Green The Story Of Plant Life On Our Planet

Take a lively look at the biology of plants on Earth—and their vast importance to our planet—with this wide-ranging exploration from an award-winning team. This tree doesn’t look like it’s doing very much. It just stands there in the sunlight, big and GREEN. But in fact, this tree is busy . . . On land and in the seas, green plants make the oxygen and food that many living things—including us—need to survive. Covering the evolution of the first plants billions of years ago, the secret, microscopic workings of trees and leaves today, and the role of plants in both creating fossil fuels and combating climate change, this book is a lush and fascinating introduction to the science of plants that goes well beyond photosynthesis. Nicola Davies and Emily Sutton, the acclaimed team behind Tiny Creatures: The World of Microbes, Many: The Diversity of Life on Earth, and Grow: Secrets of Our DNA, have crafted a hopeful exploration of green life that will encourage readers to treasure the flora of Earth’s many ecosystems.

*Goodreads Choice Award Winner for Best Science & Technology Book of the Year* In this scientifically informed account of the changes occurring in the world over the last century, award-winning broadcaster and natural historian shares a lifetime of wisdom and a hopeful vision for the future. See the world. Then make it better. I am 93. I've had an extraordinary life. It's only now that I appreciate how extraordinary. As a young man, I felt I was out there in the wild, experiencing the untouched natural world - but it was an illusion. The tragedy of our time has been happening all around us, barely noticeable from day to day -- the loss of our planet's wild places, its biodiversity. I have been witness to this decline. A Life on Our Planet is my witness statement, and my vision for the future. It is the story of how we came to make this, our greatest mistake -- and how, if we act now, we can yet put it right. We have one final chance to create the perfect home for ourselves and restore the wonderful world we inherited. All we need is the will to do so.

Praise for The Green Planet (BBC One) 'David Attenborough's gobsmacking, awe-inspiring return' The Guardian 'The Green Planet reveals the secret lives of plants in the same way The Blue Planet opened our eyes to the oceans' New Scientist There's something new under the sun Plants live secret, unseen lives - hidden in their magical world and on their timescale. From the richest jungles to the harshest deserts, from the snowiest alpine forest to the remotest steaming swamp, Green Planet travels from one great habitat to the next, showing us that plants are as aggressive, competitive and dramatic as the animals on our planet. You will discover agents of death, who ruthlessly engulf their host plant, but also those that form deep and complex relationships with other species, such as the desert cacti who use nectar-loving bats to pollinate. Although plants are undoubtedly the stars of the show, a fascinating new light will be shed on the animals that interact with them. Using the latest technologies and showcasing over two decades of new discoveries, Green Planet reveals the strange and wonderful life of plants like never before - a life full of remarkable behaviour, emotional stories and surprising heroes.

Over 7 billion people depend on plants for healthy, productive, secure lives, but few of us stop to consider the origin of the plant kingdom that turned the world green and made our lives possible. And as the human population continues to escalate, our survival depends on how we treat the plant kingdom and the soils that sustain it. Understanding the evolutionary history of our land floras, the story of how plant life emerged from water and conquered the continents to dominate the planet, is fundamental to our own existence. In Making Eden David Beerling reveals the hidden history of Earth's sun-shot greenery, and considers its future prospects as we farm the planet to feed the world. Describing the early plant pioneers and their close, symbiotic relationship with fungi, he examines the central role plants play in both ecosystems and the regulation of climate. As threats to plant biodiversity mount today, Beerling discusses the resultant implications for food security and climate change, and how these can be avoided. Drawing on the latest exciting scientific findings, including Beerling's own field work in the UK, North America, and New Zealand, and his experimental research programmes over the past decade, this is an exciting new take on how plants greened the continents.

Plants are not just a pretty part of the landscape; they keep the entire planet, with all of its human and nonhuman inhabitants, alive. Stanley Rice documents the many ways in which plants do this by making oxygen, regulating the greenhouse effect, controlling floods, and producing all the food in the world. Plants also create natural habitats for all organisms in the world. With illustrations and clear writing for non-specialists, Green Planet helps general readers realize that if we are to rescue the Earth from environmental disaster, we must protect wild plants. Beginning with an overview of how human civilization has altered the face of the Earth, particularly by the destruction of forests, the book details the startling consequences of these actions. Rice provides compelling reasons for government officials, economic leaders, and the public to support efforts to save threatened and endangered plants. Global campaigns to solve environmental problems with plants, such as the development of green roofs and the Green Belt Movement—a women's organization in Kenya that empowers communities worldwide to protect the environment—show readers that efforts to save wild plants can be successful and beneficial to the economic well-being of nations. Through current scientific evidence, readers see that plants are vital to the ecological health of our planet and understand what can be done to lead to a better—and greener—future Benefits of plants: Help modulate greenhouse gases Produce almost all oxygen in the air Create cool shade that reduces energy costs Prevent floods, droughts, and soil erosion Produce all of the food in the world Create and preserve soil Create natural habitats Heal the landscape after natural and human disasters

This is our Green Planet: a hidden world where plants care for other plants and can smell, taste, touch, hear and even . . . 'talk'. In the world of plants, time passes more slowly, but if we speed months into minutes we can peer into this hidden world and realise: it's a battleground. Plants are working to thwart their enemies, and to trick animals into working for them. Right under your feet, and all around you, is a secret world you've probably never noticed. Until now. Let's explore our Green Planet: a secret world of plants that might change how you see plants forever . . . Discover all there is to love about our astonishing Green Planet, the stories of its inhabitants, and the challenges it faces. In collaboration with BBC Earth, this illustrated non-fiction book captures the intrigue, drama, and beauty of the groundbreaking new BBC TV series: The Green Planet, narrated by Sir David Attenborough.

"Why do gardeners delight in the germination and growth of a seed? Why are our spirits lifted by flowers, our feelings of tension allayed by a walk in a forest or park? What other positive influences can green nature bring to humanity?