Becoming Earth

The notion of a living world is one of humanity''s oldest beliefs. Once scorned by scientists, the facts supporting this concept have now become tenets of modern Earth system science, a relatively young field that studies the living and nonliving components of the planet as an integrated whole. Life did not evolve passively in response to its environment, as scientists have long assumed. Instead, it evolved with Earth, shaping its climate and terrain at every scale. Becoming Earth transports the reader to some of the world''s most extraordinary places to explore how these symbiotic relationships evolved, from an underwater kelp forest on the coast of California to a former gold mine two miles below the Earth''s surface. We see how microorganisms participate in many geological processes, producing new minerals and converting rock from one state to another. We learn how large mammals maintain grasslands and prevent permafrost from melting, and coral reefs and shellfish store huge amounts of carbon, improve water quality, and defend shorelines from severe weather. Jabr introduces us to the people protecting and restoring life''s planet-stabilizing processes and protecting ancient ecological harmonies, and he opens our eyes to life''s imprint on every part of the planet today, from the heart of the Amazon rainforest to the soil in our backyards.

Auteur
Ferris Jabr is a contributing writer for The New York Times magazine and Scientific American. He has also written for The New Yorker, The Atlantic, Harper’s, Foreign Policy, National Geographic, Wired, Outside, McSweeney’s, and the Los Angeles Review of Books, among other publications. He lives in Portland, Oregon with his husband, Ryan, their dog, Jack, and more plants than they can count. Becoming Earth is his first book.

Résumé

A radically thought-provoking account of a major shift in how we understand our Earth, not simply as an inanimate planet on which life evolved, but rather as a planet that came to life, from the heart of the Amazon rainforest to the soil in our gardens.

'A glorious paean to our living world, full of achingly beautiful passages, mind-bending conceptual twists, and wonderful characters. Ferris Jabr reveals how Earth not only gave rise to life, and now teems with it, but has also been profoundly, miraculously shaped by it.' Ed Yong, author of An Immense World, winner of the Royal Society Science Book Prize

'I did not expect to experience joy when I opened Becoming Earth, but I did, and I do. The ambition, eloquence, and erudition in this dragonfly droneflight of a book are absolutely exhilarating.' John Vaillant, author of Fire Weather, winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize

The notion of a living world is one of humanity's oldest beliefs. Though once scorned by many scientists, the concept of Earth as a vast interconnected living system has gained acceptance in recent decades. Life not only adapts to its surroundings it also shapes them in dramatic and enduring ways. Over billions of years, life transformed a lump of orbiting rock into our cosmic oasis, breathing oxygen into the atmosphere, concocting the modern oceans, and turning rock into fertile soil. Life is intertwined with Earth's capacity to regulate its climate and maintain balance.

Through compelling narrative, evocative descriptions, and lucid explanations, Ferris Jabr shows us how Earth became the world we've known, how it is rapidly becoming a very different world, and how we will determine what kind of Earth our descendants inherit for millennia to come.

'Fascinating, thought-provoking, and, ultimately, inspiring' Elizabeth Kolbert, author of The Sixth Extinction, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction