Escaping Nature

How to Survive Global Climate Change

Orrin H. Pilkey, Duke University Press (MAR 29) Softcover $28.95 (320pp), 978-1-4780-2544-3, ARCHITECTURE

Escaping Nature is an illuminating, practical resource that summarizes the potential threats of climate change and recommends actionable steps to prepare and respond.

While most books on climate change call for sweeping global and national strategies, this book focuses on realistic steps an individual can take to anticipate and respond to the climate crisis. Organized into five parts addressing the earth, air, fire, water, and space, it is packed with maps, charts, timelines, and other data to illustrate the emerging impacts of climate change. These include droughts, floods, wildfires, hurricanes, and rising sea levels as well as less obvious outcomes, like “nutritional collapse” when elevated CO₂ levels reduce plants’ nutritional value; methane craters that explode in areas of melting permafrost; and meteorological tsunamis in the Great Lakes. The tone is factual and straightforward: “While we wait for technological breakthroughs…and for the slow-turning wheels of bureaucratic governance…we must fend for ourselves, must rethink how and where to live.”

Each chapter ends with an actionable checklist of things to do, such as “planting” rocks instead of grass, removing flammables including mulch and outdoor furniture, and practicing controlled burning to protect homes from urban firestorms like the Marshall Fire that spread through Denver suburbs in 2021. The chapter on storm surges evaluates various cities’ preparedness for flooding and rising sea levels, including Seattle, Charleston, and New York City. Also helpful is a chapter describing “climate haven” cities that are better positioned to withstand the most devastating impacts of the climate crisis, with stable infrastructure, freshwater access, affordable housing, and cooler temperatures—most of them above the 45th parallel.

For an age when many feel overwhelmed by the uncertainties and threats of climate change, Escaping Nature shares a simple, straightforward action plan in a reasonable, encouraging voice.