The Environmental Studies Shelf

Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean
Christina Gerhardt
University of California Press
111 Franklin Street, Oakland, CA 94607
www.ucpress.edu
9780520304826, $34.95, HC, 320pp

https://www.amazon.com/Sea-Change-Atlas-Islands-Rising/dp/0520304829

Synopsis: Because of the Climate Change driven sea level rises, atlases are=
having to be redrawn as islands are disappearing. What does an island see = when the sea rises?

With the publication of "Sea Change: An Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean"=
Professor Christina Gerhardt deftly weaves together essays, maps, art, and=
poetry to show us (and make even the more reluctant of us see) what is hap= pening to island nations in a warming world.

Low-lying islands are least responsible for global warming, but they are su= ffering the brunt of it.

"Sea Change" is transportive atlas reorients our vantage point to place isl= ands at the center of the story, highlighting Indigenous and Black voices a=
nd the work of communities taking action for local and global climate justi= ce.

At once serious and playful, well-researched and lavishly designed, "Sea Ch= ange" is a stunning exploration of the climate and our world's coastlines. =
A compendium of immersive storytelling, scientific expertise, and rallying = cries from island populations that shout with hope -- We are not drowning! =
We are fighting!, "Sea Change" is an atlas will galvanize readers in the fi= ght against climate change and the choices we all face.

Critique: Informatively enhanced for the reader with the inclusion of a an = Introduction (Of Oceans and Islands), a seven page Glossary, a five page Ma=
p Citations, and a fifteen page bibliography of Works Cited, "Sea Change: A=
n Atlas of Islands in a Rising Ocean" is exceptionally well written, organi= zed and presented, making it a timely, critically important, and unreserved=
ly recommended addition to personal, professional, community, college, and = university library Contemporary Environmentalism collections and supplement=
al Environmental Issues curriculum studies lists.

Editorial Note: Christina Gerhardt (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christina= _Gerhardt) is Associate Professor at the University of Hawai'i at M?noa, Se= nior Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley, and former Barron Pr= ofessor of Environment and the Humanities at Princeton University. Her envi= ronmental journalism has been published by Grist.org, The Nation, The Progr= essive, and the Washington Monthly.

Minescapes: Reclaiming Minnesota's Mined Lands
Pete Kero
Minnesota Historical Society Press
345 Kellogg Boulevard, West, St. Paul, MN 55102-1906
www.mnhs.org/mhspress
9781681342245, $24.95, PB, 238pp

https://www.amazon.com/Minescapes-Reclaiming-Minnesotas-Mined-Lands/dp/1681= 342243

Synopsis: The Mesabi Iron Range in northeastern Minnesota conjures dramatic=
visuals of open pit mines and ore piles, enormous earthmoving equipment, a=
nd once-booming towns with aging architecture. But now many of these towns = are busy with tourists. There are biking and ATV trails, forests and lakes.=
And yes, continued mining.

Over the decades, people have approached the iron lands with differing pers= pectives. Early miners opened the Mesabi Range to extract its ore, but key = players also upheld conservation principles by setting aside lower-quality = rock for use by later generations with better technology.

Nature found its way into the cracks and crevices of these rock piles, and = within fifty years, groves of aspen and other successional plants had trans= formed the red rock into vibrant green. As early as the 1950s, residents we=
re repurposing minelands by building ski jumps and cultivating grouse-frien= dly habitat. These impulses were codified in the 1980 Mine Reclamation Rule=
s, which specified how mining companies should care for the land both durin=
g and after extraction.

In the early 2000s, the Laurentian Vision Project brought together landscap=
e architects, engineers, and residents to dream up possibilities for the la= ndscape -- and then to make those dreams real by building bridges, creating=
wildlife sanctuaries, and opening former minelands for fishing and mountai=
n biking.

Critique: With the publication of "Minescapes: Reclaiming Minnesota's Mined=
Lands", environmental engineer Pete Kero deftly explores the record that i=
s written on Minnesota's mined lands -- and the value systems of each gener= ation that created, touched, and lived among these landscapes. His narrativ=
es reveal ways in which the mining industry and Iron Range residents coexis=
t and support each other today, just as they have for more than a century. =
A seminal work of environmentally significant research and scholarship, "Mi= nescapes: Reclaiming Minnesota's Mined Lands" is a critically important and=
informative contribution to personal, professional, community, college, an=
d university library Environmental Engineering, Environmental Economics, an=
d Natural Resource Development/Extraction collections and supplemental curr= iculum studies lists. It should be noted that "Minescapes: Reclaiming Minnesota's Mined Lands" is also available in a digital book format (Kindle=
, $10.99).

Editorial Note: Pete Kero (https://www.barr.com/Employees/pete-kero) is an = environmental engineer practicing at Barr Engineering Company in Hibbing, M= innesota. For more than twenty-five years, he has consulted with public age= ncies, mining companies, and communities who are reclaiming and repurposing=
the mining landscape of the Midwest. He is active with the coordinating co= mmittee for the Laurentian Vision Partnership and publicly speaks at mining=
and reclamation conferences around the country. Kero's grandfathers were m= iners, and he understands the economic promise of mining to families and co= mmunities. At the same time, having lived more than four decades within the=
mined landscape, he understands the social, political, legal, and technica=
l difficulties associated with reclaiming and reusing these lands.

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