Life as We Know It: Stories of People, Climate, and Hope in a Changing World

Award-winning journalist Bill Weir confronts the biggest threats to life as we know it and explores ideas for building a more promising future.

Bill Weir has spent decades telling the stories of unique people, places, cultures, and creatures on the brink of change. As the first Chief Climate Correspondent in network news, he is immersed in the latest scientific warnings and breakthroughs while often on the frontlines of disasters, natural and manmade.

After the birth of his son in April 2020, Bill began distilling these experiences into a series of Earth Day letters to his boy, weaving together worry and wonder into a poignant reminder that a better future can still be written. Life as We Know It (Can Be) digs into fascinating corners of history, psychology, technology, and Bill’s own biography to connect the lessons he’s collected from the happiest, healthiest, and most resilient societies. From the sun-powered town that kept its lights on in a hurricane to the Antarctic nests of the one penguin species thriving amid climate change, Bill takes readers around the world to collect dozens of practical ideas to help build a more resilient future.

Life as We Know It (Can Be) is a celebration of the wonders of our planet, a meditation on the human wants and needs that drive it out of balance, and an inspiration for communities to galvanize around nature and each other as the very best way to brace for what’s next.

“There is no other correspondent like Bill Weir, and there’s certainly no other book like this one. It’s moving, funny, frank, well-researched, beautifully written, and looks at climate change in a way I’ve never seen before.”—Anderson Cooper, CNN anchor, 60 Minutes correspondent, and New York Times–bestselling author