You Are Here

In this groundbreaking book, the New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Green Book Thomas M. Kostigen reveals the vital missing link in today's environmental crisis: how we as individuals are connected to the most tenuous geography on the planet. Despite the recent prominence of "green" issues in the news, we continue to ignore the raw relationship between the earth and our actions. But the seemingly insignificant things we do every day have the power to literally alter the...
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In this groundbreaking book, the New York Times bestselling coauthor of The Green Book Thomas M. Kostigen reveals the vital missing link in today's environmental crisis: how we as individuals are connected to the most tenuous geography on the planet. Despite the recent prominence of "green" issues in the news, we continue to ignore the raw relationship between the earth and our actions. But the seemingly insignificant things we do every day have the power to literally alter the landscape in the ongoing battle to resuscitate the planet. Kostigen writes: "We may reduce, reuse, recycle. So we save a tree. We use less gas. We conserve power. What effect do those actions really have on the world? So much of this information is in a vacuum without the necessary context. We have been told, not shown what issues matter and why. Read on and you will be taken to the frontlines of the environmental battlegrounds. This isn't about conjecture or the future. In these pages, we travel to distant and exotic locales to make clear the price of our current actions." Starting with Jerusalem, where we see history crumbling before our eyes, Kostigen then takes us to what well may be a glimpse of our future in Linfen City, China, one of the most polluted cities on the planet. From a garbage patch twice the size of Texas in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, to the melting arctic ice shelf, to the flood zone that is Mumbai, India, to the dwindling rainforests of the Amazon, You Are Here describes the environmental crisis in a way we can feel, see, and touch. Kostigen presents us with opportunities for change and shows us how to take action on the spot, wherever we are. Combining groundbreaking research and page-turning frontline reporting, Kostigen pulls back the curtain on the most pressing and provocative issues of the day and in so doing we see the earth and our place on it in brand new light.