Winner, 2023 Choice Outstanding Academic Title

One morning in Miami Beach, an unexpected guest showed up in a luxury condominium complex’s parking garage: an octopus. The image quickly went viral. But the octopus—and the combination of infrastructure quirks and climate impacts that left it stranded—is more than a funny meme. It’s a potent symbol of the disruptions that a changing climate has already brought to our doorsteps and the ways we will have to adjust.

Rob Verchick examines how we can manage the risks that we can no longer avoid, laying out our options as we face climate breakdown. Although reducing carbon dioxide emissions is essential, we need to adapt to address the damage we have already caused. Verchick explores what resilience looks like on the ground, from early humans on the savannas to today’s shop owners and city planners. He takes the reader on a journey into the field: paddling through Louisiana’s bayous, hiking in one of the last refuges of Joshua trees in the Mojave Desert, and diving off Key Largo with citizen scientists working to restore coral reefs. The book emphasizes disadvantaged communities, which bear the brunt of environmental risk, arguing that building climate resilience is a necessary step toward justice.

Engaging and accessible for nonexpert concerned citizens, The Octopus in the Parking Garage empowers readers to face the climate crisis and shows what we can do to adapt and thrive.

"The prize for best book title this month, and possibly this year, goes to The Octopus in the Parking Garage: A Call for Climate Resilience. An ability to make complex policy engaging is a hallmark of its author, Rob Verchick, a climate law scholar." - Financial Times

"Verchick deftly illustrates how our greenhouse gases are mucking things up. A gifted writer, Verchick also comprehensively explains the laws, policies, and current politics without getting bogged down in details. He even makes the U.S. power grid interesting. He enlivens the book with personal experiences from his childhood in Las Vegas and his current home in New Orleans. His call to action to his readers at the book’s close is pitch perfect." - The Green Dispatch

"Even though it covers a tough topic, this book is a joy to read. It's so well written and wide-ranging — the reader learns so much. [A] daring book." - The Instigator

"Verchick tells a lively story full of historical, philosophical, economic, sociological, scientific, and, importantly, human insights." - Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development

"Engaging. Edifying. Enlightening. Highly recommended." - Choice Reviews

"Highly recommended." - American Library Association (ALA)

"The Octopus in the Parking Garage brings to life how climate change is affecting people all over the United States and what coping with ongoing climate change will look like. It sparkles with colorful examples and even hope." - American Scientist