The Weight of Nature

Praise

“This is your brain on climate change…. As Aldern demonstrates throughout this distressing yet urgently necessary book, climate change is affecting the very duration of our lives. This is a unique—and uniquely disturbing—addition to the literature. A lyrical and scientifically rigorous account of the emotional and physical toll climate change is taking on the human brain.”—Kirkus, *starred review*

“Aldern is the rare writer who dares to ask how climate change has already changed us.” —New York Times Book Review

“Research on the deleterious psychological effects of severe heat offers a unique perspective on how humans will be changed by a warming world. Readers will be troubled.” —Publishers Weekly

“​Aldern’s book — which, in spite of its author’s technical background, is immensely readable and literary — pushes far past the familiar, touching on topics as wide-ranging as brain-eating amoebas, language death, and free will. The common theme throughout, though, is that climate is our unseen ‘puppeteer.'”​ —Heatmap News

“Clayton Page Aldern’s writing is so engaging, his research so novel, and his inquiry into our brains and bodies so timely and revealing that this is a rare climate change book you’ll actually savor.”—Alan Weisman, author of The World Without Us and Countdown
  
“It’s hard, at this late date, to write something profound and new about the overarching crisis of our times. But Clayton Aldern has succeeded—this book is a triumph, rigorous in its reporting but also in its thinking and feeling. I learned an awful lot.”—Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature

“This important watershed book has powerful immediacy as it explains in a clear, warm voice precisely how climate change is making tiny incremental changes in our brains and bodies. Many believe that human brains and bodies can resist or adapt to a warming world. But we learn here that there are limits. Penetrating, intensely personal, and impossible to put down, this is a book you need to read.”—Annie Proulx, author of Fen, Bog and Swamp

“What a book! Profound, revelatory, exquisitely written – the Weight of Nature is an unnerving insight into the effects climate change is having on us, as human beings, right now. This is vital, urgent reading, a lifeline to lead us out of the labyrinth.” —Isabella Tree, author of Wilding

“The Weight of Nature is a funny, moving and extraordinarily necessary tour through an area of science that might be more important than any other. It is beautifully researched, fascinating and deeply awe-inspiring: showing how much more connected we are to our physical environment than I could possibly have imagined. I defy anyone not to come away moved, entertained, and changed.” —Xand van Tulleken