbert's treatment of this subject is carefully researched, her presentation of the facts is thoughtful and logical. The overall presentation of her story is engaging.

I rated this book as five stars because it a very easy to understand description of what is happening with regard to climate change. It also explains the differences between weather and climate which unfortunately get mixed into many discussions on climate.

If you want to get caught up on this subject and be able to discuss this topic intelligently with almost anyone, this is the book that I recommend that you read.

Kolbert's style, is similar to another favorite author of mine on the topic of the environment: David Quammen.

If you enjoyed reading: "Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change" I think that you would enjoy reading Quammen's book: "The Song of the Dodo: Island Biogeography in an Age of Extinction", it will open your eyes to the long term consequences of destroying habitats for other species of plants and animals on our planet. You will learn about amount of evolutionary biology and natural selection,how habitats affect the biodiversity of species and why species biodiversity matters to humanity.

Like Kolbert's book. Quammen has made this subject accessible to nearly anyone who has a desire to understand this subject.
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Rainbow
5.0 out of 5 stars The future is grim
Reviewed in the United States on November 21, 2007
Verified Purchase
This work is eloquent and frightful. The author works in a style reminiscent of John McPhee, going into the field and interviewing the principal players who generate and interpret the data on global warming and its implications. The text is understated, considering the downward spiral of the earth and its resources and the grim future of humanity that the book portrays. The book is short, and could certainly have been plumped in content by more specifics. However, its brevity focuses the mind. The world is primed to take us all on a wild ride through hell. The massive scope of the problem, and the massive effort required to even mitigate or postpone the inevitable are made painfully clear. The lack of more than modest government response to the catastrophe that looms is also well described. This book makes an excellent companion piece to the just released 4th report by the IPCC. Buy it, read it, share it. If nothing is done, the world will become uninhabitable (or at least exceedingly unpleasant) within this century.
2 people found this helpful
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Kasia
4.0 out of 5 stars man, nature, and climate change
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2014
Verified Purchase
Elizabeth Kolbert offers a great look into some of the many effects, research, and policies regarding climate change. The way she has written this book, as a story of her travels, was a great way to inform the public. She really tries to engage the reader through a lot of visuals, including a brief description of each person she works with, interview, or researches just so the reader can feel that they are in the room with her experiencing these people. Whether it be her 500 mile journey driving through Alaska, looking for butterflies in England, or living at a research base in Greenland, she takes us with her so that we could have a stronger connection to why this change that is occurring is so important.
Having read this book on a beach in two days, pretty fitting location I have to say to read a book about the world’s rising oceans and temperatures, I can say this book is a nice, quick and easy read. This is a great choice for a book to dip your toes into the phenomena known as climate change.
One person found this helpful
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J.S. Mueller
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book for more advanced individuals
Reviewed in the United States on October 24, 2012
Verified Purchase
I very much enjoyed reading Kolbert's book "Field Notes from a Catastrophe" and would recommend this book for advanced students (undergraduate, graduate) or professionals that have some knowledge on this topic. During my reading I begun to learn other stories that I had not previously heard about in relation to climate change. Hearing these stories kept me interested and wanting to learn more the entire book. I spent many hours post-reading on the internet doing research on different topics she had brought up in the book to get a better understanding on them. It is not that she didn't explain them well, it was simply she told a quick chapter on them which made me want to learn all of the details. As a scientist, I understood why every chapter in this book has no relation to any of the other chapters, but I do believe this could be a downfall to the book when referring to someone who wants to read a "story" about climate change. Each chapter is divided into a different time, a different place, a different experience, and a different thing relating to climate change. This book does not tell you a story, instead if focuses on teaching the readers actual facts about what is happening with our climate and reasons why we should start becoming more proactive. I am very glad I decided to read this book and will gladly recommend this book to other professions seeking additional information on climate change.
2 people found this helpful
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Violet Bunny
5.0 out of 5 stars APPLAUSE!!
Reviewed in the United States on November 18, 2021
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The 2nd book I've read by this author (I previously read her "6th Extinction"), & it's just as spectacular. Ms Kolbert's style of writing is easy to follow, & I believe she's earnestly concerned about climate change. In "Field Notes" she visits several people around the world who've either made new discoveries about climate change, or else are actively working on methods to reduce the carbon emissions. Fascinating book!
4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

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C. Riordon
5.0 out of 5 stars We are about to be run over by a bus...
Reviewed in Canada on November 27, 2014
Verified Purchase
If you are not prepared to be shocked by the revelations in Kolbert's book, be prepared to suffer the far heavier impact of the future that will surely come from denying the changes we are imposing on our biosphere. This book has been compared to Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in terms of its impact and importance in exposing the risks posed by the CO2 we are adding to the atmosphere. The CO2 problem, however, has fundamentally more impact on the natural world, and if not quickly corrected, has the potential to extinguish 35 to 90% of existing species, and in an extreme case, convert our oceans from producing oxygen to producing hydrogen sulfide gas Under a Green Sky by Peter D. Ward). Hard to imagine that being anybody's idea of fun.

Read this together with Tim Flannery's The Weather Makers, and what you will not know about global warming is of little importance. If you truly understand the message here, you will surely experience a thrill of genuine fear at sheer magnitude of our collective folly, and our evident inability to come to grips with the problem in a timely and effective manner.
One person found this helpful
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Maurice Eichenberger
5.0 out of 5 stars Field notes from a catastophe
Reviewed in Germany on August 16, 2015
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Ce livre est très bien documenté. Il nous rappelle que nos politiciens et une bonne partie de la population mondiale se comporte comme des autruches vis à vis du réchauffement climatique. Ils ne cherchent ni à voir les conséquences désastreuses pour l'environnement, la disparition de la diversité des animale. Mais l'homme fait partie du règne animal. Un environnement dévasté ne peux plus supporter une agriculture qui doit nourrir une population qui explose.
Nous rassurer et dire que tout est en ordre est un mensonge qui se paiera très, très cher.
La croissance voulues par les politiciens accélère la destruction de notre planète.
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended reading for all
Reviewed in Japan on March 29, 2016
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An important book about humanity's greatest challenge that everybody should read (not least our politicians!). Elizabeth Kolbert has the ability to describe climate change and the science behind it in a way that anybody can understand.
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William
5.0 out of 5 stars Be frightened, very frightened
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 3, 2006
Verified Purchase
I read this as the Stern Report was published in the UK, which added a certain zest to Kolbert's excellent work. The subtext to this frightening book is that we have sleepwalked our way to disaster, but still haven't woken up. The prospects of there being any kind of meaningful agreement on emissions between the US, the EU, India and China to avert a global catastrophe seem remote indeed. But hey ho, at least Kolbert and Stern can both say they did their best. I can't speak for the Stern report as I haven't read the whole 600-odd pages, but Kolbert's book is compelling, brilliantly well presented and thoroughly depressing. Everyone who cares about our future should read it.
30 people found this helpful
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Jay
4.0 out of 5 stars Informative. Read it.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 6, 2019
Verified Purchase
A series of notes written over several years up to the early naughties. Informative and scary. Factual and as impartial as possible. I hope the politicians read this and act.
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