The Vineyard Haven library is hosting awardwinning science journalist and author Peter Brannen for a conversation about his latest book, “The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything: How Carbon Dioxide Made Our World.”
Every year, we are dangerously warping the climate by putting gigantic amounts of carbon dioxide into the air. But carbon dioxide isn’t merely the byproduct of burning fossil fuels — it is also fundamental to how our planet works. All life is ultimately made from carbon dioxide, and it has kept Earth bizarrely habitable for hundreds of millions of years. In short, it is the most important substance on Earth. But how is it that carbon dioxide is as essential to life on Earth as it is capable of destroying it?
Brannen shows how a deep exploration of the carbon cycle across our planet’s history can shed light on the way forward for humanity, as we try to avert environmental catastrophe. And it all begins with a richer understanding of the critical role of carbon dioxide in our world.
Peter Brannen is a science journalist and contributing writer at the Atlantic. His work has also appeared in the New York Times, the Washington Post, Wired, Aeon, the Boston Globe, Slate, and the Guardian, among other publications. His previous book, “The Ends of the World,” about the five major mass extinctions in Earth’s history, was published in 2017.
This event will be held at 6 pm on Tuesday, Oct. 7, at the Katharine Cornell Theatre, located at 51 Spring St. in Vineyard Haven (above Tisbury Town Hall). Free and open to the public. No registration required. For more information, please contact the library at vhpl_programs@clamsnet.org, or 508-696-4211.
