Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore by Elizabeth Rush -- 3.5 stars

[Nicole R]

Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore by Elizabeth Rush
3.5 stars (round up to 4)

Preface to my review: I am a harsh rater of popular science books. Especially popular climate change books. Part of that is because I myself am a scientist with a lot of knowledge on climate change (am I still? I have entered into the legal field, but I still think I qualify). I know so much of what is going on and where some of the biggest challenges lie, so it takes a lot to impart new wisdom or for me to be convinced that your book will be convicing.

With that in mind, I will say that I thought the author did two great things and one not so great thing.

First things first, the writing was great! She did a beautiful job of crafting compelling stories on behalf of the people she interviewed. Rush certainly has a way with words and she painted lovely, heart-breaking images. She got a little self-indulgent at the end, but more on that later.

Secondly, the first 2/3 to 3/4 of the book was solely about the impact of sea level rise on salt marshes and the communities that live near/on them. She interviewed people in select communities who had been impacted and told their stories with compassion and understanding. I flew through this part of the book. I thought it put a human face to climate change. To the hard decisions these communities have to make. To how a restored environment could actually provide protection to them and their homes.

But, then things went off the rails.

For some reason, she spends a chunk of her book talking about spotted owls in the Pacific northwest. A topic I really like. But it shifted from the focus of the book--sea level rise and marshes--and jolted us to a different land of warming temperatures and owls. I feel like she got this writer-in-residence gig in the middle of writing this book and just shoe-horned it in. She made a broad connection to the rest of the book by saying that the spotted owls are coming back largely in part because we protected not only their current range, but their future range as temperatures rise. But it was a loose connection and I would have rather had her just leave it out.

The final part of the book seemed like it was supposed to focus on actions people are taking to protect marshes and help them adapt to sea level rise. But, she fell into the same trap that all people who do not actually work in science or restoration do--she seems to think she has brilliant insight that everything being done needs to be done on a bigger scale to really have a meaningful impact. Why aren't people doing more?!? And this irks me. Scientists and restoration specialists and states and NGOs are doing as much as they can, but there are real hurdles to doing more. Political will, collaborations, money, community buy-in, open space, and the list goes on and on and on. And, honestly, I didn't care for her tone as she put down the hard work that people are doing as not being enough.

I am still rounding the book up to four because I want to remember the majority of the book that focused on personal stories that really spoke to me. And not the judgey tone at the end.

[Jgrace]

Thanks for this review!

Yes, of course you still qualify. You are highly educated and multi-talented. ( Talking to you like a primary teacher. I'm still an educator even though I don't do it anymore)