BECOMING EARTH

Life most definitely finds a way.

Jabr’s survey of current Earth science is a masterwork of journalism—exhaustively researched, wide-ranging, simultaneously intricate in detail and accessible to general readers. The theme is profound: Life does not simply exist on Earth; it is Earth. “Life gives our planet an anatomy and physiology—breath, pulse, and metabolism,” writes the author. “Without the transformations wrought by life over billions of years, Earth would be utterly unrecognizable.” From microbes to whales, notes Jabr, life orchestrates its own environment, often equaling or exceeding the geologic powers of volcanoes, glaciers, and earthquakes. A contributing writer to the New York Times Magazine and Scientific American, among other publications, the author persuasively demonstrates that over billion-year time frames, life has sculpted continents and transfigured the oceans and atmosphere. While the Earth itself is not doomed to extinction—it has an eons-long history of recovering from a wide variety of calamities—a great many species (including our own) are at grave risk. The culprit, irrefutably, is accelerating climate change caused by human activity, specifically our dependence on fossil fuels. These warnings are nothing new, but the scope of the evidence Jabr brings to the table is revelatory. While working on the book, he interacted with scores of scientists to investigate innovative solutions as numerous as the ecological crises they address. However, none are sufficient without weaning our civilization off oil and natural gas. This book will revolutionize readers’ concepts of the fundamental interdependency of life, air, and soil. With the curiosity of a reporter, the mind of a scientist, and the lyricism of a poet, Jabr explores the extraordinary tapestry of life, not least the ecological diversity of his own backyard, where he and his partner created “a biodiverse, carbon-storing wildlife habitat adapted to a rap­idly shifting climate.”

Popular science writing at its very best.