The purpose of this page is to give you a taste of what books Chris and I enjoy reading. Some of the ideas presented in this blog have and continue to come from books that we've read over the past few years. Most of the books below are focused on some aspect of the environment (but not all of them are). One of the many benefits of the blogosphere is that you can elaborate on terms, ideas and concepts; some of these books are loaded with terms and the least we can do is share them with some opinions and analysis.
The reading list will continue to expand; you never know, maybe one day Chris and I will put something together ourselves.
Chris' Reading List
Tim's Reading List
Climatopolis: How Our Cities Will Thrive In Our Hotter Future by Matthew E. Kahn.
Matt Kahn's book takes us on economic journey exploring how residents of global cities such as Los Angeles and New York City can adapt to climate change if they receive proper signals about the importance of doing so. In a time when people have better access to information (thank you Google) there is more knowledge being created about the risks of more frequent natural disasters - flooding, hurricanes, earthquakes, heat waves and droughts are all severe and highly damaging to any city in the world. Whether it is a developed or developing city, some residents are far more impacted than others (take hurricane Katrina in 2005 as a good example).
Kahn discusses the idea of climate change adaptation - how city residents (or urbanites) will have to make incremental changes to their lifestyles to better cope with the changing conditions that emerge with climate change. It's a nice break from all of the writing on climate change mitigation, that is, how we must emit less greenhouse gases to avoid problems in the future.
SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance by Steven Levitt & Stephen Dubner.
There are a number of really fascinating and very insightful stories found in SuperFreakonomics- stories that really make you think about how human beings can respond or alter behaviour based on reasonable economic incentives. At first, their insights and comparisons seem to be completed unrelated, but Dubner and Levitt are very creative and pull together correlations that leave you amazed. Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone. It is not about recessions, financial markets or inflation, instead the authors use compelling statistics to illustrate how selfish and irrational we can be and how incentives, pricing and public policy can lead to a more harmonious and healthy society.
Economic Gangsters: Corruption, Violence, and the Poverty of Nations by Raymond Fisman & Edward Miguel. Published in 2008 by the Princeton University Press.
The book is mostly about economics but there are important discussions about global development that pertain to climate change and ultimately to the environment.
Green Cities: Urban Growth and the Environment by Matthew E. Kahn. Published by the Brookings Institution Press in 2006.
If you want to learn more about how cities play a role (and have potential for a more critical role) in climate change, read this book.
Welcome to the Urban Revolution: How Cities are Changing the World by Jeb Brugmann. Published by the Penguin Group in 2009.
Another edifying book about urbanization and the environment. Cities are continuously transforming due to population growth, urban migration, new local economies and new environmental policies. Creating a productive, equitable, and sustainable city is a difficult task for any urban planner, city mayor, environmental engineer and others. This is a great challenge of the 21st century. Jeb's book takes us through global cities and discusses their problems and innovative urban solutions.
The Bottom Billion: Why the Poorest Countries are Failing and What Can Be Done About It by Paul Collier. Published in 2007 by Oxford University Press.
I read this book a couple of years ago. It really makes you think about the value of natural resources and how millions of people (both historically and currently) have lost their lives due to the corruption and violence that stems from the rapacity of national governments. Collier focuses much of the book on Africa (his research area) and explains how certain international trade policies must be revamped to ensure that poverty stricken (but resource abundant) countries can finally see peace and collectively benefit from natural resource wealth.
The Blue Covenant: The Global Water Crisis and the Coming Battle for the Right to Water by Maude Barlow. Published by McClelland & Stewart in 2007.
For anyone who wants to learn more about how water is governed, traded, managed and regulated, you should read the book. More importantly, Barlow explains the indispensable connection that we as human beings have with water and how such a connection will become even more critical in the 21st century. While Barlow, at times, provides a daunting message in the book, she nonetheless articulates a critical issue that we need to pay more attention to. Water supplies are simply dwindling. How we distribute and access remaining supplies will be a test for the world. Should there be a human right to water? Barlow certainly thinks so.
