This Earth Week, UC Irvine Libraries invite you to explore Nobel Prize–winning research, streaming media, and some of our recent book acquisitions. From helpful guides to eco-cinema to global and interstellar research, we have a wide selection of environmental- and climate-related resources available for your perusal. Unless otherwise noted, a UCInetID login may be required.

For research help with earth system science and related topics, contact Research Librarian for Chemistry, Earth System Science, and Russian Studies Mitchell Brown at mcbrown@uci.edu, or explore our complete list of Libraries’ Research Guides.

Nobel Prize–Winning Global Environmental Research

UC Irvine professor and climate advocate F. Sherwood Rowland (1927–2012) won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Mario Molina and Paul Crutzen in 1995 for work demonstrating that chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases, commonly used in refrigerators and aerosol cans, were a threat to the Earth’s protective ozone layer. According to the Nobel Prize press release, “By explaining the chemical mechanisms that affect the thickness of the ozone layer, the three researchers have contributed to our salvation from a global environmental problem that could have catastrophic consequences.”

The F. Sherwood Rowland Papers, housed in the UC Irvine Libraries Special Collections and Archives, contain materials documenting his research and global efforts to educate the public and policymakers about stratospheric ozone depletion, global climate change, and related environmental issues. The collection, which Rowland gifted to UC Irvine Libraries in 2008, contains Rowland’s lifework in atmospheric science and radiochemistry, including speeches, lab notebooks, correspondence, teaching materials, research, National Academy of Science files, and photographs. It also documents the public controversies surrounding the CFC theory of ozone depletion and efforts to negotiate international agreements to ban CFC production, including the Montreal Protocol.

To learn more, see the F. Sherwood Rowland Papers Finding Aid or contact the Libraries Special Collections and Archives.

UC Irvine Research and Finding Aids

• UC Irvine Department of Earth System Science (ESS) collection on eScholarship: Spanning more than 3,700 pieces of UC Irvine faculty research published between 1966 and 2026, the topics covered include how the atmosphere, land, and oceans interact as a system and how the Earth will change over a human lifetime. (No login required.)
• Orange County Environmental Issues, Land Use, and Planning Collection: Correspondence, reports, court documents, minutes, photographs, and newspaper clippings document three major environmental and political issues in Orange County, California, in the 1960s: agricultural preserves, beach erosion, and redistricting. (No login required.)
• Library research guides on earth system science and California government information provide a general jumping off point to dig deeper. (No login required.)

Streaming Media

• Browse Docuseek for documentaries on conservation and protection, the environment, and environmental justice.
• Kanopy’s Earth Day collection includes eco-cinema, documentaries, and more.

Recent Book Acquisitions

• Abundance (2025), by Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson, explains that today’s problems aren’t the result of yesteryear’s villains. Rather, one generation’s solutions have become the next generation’s problems. By embracing the politics of abundance, we can start to meet the challenges of the moment. 
• Clearing the Air: A Hopeful Guide to Solving Climate Change in 50 Questions and Answers (2025), by Hannah Ritchie, answers 50 common questions about climate change, providing detailed technical information on topics ranging from solar to heat pumps to electric cars and beyond — and a sense of hope that all is not lost.
• Extraction: The Frontiers of Green Capitalism (2025), by Thea Riofrancos, gives an in-depth investigation into the growing industry of green technologies and the environmental, social, and political consequences of the mining required.
• Firestorm: The Great Los Angeles Fires and America’s New Age of Disaster (2026), by Jacob Soboroff, details the costliest wildfire in American history, delving not only into what led to it but how it could be a harbinger of worse fires to come.
• Here Comes the Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization (2025), by Bill McKibben, describes the desperate fight of the fossil fuel industry to hold solar and wind power alternatives at bay.
• Human Nature: Nine Ways to Feel About Our Changing Planet (2025), by Kate Marvel, uses a different emotion in each chapter to explore reactions to climate change. As expected, there is anger, fear, and grief but also wonder, hope, and love.
• North: The Future of Post-Climate America (2025), by Jesse Keenan, offers an optimistic perspective on America’s capacity for decarbonization, environmental stewardship, and economic mobility as the population migrates to avoid the harsher realities of climate change.
• Smog and Sunshine: The Surprising Story of How Los Angeles Cleaned Up Its Air (2026), by Ann Carlson, is an inspiring reminder of what concerned residents, individual leaders, and all levels of government can achieve by working together to fix a specific problem.
• We Are Eating the Earth: The Race to Fix Our Food System and Save Our Climate (2025), by Michael Grunwald, describes the impact of how food production has negatively affected the planet while also offering inspiration in the form of innovative ideas that could transform what we eat and how it’s produced. 
• When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America’s Black Botanical Legacy (2026), by Beronda Montgomery, connects the ways in which seven trees are intertwined with Black history and culture through a story of botany weaved with history.
• Wild Dark Shore: A Novel (2025), by Charlotte McConaghy, is a fictional story set against the backdrop of a world experiencing climate change and disappearing in real time.

Diversity of UC Irvine Libraries’ Collections

UC Irvine Libraries collect materials in all formats to support the university’s research, teaching, and public service mission.

We believe it is crucial that our collections reflect the diversity of our students, faculty, staff, and larger Orange County community. Thus, we are making an effort to collect materials that consider the needs and perspectives of historically underrepresented, marginalized, and oppressed groups. For more information, please refer to our Diversity Statement and Plan.

For additional information about UC Irvine Libraries’ efforts to celebrate diversity in its users, staff, collections, and resources, visit the UC Irvine Libraries Diversity webpage.