Classes resumed at colleges and universities this fall after the warmest U.S. summer on record and after a year of attacks on higher education and learning, including the sciences that measured and explained the summer’s heat waves.
To mark the start of this hot and contentious new school year, Yale Climate Connections has assembled a shelf of new titles that address aspects of climate change through the lens of different academic disciplines.
Addressing climate change requires all of the disciplines. Here we see a sampling of books illustrating how this might be done in the physical sciences, social sciences, and government and political science.
This month’s list begins with “Peak Higher Ed,” a critical assessment of the straits colleges and universities now find themselves in, which the author argues have left these institutions less prepared to respond to climate change, among other challenges.
Then it turns to the disciplinary studies. Twenty years after “An Inconvenient Truth,” we’re seeing new primers for climate science. Other teachers are experimenting with new ways to bring that science into younger and younger classrooms.
This month’s multidisciplinary bookshelf ends with the arts and archaeology. Like termites gnawing at the foundation of a house, climate change threatens the material forms of our cultures. We cannot preserve our past without facing our climate-changed future.
As always, the descriptions of the titles are adapted from copy provided by their publishers. If you purchase a book through one of the links below, a percentage of the proceeds funds our journalism.
Education, Atmospheric Physics, Pedagogy
Peak Higher Ed: How to Survive the Looming Academic Crisis by Bryan Alexander (Johns Hopkins University Press 2026, 216 pages, $36.95)
Over the past decade, American colleges and universities have seen enrollment decline, campuses close, programs cut, faculty and staff laid off, and public confidence erode. In Peak Higher Ed, futurist Bryan Alexander forecasts what the next decade might hold if we continue down this path. Combining research with modeling, Alexander outlines a framework for understanding what led to this moment: declining birthrates, surging student debt, rising tuition, shifting political winds, and growing skepticism about the value of a degree. These forces, if left unchecked, could reshape academia, jeopardizing its role in addressing the planet’s most pressing challenges, from climate change to artificial intelligence. Alexander explores how institutions can respond, presenting two possible futures: a path of managed descent or a course of reinvention.
How Our Climate Works: A Brief Guide in Seven Lessons by Paul I. Palmer (Princeton University Press 2026, 296 pages, $27.95)
Earth’s changing climate is the defining issue of our time. Climate science should be accessible to everyone, but for too long it has remained impenetrable to nonexperts. Paul Palmer throws open the doors to this vital area of research, inviting readers to discover for themselves how scientists take the measure of a warming planet. Each chapter covers one of the seven ideas central to understanding how our climate works: temperature, energy, air, water, cycles, time, and uncertainty. Palmer distills complex scientific concepts into plain language. He shows how small elements profoundly influence our world. Bridging the gap between science and public perception, How Our Climate Works goes beyond alarmism, empowering readers with the knowledge they need to appreciate the profound beauty and fragility of the planet we call home.
How to Save the Planet: Teaching the Climate Emergency in Primary Schools by Paul Turner and Meryl Batchelder (Sage Publications 2026, 184 pages, $33 paperback)
This is the comprehensive guide for primary teachers looking to deepen their knowledge about climate change and how to effectively teach it across the primary curriculum. Bursting with accessible information about the climate crisis and the actions we can take to live more sustainably, this book sets out how primary teachers can engage with this urgent issue in ways that are professionally appropriate and curriculum-aware. Themed chapters offer a deep dive into very teachable topics such as food, nature, waste and energy. Case studies highlight how individual schools have developed their own environmental education projects. Classroom activities translate important environmental concerns into engaging and flexible learning opportunities.
Biology, Health, Food Science, Agriculture, Black studies
Sentinels: When Diseases Spread Between Animals and Humans by Michael Dulaney (Scribe Publications 2026, 320 pages, $19.95 paperback)
Coronaviruses jump from bats to chimpanzees to humans. You can give your cat the flu and pass tuberculosis to an elephant. The scientific term for this—zoonosis—is a word of the future, one that reveals how human and animal lives are inextricably linked. Scientists now warn that human destruction of the environment is responsible for the accelerating spillover of animal diseases, posing a global health threat. In a journey that takes readers from southern China to West Africa, from Antarctica to Australia, journalist Michael Dulaney tracks the surprising ways that people and animals are navigating our shared future. In prose that is entertaining and deeply informed, Sentinels is not just about fears of contagion, but also the wonder of nature, and our species’ capacity to regenerate and revitalize as much as to destroy.
Meat: How the Next Agricultural Revolution Will Transform Humanity’s Favorite Food—and Our Future by Bruce Friedrich (Ben Bella Books 2026, 320 pages, $29.95)
The human love of meat appears to be hard-wired. The world consumes more than 550 million metric tons of meat and seafood each year. That number has been climbing for decades and is expected to continue to rise through at least 2050. What if we could give humanity the meat it craves, but produced differently? Plant-based and cultivated meat that are just as delicious as the meat you love, but more affordable and healthier. Think it’s not possible? With examples ranging from the car to the smartphone, Good Food Institute founder and president Bruce Friedrich reminds readers that scientific innovations often move faster than anyone expects. Meat offers a rigorous exploration of how science, policy, and industry can work together to satisfy the world’s soaring demand for meat, while building a healthier and more sustainable world.
Africulture: How the Principles, Practices, Plants, and People of African Descent Have Shaped American Agriculture by Michael Carter Jr. (Chelsea Green 2026, 336 pages, $29.95)
In Africulture, fifth-generation family farmer Michael Carter, Jr. has blended an eclectic brew of history, culture, African-centered perspectives, and African American farm realities. Drawing on the life cycle of a plant as a metaphor for both individual growth and the larger story of African American farming, Carter evokes the relationship between soil health (metaphorically, society and community) and plant health (i.e., the ability of Black farmers and families to thrive). In the present moment, when the civil rights gains and progress toward economic parity for Black Americans of the past 50 years may be slipping away, Carter offers the possibility of a better future through several foundational principles of Africulture. Without African expertise and innovation, and not just in agriculture, America itself would not exist.
Environmental Sociology, Movement Studies, Government
Unlearn Power: Strengthening Communities in the Age of Environmental Crisis by Lemir Teron (Bloomsbury Academic 2026, 216 pages, $110)
Unlearn Power: Strengthening Communities in the Age of Environmental Crisis examines how environmental inequality undermines ecosystems and the livelihoods of inhabitants while weighing approaches to resistance and advancing community security. Building on the author’s work in urban forestry, environmental planning, and energy policy, Unlearn Power applies a range of lenses, frameworks, and case studies to make its case for the democratization of environmental decision-making through the centering of marginalized communities and by elevating labor. Without rooting restorative justice and life cycle analysis in environmental governance, the objectives of climate and environmental movements will be deficient. The book calls for rethinking power to advance ecological and human well-being.
Climate Change and Civic Engagement: The Origins and Future of the Climate Justice Movement by Paul Almeida (University of California Press 2026, 262 pages, $29.95 paperback)
Climate Change and Civic Engagement carefully reviews and considers the origins, gains, and future trajectory of the climate movement. In the process, sociologist Paul Almeida analyzes collective action events around the world and explores how the movement navigates the competing paradigms of climate denialism, decarbonization, and just transitions. His research makes use of the most recent tools from social movement scholarship, such as GIS mapping, surveys from front-line communities, and theories of civic engagement along just transition pathways. The book delineates the links between climate and environmental justice and reviews tactics for sustaining climate action in the face of climate denialism and technocratic solutions. Social movement knowledge, Almeida shows, is indispensable for advancing climate justice.
The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet by Leah C. Stokes (The MIT Press 2026, 328 pages, $32.95)
Everyone has been told to shrink their carbon footprint and lighten their load on our planet. But what if instead of making ourselves smaller, we joined with others to maximize our impact? That’s the carbon wave. Professor Leah Stokes, White House policy wonk Sonia Aggarwal, and Senate insider Adrian Deveny were an unlikely trio. But together, they crafted the boldest climate legislation of our time. In The Carbon Wave, Stokes chronicles the turbulent path of their climate bill as it veered between triumph and collapse — while she was pregnant or in the NICU with her premature twins. Interlacing personal narratives with stories from Congress, the White House, and outside activists, Stokes shows how perseverance and collective action can still bend the course of history. She concludes with a call to remain hopeful despite Trump.
Journalism, Media, Archaeology, Art, Business
Brought to You By: How Corporations Warped the Truth, Conned the Public, and Broke Democracy by Amy Westervelt (Bloomsbury Publishing 2026, 336 pages, $30)
We all know corporations use doubt and science denial to avoid responsibility. Why do we continue to let them get away with it? In Brought to You By, Amy Westervelt exposes the plot hidden within the familiar story. Over the last century, Big Industry has built a vast apparatus of think tanks, lobbyists, sponsored university labs, and obliging news networks to con the public and fool decision-makers, poisoning the informational ecosystem and warping the nature of truth. With her signature wit, Westervelt shows how masterminds of corporate misinformation – people like Herb Schmertz, Richard Edelman, and David Petraeus – have ushered in unprecedented corporate control. Only by exposing this well-oiled machine can we repair the social contract, reclaim democracy, and redraw the lines between money and speech.
Sustainability Metrics and Management: The Path from Innovation to Routine by Steven Cohen, William Eimicke, and Guo Dong (Columbia University Press 2026, 232 pages, $28 paperback)
In recent years, increasingly sophisticated metrics have been created to measure sustainability. First devised to address environmental concerns such as greenhouse gas emissions, they now also assess organizational governance, community benefits, and hiring practices, among others. The field of sustainability management uses these metrics to track and advance progress on environmental, social, and business goals. This book is a comprehensive guide to sustainability metrics and management, introducing readers to key concepts and techniques. It shows how to integrate sustainability into organizational management and make it a routine part of administration. Written for practitioners, students, and managers, this book gives readers the tools and understanding they need to lead the journey to sustainability.
The Future of the Past: When Cultural Heritage Meets Climate Change by Thijs Weststeijn (Polity Books 2026, 240 pages, $29.95)
As the wooden piles under Amsterdam begin to rot, water levels rise in Venice. The bricks of excavated Babylon are exploding as a result of increasing salt levels. In the U.S., hurricanes have partially destroyed the heritage of New Orleans and Puerto Rico, while the 2019 wildfires forced the Getty Museum in Los Angeles to close. The climate crisis is threatening historical heritage all over the world, with higher temperatures, more storms and fires, and, of course, rising sea levels. Monuments, buildings, inner cities, and cultural landscapes are at risk. Museums such as the Louvre are starting to relocate parts of their collections and to climate-proof their storage facilities. Written by a highly regarded art historian, The Future of the Past addresses this urgent issue and asks us to include the fate of beauty in our conversations on climate change.
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