The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2024

Award-winning environmentalist, author, and journalist Bill McKibben selects twenty compelling science and nature essays that represent the best examples of environmental journalism published in the previous year.

“This was the most anomalous year (so far) in human history,” guest editor Bill McKibben writes in this timely science writing anthology, “the year in which the relationship between people and planet showed its most dramatic signs yet of unraveling.” The selections in The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2024 reveal a trying year for our planet facing a deepening climate crisis—from the Lahaina wildfire tragedy to the lush Amazon jungle slowly turning to savanna—while also celebrating the earth’s beautiful and mysterious ways through essential stories of biodiversity and conservation. Explore everything from the largest beaver dam on earth to the heroic innovation to prevent birds from crashing into Chicago’s expanse of glass buildings. These essays offer solace in trying times, showing a way for a better future. They are, as McKibben says, “a reminder that this world is still a lovely and deep place, well worth the fighting for.”

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2024 includes IAN FRAZIER • AMANDA GEFTER • DOUGLAS FOX • SARAH KAPLAN • BEN GOLDFARB • RAYMOND ZHONG • ALEX CUADROS • AND OTHERS

This essential collection captures a world at a crossroads, exploring both the strain on our planet and the enduring wonder of nature:

• A Planet at the Brink: Go to the front lines of the climate crisis with unflinching reports on the Maui wildfires, the Colorado River’s decline, and the Amazon rainforest’s perilous tipping point.
• Ecological Science in Action: Journey from the Greenland ice sheet to the mysterious world beneath Antarctic glaciers to understand how scientists are uncovering the truth of our planet’s past and future.
• The Human Footprint: Investigate the complex consequences of our search for solutions, from the high-stakes world of lithium mining to the surprising, shadowy business of carbon offsets.
• Wonders of the Natural World: Discover reasons for hope and marvel at the planet’s resilience, from the world’s largest beaver dam to the inner lives of plants and new frontiers in interspecies communication.
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