Climate Reads by BC Authors
Explore nonfiction climate books from local authors – featuring memoirs, history, and calls to action.
Get started with these carefully selected books from the UBC Library. If you would like to find more resources on this topic look for more tips at the bottom of this page. For more help, go to Ask Us or visit a UBC Library branch.
Medicine wheel for the planet: a journey toward personal and ecological healing
Author(s): Jennifer Grenz
Publication Year: 2024
In her memoir, Jennifer Grenz (PI, Indigenous Ecology Lab) describes her career in environmental restoration. Through experience and conversations with elders, she shifted her mindset toward healing of the land rather than “restoration” of a mythical Eden. She explains how Indigenous people have always actively managed the land and adapted to environmental changes, and she emphasizes the crucial role of relationality in healing our planet.
Standing on high ground: civil disobedience on Burnaby Mountain
Author(s): Rosemary Cornell, Adrienne Drobnies and Tim Bray (eds)
Publication Year: 2024
Twenty-five activists who were arrested while non-violently protesting the Trans-Mountain Pipeline Expansion (TMX) share their testimonies in this anthology. Contributors include Indigenous land defenders, artists, professionals and politicians. UBC Professor DB Tindall gives a brief history of civil disobedience in an appendix.
Voices for the islands: thirty years of nature conservation by the Salish Sea
Author(s): Sheila Harrington
Publication Year: 2024
Sheila Harrington set sail from her home on Lasqueti to interview residents of 15 islands about creating land trusts and conservation covenants to protect land from overdevelopment. The final chapter summarizes lessons learned for future environmental activism, and emphasizes the role of public involvement, collaboration and reconciliation.
Points of interest : in search of the places, people, and stories of B.C.
Author(s): David Beers and andrea bennett (eds)
Publication Year: 2024
This anthology celebrates the 20th anniversary of local news outlet The Tyee with reprinted stories highlighting various BC communities. Several pieces touch on climate-related topics; selected authors include Michelle Cyca, Michelle Gamage, Cúagilákv (Jess H̓áust̓i), and Arno Kopecky.
Climate hope: stories of action in an age of global crisis
Author(s): David Geselbracht
Publication Year: 2024
Lawyer and journalist David Geselbracht presents environmental success stories from around the world. A sampling of the diverse topics covered includes climate lawsuits, new monitoring programs, EVs, solar energy, nuclear energy, and evangelical environmentalists.
The future is now: solving the climate crisis with today’s technologies
Author(s): Bob McDonald
Publication Year: 2022
Victoria resident and host of CBC Radio’s Quirks and Quarks provides a hopeful overview of the many renewable energy technologies available now. To learn more about green energy and how it’s being used in Indigenous communities in Canada, check out the APTN series Power to the People: https://www.theweathernetwork.com/en/news/climate/solutions/power-to-the-people
Gaia’s web: how digital environmentalism can combat climate change, restore biodiversity, cultivate empathy, and regenerate the Earth
Author(s): Karen Bakker
Publication Year: 2024
This intriguing book by late UBC Professor Karen Bakker imagines innovative ways that digital technology could benefit the environment. Chapter titles include “Facebook for Wildlife,” “On the Blockchain, No One Knows You’re a Forest,” and “When All the Computers Melt into Air.”
Runaway climate: what the geological past can tell us about the coming climate change catastrophe
Author(s): Steven Earle
Publication Year: 2024
Geologist and author Steven Earle tells the story of the Paleocene-Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), which caused the global temperature to rapidly rise 7°C millions of years ago. He outlines how our planet is now approaching a similar tipping point, and what we can do to prevent it.
This changes everything: capitalism vs the climate
Author(s): Naomi Klein
Publication Year: 2014
A now-classic from the co-director of UBC’s Centre for Climate Justice. Klein lays out how extractivism and climate denial profits industry, as well as how grassroots movements are catalyzing transitions to renewable energy.
Watermelon snow: science, art, and a lone polar bear
Author(s): Lynne Quarmby
Publication Year: 2020
SFU microbiology professor Lynne Quarmby joins a tall ship tour of Svalbard in 2017 with the goal of studying the algae known as watermelon snow, which can accelerate glacial melt. The book weaves between a travelogue of her Arctic trip and the story of her life in science, politics, and climate activism.
Lytton: climate change, colonialism and life before the fire
Author(s): Peter Edwards and Kevin Loring
Publication Year: 2024
Journalist Peter Edwards and Nlaka’pamux playwright Kevin Loring detail the history of their hometown. They describe how colonialism changed the landscape, making Lytton vulnerable to climate change and the devastating 2021 fire. They also speak to their visions for rebuilding the town in a resilient way.
Hot mess: mothering through a code red climate emergency
Author(s): Sarah Wiebe
Publication Year: 2024
UVic faculty member Sarah Wiebe tells the story of having a newborn during the extreme weather events of 2021, including the heat dome which sent her to the hospital. Chapter titles mirror hospital codes (code orange, code blue, etc), and each explores themes related to parenting in a time of climate disasters.
Letters to my grandchildren
Author(s): David Suzuki
Publication Year: 2015
Renowned environmental activist David Suzuki passes on a lifetime of wisdom to his grandchildren in this beautiful book. Readers may also be interested in the 2021 film, What You Won’t Do for Love, in which Suzuki and his wife Tara Cullis reminisce about their lives and grapple with climate anxiety (available to rent or buy at https://doforlove.whynot.theatre/)
Dare to bird: exploring the joy and power of birds
Author(s): Melissa Hafting
Publication Year: 2024
Through her gorgeous bird photography and moving personal narrative, Melissa Hafting demonstrates the healing power of connection with nature. She discusses the need for greater inclusivity in conservation and naturalist spaces, which inspires her work as founder of the BC Young Birders Club.
Journeys to the nearby: a gardener discovers the gentle art of untravelling
Author(s): Elspeth Bradbury
Publication Year: 2025
Concerned about the carbon emissions of flying, master gardener Elspeth Bradbury decides to “untravel” by mindfully observing the flora and fauna in her Vancouver backyard over the course of a year. Her observations are illustrated with pen-and-ink drawings and interspersed with memories from her life.