Book talk by Adam Welz on his new The End of Eden: Wild Nature in the Age of Climate Breakdown. Limited availability. Registration required.

The stories we tell about climate change tend to center humans, an adaptable species, as they face storms, fires, droughts, and rising sea levels. However, the most powerful impacts are being felt by the natural world and its countless species.

In his new book, The End of Eden: Wild Nature in the Age of Climate Breakdown, South African writer, photographer, and nature conservation consultant Adam Welz explores climate change from the perspective of wild species and natural ecosystems. Combining classic natural history, firsthand reportage, and insights from cutting-edge research, Welz brings us close to creatures like moose in northern Maine, parrots in Puerto Rico, cheetahs in Namibia, and rare fish in Australia as they struggle to survive. The stories are intimate yet expansive and always dramatic.

In a talk sponsored by Incite at Columbia University, introduce us to this work, which has been described by Elizabeth Kolbert as “at once an elegy and an exhortation”, by Bill McKibben as “celebratory and heartbreaking, and by The New York Times as a window onto a “reorienting, troubling beauty.” Moreover, Welz will introduce us to global weirding, climate doomism, ways of rethinking conservation, and the myriad species that bring his work to life.

Adam Welz is a South African writer, photographer and nature conservation consultant and author of the just-published book The End of Eden: Wild Nature in the Age of Climate Breakdown. He lives in Cape Town with his wife, Sarah, and their triplet daughters.

Incite is an interdisciplinary institute at Columbia University. Our mission is to create knowledge for public action—to catalyze conversations that lead to more just, equitable, and democratic societies.