Eat, Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World

Forests are the planet’s lungs, while animals migrating across oceans, streams, and mountains are its heart and arteries, pumping nitrogen and phosphorus from deep-sea gorges to mountain peaks and from the Arctic to the Caribbean. Without this conveyor belt of crucial nutrients, the world would be vastly different. Atmospheric chemistry, geothermal forces, plate tectonics, and erosion have been studied for decades, but the effects of less glamorous forces like rotting carcasses and deposited feces on local ecosystems and the global climate cycle have been largely overlooked. Pooping and peeing are daily rituals for almost all animals, essential for life.

This book takes readers on a global adventure, revealing how animals’ basic biological activities make and remake the world. A deeper understanding of these cycles offers opportunities to undo environmental damage that has been brought about by humans.

(This book contains a sharpie mark on the top or bottom edge.)