The Fragile Earth: Writing from the New Yorker on Climate Change 

“Like the future, dystopia is already here. It's just unevenly distributed “ 

This behemoth of a collection of New Yorker essays from the last 50 years has something for everyone, if you’re patient enough to dig for it. The essays here bounce from climate change science, geology, environmentalism, and animal welfare, to urban development, the use of weather in literature, and wildfire containment tactics.  Like most collections that bring together different authors, some of the entries will leave you feeling colder than others – in my case, the first several chapters were borderline Ambien-like, and it wasn’t until reading “Writer in the Storm,” that I gave it my full attention.  

I think most people would benefit from picking up this collection and going straight towards the pieces that align with their interests.  As a starting point, these were my favorite ones: 

-       “Writer in the Storm” (Weather in Literature) 

-       “The New Harpoon” (Whale Hunting; Native Traditions v. Development) 

-       “The Sixth Extinction” (Animal Extinction) 

-       “The End of the World” (Jonathan Franzen’s Trip to Antarctica) 

-       “The Day the Great Plains Burned” (Coverage of the Starbuck Fire) 

-       “Green Manhattan” (The Environmental Benefits of Being a City Girl) 

Also, this interview with the editor of the book was very informative and gives you an idea of what the New Yorker was trying to achieve with this publication: 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/apr/18/david-remnick-new-yorker-editor-no-vaccine-for-climate-change-fragile-earth