Saving the Amazon rainforest, ‘Earth’s lungs’

A river like a sea, a jungle twice the size of India

A hearty welcome on National Book Lovers Day to the latest instalment of This Week, Those Books, your rundown on books new and old that resonate with the week’s news and developments. The few minutes you take to read this newsletter will make you smarter, faster…guaranteed. Here, you will find a deep dive on fiction and non-fiction books about the week’s big story. That should sort out your next watercooler convo and/or supper small talk. If you aren’t able to read these books, be assured, this newsletter will get you up to speed.

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Here’s one of the more globally consequential news items from the American continent, which has been barely noticed in the white noise about Donald Trump’s multiple criminal indictments: the first summit in 14 years to protect the Amazon rainforest.

The Amazon is the world’s biggest rainforest and a key buffer against climate change.

…

But the Amazon rainforest’s imprint on the world of English-language books is surprisingly limited. It mostly runs to accounts of European exploration of the region, the search for uncontacted Indigenous tribes and in children’s material. A slew of such books were published from the 1980s to the noughties (see bonus mentions below).

We can do better. Here’s a real-world update on the Amazon rainforest, as well as a sense of its magic.

Dear Reader, this week reminds me of those books:

Originally published at: https://thisweekthosebooks.substack.com/p/amazon-rainforest-brazil-saving-earth-summit