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In 2010, while editing a report on the effects of climate change in Iowa, ecologist Cornelia Mutel came to grips with the magnitude and urgency of the problem. She already knew the basics: greenhouse gas emissions and global average temperatures are rising on a trajectory that could, within decades, propel us beyond far-reaching, irreversible atmospheric changes; the results could devastate the environment that enables humans to thrive. The more details she learned, the more she felt compelled to address this emerging crisis. The result is this book, an artful weaving together of the science behind rising temperatures, tumultuous weather events, and a lifetime devoted to the natural world. Climate change isn’t just about melting Arctic ice and starving polar bears. It’s weakening the web of life in our own backyards. Moving between two timelines, Mutel pairs chapters about a single year in her Iowa woodland with chapters about her life as a fledgling and then professional student of nature. Stories of her childhood ramblings in Wisconsin and the solace she found in the Colorado mountains during early adulthood are merged with accounts of global environmental dilemmas that have redefined nature during her lifespan. Interwoven chapters bring us into her woodland home to watch nature’s cycles of life during a single year, 2012, when weather records were broken time and time again. Throughout, in a straightforward manner for a concerned general audience, Mutel integrates information about the science of climate change and its dramatic alteration of the planet in ways that clarify its broad reach, profound impact, and seemingly relentless pace. It is not too late, she informs us: we can still prevent the most catastrophic changes. We can preserve a world full of biodiversity, one that supports human lives as well as those of our myriad companions on this planet. In the end, Mutel offers advice about steps we can all take to curb our own carbon emissions and strategies we can suggest to our policy-makers.
In 2010, while editing a report on the effects of climate change in Iowa, ecologist Cornelia Mutel came to grips with the magnitude and urgency of the problem. She already knew the basics: greenhouse gas emissions and global average temperatures are rising on a trajectory that could, within decades, propel us beyond far-reaching, irreversible atmospheric changes; the results could devastate the environment that enables humans to thrive. The more details she learned, the more she felt compelled to address this emerging crisis. The result is this book, an artful weaving together of the science behind rising temperatures, tumultuous weather events, and a lifetime devoted to the natural world. Climate change isn’t just about melting Arctic ice and starving polar bears. It’s weakening the web of life in our own backyards. Moving between two timelines, Mutel pairs chapters about a single year in her Iowa woodland with chapters about her life as a fledgling and then professional student of nature. Stories of her childhood ramblings in Wisconsin and the solace she found in the Colorado mountains during early adulthood are merged with accounts of global environmental dilemmas that have redefined nature during her lifespan. Interwoven chapters bring us into her woodland home to watch nature’s cycles of life during a single year, 2012, when weather records were broken time and time again. Throughout, in a straightforward manner for a concerned general audience, Mutel integrates information about the science of climate change and its dramatic alteration of the planet in ways that clarify its broad reach, profound impact, and seemingly relentless pace. It is not too late, she informs us: we can still prevent the most catastrophic changes. We can preserve a world full of biodiversity, one that supports human lives as well as those of our myriad companions on this planet. In the end, Mutel offers advice about steps we can all take to curb our own carbon emissions and strategies we can suggest to our policy-makers.
In The Emerald Horizon, Cornelia Mutel combines lyrical writing with meticulous scientific research to portray the environmental past, present, and future of Iowa. In doing so, she ties all of Iowa's natural features into one comprehensive whole. Since so much of the tallgrass state has been transformed into an agricultural landscape, Mutel focuses on understanding today’s natural environment by understanding yesterday’s changes. After summarizing the geological, archaeological, and ecological features that shaped Iowa’s modern landscape, she recreates the once-wild native communities that existed prior to Euroamerican settlement. Next she examines the dramatic changes that overtook native plant and animal communities as Iowa’s prairies, woodlands, and wetlands were transformed. Finally she presents realistic techniques for restoring native species and ecological processes as well as a broad variety of ways in which Iowans can reconnect with the natural world. Throughout, in addition to the many illustrations commissioned for this book, she offers careful scientific exposition, a strong sense of respect for the land, and encouragement to protect the future by learning from the past. The “emerald prairie” that “gleamed and shone to the horizon’s edge,” as botanist Thomas Macbride described it in 1895, has vanished. Cornelia Mutel’s passionate dedication to restoring this damaged landscape—and by extension the transformed landscape of the entire Corn Belt—invigorates her blend of natural history and human history. Believing that citizens who are knowledgeable about native species, communities, and ecological processes will better care for them, she gives us hope—and sound suggestions—for the future.
Transcribed from articles originally published in the Highlland Journal and Highland Leader newspapers.
"Some of you might not have had the privilege to have lived in a small country town, but I did, and I remember it well. An unassuming air of dignity seems to hover like a billowy cloud over the humble community of Sugar Creek. As The Sugar Creek Girls embark on various tomfoolery missions, it brings them up close and personal to mortality. When you're twelve going on thirteen, life is going to change. Mama said Granny's already gone through the change of life and she's nearly sixty ... hmmm. Gee whiskers, I'll think on that later." --- Chloe Baxter "I suppose I'd follow Chloe off the cliff if she wanted me to. The Rock Island Railroad runs directly east and west through our small town. Once we were walking the rails from town to home, when we came upon a group of hobos. They seemed nice enough, but Daddy had always told me not to get in their way; of course, he's never walked the rails with Chloe. Not only did we eat hobo stew with them, but we sat in on a sing along. Yes, it was Chloe's idea. That's just the way she is ... never meets a stranger." --- Sadie Knowles "Nearly every kid who lives Cross Creek has had a run-in with the widow Albright. She's meaner than a snake. It's been said that she doesn't like nosey people, especially kids! If you ever meet her, you won't forget her. She's a rather muscular woman who wears only men's overalls, a wide brim straw hat with yellowish-white hair sticking out from beneath, and when she talks, she squinches her eyes up tight 'til they're nearly closed. Chloe paid her a visit once and said, 'Her voice was so sharp, it seemed to sting like she'd been whipped with a switch.' I looked directly in Chloe's eyes, but all I could say was, 'You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din.'" --- Lattie McKibben "Chloe is either braver than a lion, or crazier than a frog in a hailstorm; but I love her and admire her tenacity." --- Suzy Cameron "Bible says there's a time to weep, a time to laugh, a time for war and a time for peace ... at last, The Sugar Creek Girls have found their time for peace. " --- Izzy Carmichael