Before It's Gone

Stories from the Front Lines of Climate Change in Small Town America

By: Jonathan Vigliotti

Narrated by: Jonathan Vigliotti

This “stunning call to action to save ourselves and all life on the planet” (Booklist), in the vein of This Changes Everything and Saving Us, effortlessly demonstrates how climate change is affecting America right now.

Discussion of the climate crisis has always suffered from a problem of abstraction. Data points and warnings of an overheated future struggle to break through the noise of everyday life. Deniers often portray climate solutions as inconvenient, expensive, and unnecessary. And many politicians, cloistered by status and focused always on their next election, do not yet see climate as a winning issue in the short run. But climate change is here whether we want to pay attention or not.

CBS News national correspondent Jonathan Vigliotti has personally witnessed that crisis unfold, spending nearly two decades reporting across the United States (and the world) documenting the people, communities, landmarks, and traditions we’ve already surrendered. Vigliotti shares with urgency and personal touch the story of an America on the brink.

This “page-turning tour de force” (Steve Brusatte, New York Times bestselling author) traces Vigliotti’s travels across the country, taking him to the frontlines of climate disaster and revealing the genuine impacts of climate change that countless Americans have already been forced to confront. From massive forest fires in California to hurricanes in Louisiana, receding coastlines in Massachusetts and devastated fisheries in Alaska, we learn that warnings of a future impacted by climate are no more; the climate catastrophe is already here.

Critic reviews

"Jonathan Vigliotti’s experience covering natural disasters for CBS News gives a journalistic feel to his audiobook about disasters’ effects on small towns...He keeps to his own voice, creating characters with inflection and tone. Vigliotti occasionally adds a lighter touch, such as humorously rattling off his hasty preparations for field reporting."

This is a must read!

Factual story of climate change, and many factors impacting earth, past, present and future. We must be the guardians of our earth. Every person can have an impact on the future of our world. This story linked so many stories of disasters that have happened and how they can happen again if we don’t take action now.
Well written, scary, insightful, honest. I will read it again and highly recommend this book!!