Some of the following suggested readings are intended to increase environmental and social awareness rather than to deal specifically with global warming. (Listed works were compiled from teacher suggestions and are not necessarily suitable for all age and maturity levels.)
Non-Fiction
- The Omnivore’s Dilemma, by Michael Pollan
- Our Choice, by Al Gore – uses interesting photographs and graphics to make his point
- Silent Spring, by Rachel Carson
- The Sixth Extinction, by Elizabeth Kolbert
- The Tao of Physics, by Fritjof Capra
- The Web of Life, by Fritjof Capra
Poetry
- ‘What did you do once you knew?’, by Drew Dellinger, included in Love Letter To the Milky Way.
Fiction – Teacher Recommended Short Stories
- I’m With the Bears: Short Stories from a Damaged Planet. Verso Books, 2011. “Hermie”, by Nathaniel Rich; “Time Capsule Found on the Dead Planet”, by Margaret Atwood.
- Winds of Change: Short Stories About Our Climate. Moon Willow Press, 2015.
- “The Audit”, by Rachel May
- “How Close to the Savage Soul”, by John Atcheson
Fiction – Longer Fiction/Young Adult Fiction
These books are examples of visionary fiction and ‘cli-fi’. Although some are specifically designated as Young Adult fiction, some listed books may not be suitable for your students.
- A Being Darkly Wise, by John Atcheson
- The Bone Clocks, by David Mitchell
- The Carbon Diaries, by Saci Lloyd (YA)
- Exodus, by Julie Bertagna (YA)
- Flight Behavior, by Barbara Kingsolver (YA)
- Grapes of Wrath, by John Steinbeck
- The Hunger Games trilogy, by Suzanne Collins (YA). Scholastic Press
(available in your local independent bookstore) - Love in the Time of Global Warming, by Francesca Lia Block (YA)
- Capital trilogy, by Kim Stanley Robinson
- Memory of Water, by Emmi Itäranta (YA)
- Nature’s Confession, by J. L. Morin (YA)
- Odds Against Tomorrow, by Nathaniel Rich
- Oryx and Crake, The Year of the Flood, and MaddAddam, trilogy by Margaret Atwood
- The Parable of the Sower and The Parable of the Talents, by Octavia Butler
- Ship Breaker, by Paolo Bacigalupi (YA)
- The Sea and The Summer, by George Turner
- The Water Knife, by Paolo Bacigalupi (YA)
- Water Wars, by Cameron Stracher (YA)
- The Windup Girl, by Paolo Bacigalupi (YA)
- The Word for World is Forest, by Ursula Le Guin
Films & Videos
- Chasing Ice, 2012. (1:15) Beautiful photography by James Balog captures glacial change over a period of several years – link is to film’s website.
- Do the Math: Bill McKibben and the Fight Against Climate Change. (0:45) 350.org, 2013.
- Drop in the Ocean. Trócaire, 2015. (0:28) “Climate change is the biggest threat facing humanity today and yet our political systems refuse to move quickly enough to do anything about it…. with some of Ireland’s leading environmental scientists, writers, and activists.”
- Six Degrees Could Change the World. (1:36) National Geographic.