Nathaniel Rich - Losing Earth
The New York Times Magazine devoted an entire issue to Nathaniel Rich's investigation of the 10-year period from 1979 to 1989 when humankind first understood climate change and came close to solving it. Now a full-length book, Losing Earth: A Recent History is poised to become an instant classic: the most urgent story of our times, brilliantly reframed, and beautifully told.
Brought to you in part by Southface, the premier organization for sustainability in the Southeast, Rich will be in conversation with the organization's president, Andrea Pinabell.
The event is free and open to the public, but in order to guarantee a seat, you must pre-order the book from A Cappella by purchasing a ticket here on the Freshtix event site (convenience fee applies) or at the shop (no fee). The first 50 people who purchase a book/ticket are also invited to join us for a reception for Mr. Rich at Manuel's Tavern from 5:30-6:30 on April 18.
About the Book
By 1979, we knew nearly everything we understand today about climate change—including how to stop it. Over the next decade, a handful of scientists, politicians, and strategists, led by two unlikely heroes, risked their careers in a desperate, escalating campaign to convince the world to act before it was too late. Losing Earth is their story, and ours.
The New York Times Magazine devoted an entire issue to Nathaniel Rich’s groundbreaking chronicle of that decade, which became an instant journalistic phenomenon—the subject of news coverage, editorials, and conversations all over the world. In its emphasis on the lives of the people who grappled with the great existential threat of our age, it made vivid the moral dimensions of our shared plight.
Now expanded into book form, Losing Earth tells the human story of climate change in even richer, more intimate terms. It reveals, in previously unreported detail, the birth of climate denialism and the genesis of the fossil fuel industry’s coordinated effort to thwart climate policy through disinformation, propaganda, and political influence. The book carries the story into the present day, wrestling with the long shadow of our failures and asking crucial questions about how we make sense of our past, our future, and ourselves. Like John Hersey’s Hiroshima and Jonathan Schell’s The Fate of the Earth, Losing Earth is that rarest of achievements: a riveting work of dramatic history that articulates a moral framework for understanding how we got here, and how we must go forward.
If you are unable to attend this event, you may pre-order a signed copy of the book below.
About the Author
Nathaniel Rich is a writer-at-large at The New York Times Magazine, and a regular contributor to the Atlantic, The New York Review of Books, and Harper’s. He is the author of three novels: King Zeno, Odds Against Tomorrow, and The Mayor’s Tongue. He lives in New Orleans.
About Southface
Since 1978, Southface has served as the premier organization for sustainability in the Southeast, building a regenerative economy, responsible resource use, and social equity through a healthy built environment for all. Southface’s work has increased the number of healthy and sustainable homes, workplaces and communities throughout the region. It has certified over 50,000 sustainable units through EarthCraft, trained nearly 10,000 individuals to pursue clean energy and green building jobs, saved organizations and nonprofits over $12M through energy and water efficiency, and impacted over 2 million square feet of residential real estate and more than 200 million square feet of commercial space. For more information, visit southface.org.
