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Summary
Summary
From an American hero and dedicated scientist: A compelling introduction to the changes taking place in Earth's climate, written for the audience that matters most to our planet's future.
Beginning with Sally Ride's unique, astronaut's-eye view of Earth's fragile atmosphere, Mission: Planet Earth describes how water, air, and other climate systems shape our world, and how a disruption in one part of the system can spread through the entire planet. Drawing on the latest scientific research and presenting a clear, even-handed account of the current state of climate studies, illustrated with helpful diagrams and stunning photographs of and from the front lines of climate change, here is a celebration of Earth's natural complexity--and a call to action for a new generation.
Author Notes
Sally Ride was born in Encino, California on May 26, 1951. She received degrees in physics and English from Stanford University and was about to finish her Ph.D. in physics when she saw an ad in the Stanford student newspaper saying that NASA was looking for astronauts. She applied and was selected as an astronaut candidate in January 1978. She was selected as a mission specialist for mission STS-7 aboard the shuttle Challenger. When Challenger blasted off from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on June 18, 1983, she became the first American woman in space. She retired from NASA in 1987.
In 1989, she joined the faculty at the University of California San Diego as a professor of physics and director of the California Space Institute. In 2001 she founded her own company, Sally Ride Science. The company creates innovative classroom materials, classroom programs, and professional development training for teachers. She co-wrote seven science books for children including The Third Planet, The Mystery of Mars, Mission Planet Earth, and Mission Save the Planet, all with Tam O'Shaughnessy. She received the Jefferson Award for Public Service, the von Braun Award, the Lindbergh Eagle, and the NCAA's Theodore Roosevelt Award. She was twice awarded the NASA Space Flight Medal. She died from pancreatic cancer on July 23, 2012 at the age of 61.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (2)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-8-This environmental-science primer introduces a range of important concepts necessary to understand climate change and global warming. Topics include the carbon cycle, water cycle, long-range carbon emissions data, biological evidence of climate change, and much more. The authors have an extensive background in science education, and their text exhibits an excellent balance of concept thoroughness with ease of comprehension. Attractive photographs and colorful graphics, including many charts and diagrams, are incorporated throughout. This is a great title for general reading; it may be less useful for research as the table of contents is rather vague and there's no glossary.-Lindsay Cesari, Baldwinsville School District, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Horn Book Review
This book clearly explains global warming and its consequences. Bolstered by diagrams, captioned photos, and graphs, Ride's and O'Shaughnessy's no-nonsense text emphasizes both the science behind climate change and its worldwide impact. Even though the authors focus on the damage human beings have already caused, the call for action in the final chapter is energizing. Bib., ind. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Excerpts
Excerpts
Mission: Planet Earth MISSION, PLANET EARTH When I was an astronaut, I spent hours gazing down at the Earth below. Our planet is beautiful. It's home to everything we know and hold dear. When I looked out the window, I could see winding rivers emptying into blue oceans, mountainsides of a tropical rain forest, and muddy waters of river deltas. I could see city lights twinkle at night and contrails of airplanes crisscross the sky. More than anything, though, I could see how fragile Earth is. When I looked toward the horizon, I could see a thin, fuzzy blue line outlining the planet. At first, I didn't know what I was seeing. Then I realized it was Earth's atmosphere. It looked so thin and so fragile, like a strong gust of interplanetary wind could blow it all away. And I realized that this air is our planet's spacesuit--it's all that separates every bird, fish, and person on Earth from the blackness of space. In the last few decades we've started to change that atmosphere. Some of the changes, like the smog hovering over Los Angeles, are even visible to astronauts in space. Others are invisible to the eye but are now easy to measure. The most dangerous--the one that will affect everything on our planet--is the warming that we now know we humans are causing. Our warming climate is not visible to astronauts, but its effects will be. The next generation of astronauts could look down and see deserts where we now have lakes, meadows where we now have glaciers, and oceans where we now have beaches. Future astronauts may even have to launch into space from a new launch pad--Cape Canaveral could be underwater. They may look down and say, "That's where Washington, D.C., used to be," or "Did you know farmers used to grow wheat in Kansas?" To a person standing on the ground, our air seems to go on forever. The sky looks so big, and people haven't worried about what they put into the air. From space, though, it's obvious how little air there really is. Nothing vanishes "into thin air." The gases that we're sending into the air are piling up in our atmosphere. And that's changing Earth's life-support system in ways that could change our planet forever. Copyright (c) 2009 by Sally Ride and Tam O'Shaughnessy Excerpted from Mission Planet Earth: Our World and Its Climate - and How Humans Are Changing Them by Sally Ride, Tam O'Shaughnessy All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
