This book shows how to make global environmental problems more tangible, so that they become an integral part
of everyday awareness. At its core is a simple assumption: that the best way to learn to perceive the biosphere
is to pay close attention to our immediate surroundings. Through local natural history observations, imagination
and memory, and spiritual contemplation, we develop a place-based environmental view that can be expanded to encompass
the biosphere. Interweaving global change science, personal narrative, and commentary on a wide range of scientific
and literary works, the book explores both the ecological and existential aspects of urgent issues such as the
loss of biodiversity and global climate change. Written in a warm, engaging style, Bringing the Biosphere Home
considers the perceptual connections between the local and global, how the ecological news of the community is
of interest to the world, and how the global movement of people, species, and weather systems affects the local
community. It shows how global environmental change can become the province of numerous educational initiatives
- from the classroom to the Internet, from community forums to international conferences, from the backyard to
the biosphere. It explains important scientific concepts in clear, nontechnical language and provides dozens of
ideas for learning how to practice biospheric perception.