Rising Seas: Flooding, Climate Change and Our New World (Rising Seas: Confronting Climate Change, Flooding And Our New World: Flooding, Climate Change and Our New World) - Hardcover

Thomas, Keltie

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0228100224 ISBN 13: 9780228100225

Publisher: Firefly Books Ltd, 2018

Synopsis

The Earth's oceans are on the rise. Since 1900, global sea levels have risen steadily each year to a global average of about 8 inches (20cm) today, and they're still rising. By 2100, the sea could climb as much as 14 feet (4.3m) to 32 feet (9.75m). Rising Seas: Flooding, Climate Change and Our New World gives youth an eye-popping view of what the Earth might look like under the rising and falling water levels of climate change. Photographs juxtapose the present-day with that same area's projected future. The shocking images will help them understand the urgency for action. Key issues in today's news will be better understood, such as the 2015 Paris Protocol in which the world agreed to limit temperature increases to 2 DegreesC (ideally 1.5 Degrees).

About this title

Review:

An eye-popping kids' book showing us what the world might look like when climate change puts some of our most famous landmarks underwater.--John R. Platt"The Revelator" (02/02/2018)

After poring over this book's pages, I am much more informed... The design is appealing, the tone of the text conversational, and the statistics alarming. The visuals often astound. It leaves interested readers with much to consider.-- (03/22/2018)

Discussions of climate change are often nonspecific and abstract. This accessible call to action focuses on particular regions of the world that have been or may be impacted by rising sea levels. Thomas begins with a straightforward explanation of why sea levels are rising, describing the impact of carbon emissions in the atmosphere leading to warming water, which expands. Melting glaciers and ice sheets are also culprits in the rise of sea levels, she explains. Digitally rendered photo illustrations depict hypothetical flooding--the Statue of Liberty appears waist-deep in seawater; the Gateway to India monument is flooded from Mumbai Harbor; and a future Miami Beach is inundated. The eye-catching images may come across as dramatized worst-case-scenarios, yet the photographs of areas that are already facing damaging floods underscore the true potential for destruction. End pages offer 10 steps readers can take to help combat global warming, including reducing water usage, eating less meat, and recycling.-- (03/19/2018)

Climate change is a reality that we all face and it's important that kids know what it's all about... This book provides a stunning view of Earth's rising oceans... The use of photograph, that juxtapose current images with the projected future view of the same area provides a shocking message. Readers will come away with a better understanding of the urgency of the issue and the need for action.-- (04/30/2018)

Through vibrant color photographs, maps, and illustrations, readers will see the beauty of each threatened country and what it has to lose... Thomas incorporates easy-to-understand context regarding sea level rise and how everyone can do their part to help reverse this threatening trend. Those who want to learn more, check out the list of books, websites, and even a movie in the back of the book. This is one title that should be found in every library.-- (04/01/2018)

Flooding and climate change have become increasingly important topics that need to be addressed, and our youngest readers--and a large hope for the future of this planet--will learn important information about our world and its climate in this informative text. After introducing the role water plays on earth and the causes of rising sea levels, Thomas takes readers to areas of the planet, such as Miami Beach, Greenland, and the Nile Delta, that will be devastatingly affected by rising sea levels. Facts about the current population of each area highlighted are included and are accompanied by predictions on what will happen to these places in the near future. Illustrations of how these areas might look underwater stress the importance of taking action now, while the cheery design and bright palette help lighten up the heavy proceedings. In a "What Can You Do?" section, readers are given ways to help prevent further climate change, and a glossary explains key terms. An engaging, lively addition to nonfiction collection on a timely, increasingly urgent topic.-- (12/01/2017)

Beautifully illustrated... Informs readers about the danger posed by rising sea levels. Vancouver artists Belle Wuthrich and Kath Boake W. provide devastating visuals that compare current landscapes with imagined renderings of the aquatic devastation heading our way if we don't make significant strides against climate change.-- (01/01/2018)

Fifteen "hotspots" demonstrate the potential effects of rising sea levels around the world. While the author of this timely warning makes clear that human-caused climate changes are responsible for rising sea levels, the focus is on specific places grappling with it. Thomas describes the current status of each (location, population, area size, feet above sea level, and something special about the place), the number of people likely to be affected by sea-level rise by 2100, and the area's game plan: protection, adaptation, and or population relocation. The areas described lie on low-lying islands, coasts, and deltas around the world from Greenland to Antarctica. In two opening chapters, Thomas introduces the issue with a short explanation, charts, photographs, and graphic images as well as a map. Each example is presented in two to four pages with lively design, accessible text, and obviously doctored photographs showing drowning buildings and statues. There are three examples from the U.S. -- and two from eastern Canada. Other hot spots include Bangladesh, Mumbai, and the Nile delta. A final section offers 10 solid suggestions for middle-grade readers, from the obvious "speak up!" and "reduce, reuse, recycle" to the less-often-mentioned "eat less meat" and "be a backyard scientist." A slightly different take on a global challenge.-- (02/15/2018)

With climate change frequently front and centre in the media, Rising Seas is well-timed to focus on one disastrous effect--rising sea levels and the resulting destruction... The lengthy introductory detail is well worth a careful read. It reveals the role water plays on our planet, how much of the world's population has chosen to live on coastal sites, how rising temperatures lead to rising oceans, and how nations are currently considering the threat in terms of protection, adaptation and or relocation. Once readers have digested this well-researched information, they will be better equipped to understand specific (and potential) consequences in store for each of the accounts that follow... The statistics are a strong feature here. They allow a quick comparison for the reader between different venues: e.g. sea levels at New York (parts only 1.5 m above sea level), Nova Scotia (coast is at sea level), the Netherlands (lowest point 7 m below sea level)... To enhance the seriousness of the threat of rising seas, the illustrators have opened some accounts with striking "photo illustrations" showing the sea water swallowing up iconic structures, such as the high rises along Miami Beach, New York's Statue of Liberty, and Mumbai's historic Gateway to India monument. In particular, the cover illustration of Liberty up to her waist in water will attract attention and is a strong motivator for the curious reader to open the book. Photographs and drawings are nicely combined for an overall highly visual presentation. Rising Seas could be the basis for classroom studies of climate change as we face the real threat of rising seas. Highly Recommended.-- (03/16/2018)

The term climate change often brings to mind unpredictable storms and unseasonable temperatures. But in Rising Seas: Flooding, Climate Change and Our New World, it's clear that we're in for more than stormy weather as sea levels around the globe continue to rise, changing the face of the Earth and our daily lives. Accomplished author and former OWL magazine editor Keltie Thomas (Do Fish Fart?; How Hockey Works) tackles both the geographic and social implications of climate change with charm and expertise. She explains that more than 100 million people live within treacherous coastal regions, vulnerable to high tides and storm surges, and adds that as humans create more and more CO2, heating up the Earth, the oceans will expand and the glaciers will melt. Thomas makes her point by playfully measuring sea-level rise against an adult woman's knees and the Statue of Liberty. At first glance, the book's subject feels a bit doom and gloom. But we learn that major seaside cities have designed ways to cope, by implementing a "SLR (sea level rise) Game Plan," and deciding whether to protect current resources, adapt to a changing environment, or relocate altogether... The design, by Belle Wuthrich and Kath Boake W., blends a mix of upbeat illustrations (including an irresistible surfing bunny) with somewhat alarming photoshopped images of waterlogged cityscapes, reminiscent of CGI-heavy disaster movies. Rising Seas looks into the future with stark frankness and challenges us to take action through mindful energy reduction, activism, and citizen science, ever hopeful that we can help to keep the tide at bay.-- (04/01/2018)

About the Author:

Keltie Thomas is the author of Do Fish Fart?, How Hockey Works and Animals that Changed the World, as well as many other highly acclaimed children's books nominated for several awards. Most recently, Do Fish Fart? (ISBN 978 177085 727 8) won the Award of Merit from the Lake Simcoe Region Conservation Authority.

About this edition

• Publisher: Firefly Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 0228100224
• ISBN 13: 9780228100225
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 64