Seven top books that explain the biodiversity crisis

At the Guardian seven writers tagged "titles that explain the issues at stake [in the the biodiversity crisis], from animal extinction to marine degradation and loss of habitat."

George Monbiot's pick:

The Unnatural History of the Sea by Callum Roberts

The Unnatural History of the Sea by Callum Roberts is a magnificent ecological investigation of what we have lost. It draws on a vast body of historical research to reveal what the UK’s seas are missing: cod the length of an adult human, plaice like tabletops, shoals of herring several miles long being harried within sight of the English shore by packs of bluefin tuna, giant sharks, fin whales and sperm whales …

Only when we understand what once lived here can we begin to restore these natural wonders, mostly by declaring large parts of our seas off-limits to commercial fishing. But because policymakers and the public know so little about what a thriving marine ecosystem looks like, we accept and normalise a state of extreme degradation. It is time to restore the lost glories of the ocean.

Read about the other entries on the list.

The Page 99 Test: The Unnatural History of the Sea.

--Marshal Zeringue