We know that climate change is happening, but is it happening here? And once we see evidence of our changing natural world, is there anything we can do? Ground Truth: A Guide to Tracking Climate Change at Home provides answers to these and other climate-related questions in a practical guidebook with a very literal title.
For author Mark L. Hineline, the truth about our changing climate can be seen in the very ground under our feet. In his enlightening and accessible book, Hineline implores readers to study their everyday interactions with nature and to track observations by keeping keen written records of what we see, hear, touch and feel. By blending personal stories, hard scientific research and the words of some of history’s best nature writers, Hineline encourages us to use our senses to gain a greater knowledge of our natural surroundings.
Instead of focusing on the usual climate culprits like carbon emissions or global warming, this book looks at climate through the lens of phenology, which is the study and timing of natural events, and in so doing, argues that developing a greater awareness of the foliage and fauna in our neighborhoods can lead to a heightened understanding of how individual actions impact our environment.
In Ground Truth, Hineline, who teaches interdisciplinary courses at Michigan State University, has written a practical and conversational guide filled with exercises you can try in any environment.
Mark L. Hineline will appear at the Urban Ecology Center at Riverside Park, 1500 E. Park Place, on Tuesday, Aug. 20, at 7 p.m. This event is co-sponsored by Boswell Book Co.
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