Skip to main content
Appalachian Today
News and events at Appalachian State University
  • For the media
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Galleries
  • In the Media
  • Grants
  • Speakers
  • All Posts
  • Topics
  • Accolades
  • Alumni
  • Arts and Humanities
  • Athletics
  • Awards and Honors
  • Community Engagement
  • Diversity
  • Events
  • Faculty and Staff
  • Gifts and Grants
  • Global
  • Health and Wellness
  • Publications
  • Research
  • Safety
  • Scholarships
  • Students
  • Sustainability
☰ Menu
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Galleries
  • In the Media
  • Grants
  • Speakers
  • All Posts
  • Topics
  • For the media
  • Archives
  • Contact
  • The university remains open, with emergency management protocols activated and operational modifications and precautions in place. Read the latest updates

Appalachian professor emeritus co-authors novel about climate change

View larger image
View larger image
View larger image

Dr. Harvard G. Ayers, professor emeritus of anthropology at Appalachian State University, right, is co-author of “Train Wreck Earth.” Photo by Marie Freeman

“Over the last several years as my concern for our climate strengthened, I have met and interviewed a number of top-notch climate scientists and activists for ‘Train Wreck Earth.’ My dream urged me to pose a question to these experts: What should we do to stop climate chaos in time to save our precious Earth?”

Dr. Harvard G. Ayers, professor emeritus in Appalachian’s Department of Anthropology

Posted March 5, 2018 at 4:14 p.m.

BOONE, N.C. — If Mother Earth has a common enemy, who or what is it? Pollution? Nuclear war? An extraterrestrial species? The correct answer, according to “Train Wreck Earth,” the new novel by Dr. Harvard G. Ayers, professor emeritus in Appalachian State University’s Department of Anthropology, and David Harman, a retired North Carolina certified public accountant, is climate change.

The book, which was self-published by Ayers and Harman in October 2017, explains why climate change is affecting the earth and how to solve what the pair terms as “climate chaos.”

The book, set in novel format but filled with scientific information presented in a “classroom” setting, offers the latest research and legislation affecting our climate, as well as viewpoints from prominent climate activists and scientists, including Dr. Michael Mann, distinguished professor of atmospheric science at Penn State and director of Penn State’s Earth System Science Center; Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, scholar in residence in environmental studies at Middlebury College and author of “The End of Nature”; and Dr. Robert Howarth, professor of ecology and environmental biology in Cornell University’s Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology.

“Over the last several years as my concern for our climate strengthened, I have met and interviewed a number of top-notch climate scientists and activists for ‘Train Wreck Earth.’ My dream urged me to pose a question to these experts: What should we do to stop climate chaos in time to save our precious Earth?”

Dr. Harvard G. Ayers, professor emeritus in Appalachian’s Department of Anthropology

In the book’s forward, Jane Kleeb, founder of political advocacy group Bold Nebraska, states, “Anyone who would like to get a full-fledged explanation of the only existential crisis facing the Earth (nuclear war may be an exception) from two very capable science writers and seven climate experts would do well to give ‘Train Wreck Earth’ a go. The novel-ish qualities of the frame story and the development of the fictional characters in the book make it like no other about such a heavy scientific subject that I could honestly call a page turner.”

“Until we wrote ‘Train Wreck Earth,’” Harman, co-owner of Harman-Maulden Designs Inc., said, “no one had presented this complex phenomenon in terms that nonscience readers could understand. We found a way to tell this story clearly, explaining the settled, proven science in the context of a fictional setting with a compelling morality tale, which will motivate the reader to pursue to the last page of the last chapter. The reader will then clearly understand why taking action now is urgent.”

Train Wreck Earth: A Scientific Novel about The Climate Emergency and A Path to Solve It
Train Wreck Earth: A Scientific Novel about The Climate Emergency and A Path to Solve It

By David H. Harman and Dr. Harvard G. Ayers
2017

“Train Wreck Earth” — the settled science of climate change taught in the classroom you only dreamed of by two clear-talking professors whose private lives are dedicated to the climate change fight in the most unexpected way. This book is a scientific novel. You'll love the setting for learning actual science.

Available from Planet Activists, LLC

About Dr. Harvard G. Ayers

View larger image

Dr. Harvard G. Ayers, professor emeritus of anthropology at Appalachian State University, right, is co-author of “Train Wreck Earth.” Photo by Marie Freeman

Ayers, professor emeritus in Appalachian’s Department of Anthropology, is a social scientist who writes general interest books and journalistic pieces to explain contemporary environmental and social justice issues of great interest.

His interests and areas of study include archaeology, physical anthropology, forensic anthropology, human ecology of the southern Appalachians, North American Indians and the Southwestern United States.

In addition to “Train Wreck Earth,” he has authored and edited two other books: “An Appalachian Tragedy: Air Pollution and Tree Death in the Eastern Forests of North America” (Sierra Club Books, 1998), which Ayers co-edited with Charles E. Little and Jenny Hager; and “Arctic Gardens: Voices from an Abundant Land” (Artic Voices, 2010), which Ayers co-authored with Harman and Landon Pennington ’05, founder and president of Boone-based Collaborative Solar, a company that designs, develops and integrates residential- and commercial-scale solar photovoltaic systems.

Ayers has been an environmental activist since 1976 and has led and/or founded 12 environmental organizations, including the native American Sites Committee of the Sierra Club, Coal River Mountain Watch and Friends of Blair Mountain of West Virginia, Appalachian Voices, Arctic Voices and Climate Voices U.S. He currently serves as the executive director of The Climate Times and as chair of the North Carolina Climate Solutions Coalition.

Under Ayers leadership, the North Carolina Climate Solutions Coalition wrote and promoted, over a two-year period, the North Carolina Clean Smokestacks Act — which is officially titled the Air Quality/Electric Utilities Act (SB 1078) — that was passed by the North Carolina General Assembly in 2002.

Shelf Unbound names ‘Train Wreck Earth’ a 2018 Best Independently Published Book
Shelf Unbound names ‘Train Wreck Earth’ a 2018 Best Independently Published Book
May 1, 2018

E-magazine Shelf Unbound recognizes “Train Wreck Earth” among its top 100 Best Indie Books of 2018. Appalachian Professor Emeritus Dr. Harvard Ayers co-authored the novel, which addresses climate change.

Read the story

About the Department of Anthropology

The Department of Anthropology offers a comparative and holistic approach to the study of the human experience. The anthropological perspective provides a broad understanding of the origins as well as the meaning of physical and cultural diversity in the world — past, present and future. Learn more at https://anthro.appstate.edu.

About Appalachian State University

As the premier public undergraduate institution in the state of North Carolina, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives as global citizens who understand and engage their responsibilities in creating a sustainable future for all. The Appalachian Experience promotes a spirit of inclusion that brings people together in inspiring ways to acquire and create knowledge, to grow holistically, to act with passion and determination, and to embrace diversity and difference. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains, Appalachian is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System. Appalachian enrolls more than 20,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and graduate majors.

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.

Share

Topics

  • Arts and Humanities
  • Faculty and Staff
  • Publications
  • Sustainability

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.

Archives

Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.

The migration of materials from other sites is still incomplete, so if you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:

  • University media releases published prior to Jan. 1, 2015
  • Additional feature stories may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Podcasts may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Photo galleries and videos published prior to Jan. 1, 2015 may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • A university-wide Google Calendar may be found at Events at Appalachian

What do you think?

Share your feedback on this story.

Share

Topics

  • Arts and Humanities
  • Faculty and Staff
  • Publications
  • Sustainability

Other Recent Posts

  • App State coronavirus information
    App State coronavirus information
  • Ways to honor Martin Luther King Jr. — service during COVID-19
    Ways to honor Martin Luther King Jr. — service during COVID-19
  • App State senior awarded spring 2021 Rogers and Janice Whitener Scholarship for creative writing
    App State senior awarded spring 2021 Rogers and Janice Whitener Scholarship for creative writing
  • Grant-supported App State project explores relationship between religious studies and public issues
    Grant-supported App State project explores relationship between religious studies and public issues
  • First-generation App State student hammers out a new perspective
    First-generation App State student hammers out a new perspective
  • Magical moments in hospitality brought this Mountaineer to App State
    Magical moments in hospitality brought this Mountaineer to App State
  • A return ‘home’ for The Appalachian News Adviser Allison Bennett Dyche
    A return ‘home’ for The Appalachian News Adviser Allison Bennett Dyche
  • More than $1 billion in NC energy costs avoided, Appalachian Energy Summit reports
    More than $1 billion in NC energy costs avoided, Appalachian Energy Summit reports
  • App State alumni donate 2,000-plus face coverings to Academy at Middle Fork
    App State alumni donate 2,000-plus face coverings to Academy at Middle Fork
  • App State Mountaineer approaches physics with military discipline
    App State Mountaineer approaches physics with military discipline
  • Worms–crayfish relationship affects entire freshwater stream ecosystems, App State research finds
    Worms–crayfish relationship affects entire freshwater stream ecosystems, App State research finds
  • App State alumnus and former NFL head coach Steve Wilks creates Post-Graduate Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship
    App State alumnus and former NFL head coach Steve Wilks creates Post-Graduate Diversity and Inclusion Scholarship

Archives

Appalachian Today is an online publication of Appalachian State University. This website consolidates university news, feature stories, events, photo galleries, videos and podcasts.

The migration of materials from other sites is still incomplete, so if you cannot find what you're looking for here, please refer to the following sources:

  • University media releases published prior to Jan. 1, 2015
  • Additional feature stories may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Podcasts may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • Photo galleries and videos published prior to Jan. 1, 2015 may be found at Appalachian Magazine
  • A university-wide Google Calendar may be found at Events at Appalachian
  • Events
  • Videos
  • Galleries
  • In the Media
  • Grants
  • Speakers
  • All Posts
  • Topics
  • For the media
  • Archives
  • Contact

Appalachian State University

Copyright 2021 Appalachian State University. All rights reserved.

University Communications
ASU Box 32153
Boone, NC 28608
828-262-6156
ucomm@appstate.edu

Abouts

Disclaimer | EO Policy | Website manager: montaldi | Website Feedback

Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram LinkedIn Snapchat