Union of Concerned Scientists“I knew climate change had no boundaries,” writes Michelle Nijhuis, prominent science writer and Grist contributor, in Thoreau’s Legacy: American Stories about Global Warming, “even so, I didn’t expect to see its effects on the shores of Walden Pond.”
In what proves to be an appropriate opening to Thoreau’s Legacy, a new anthology of first-person accounts of global warming, Nijhuis writes that spring flowers on the shores of Walden now bloom about seven-days earlier than they did during Henry David Thoreau’s time. Even the landscape that spurred 150 years of environmental writing is not immune to the forces of climate change.
A joint project by Union for Concerned Scientists and Penguin Classics, Thoreau’s Legacy explores the subtle and overt ways that global warming is changing the United States. The anthology consists of a foreword by novelist Barbara Kingsolver and 67 stories and images from writers, photographers, activists, scientists, and students on the personal impacts of climate change.
“It’s been very satisfying for us to have been able to help generate public participation in this project,” said Elda Rotor, editorial director at Penguin Classics. “We hope their voices will be heard; particularly as Congress debates legislation to reduce the pollution that contributes to global warming.”
Thoreau’s Legacy is available online as an interactive book. The publishers said hardcover and e-book editions will be available soon.
For more information, visit the Thoreau’s Legacy website.
