Venomous River: Changing Climate, Imperiled Forests, and a Scientist’s Race to Find New Species in the Congo

Greenbaum (Emerald Labyrinth), a biology professor at the University of Texas at El Paso, delivers a vivid account of his quest to find new amphibian and reptile species in the Congo Basin of Central Africa, the second-largest rainforest tract in the world. Its remoteness and the region’s political instability have discouraged scientific exploration of the rainforest, which has been exploited for fossil fuels, logging, and mining. With climate change threatening the planet, Greenbaum argues that conservation of the Congo Basin is crucial, as it sequesters massive amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and contains undiscovered species that may be the key to curing diseases. Greenbaum recounts how he and his team, with the help of locals, collected a wide variety of organisms, including species new to science. Upon being presented with a very rare chameleon, Greenbaum writes that he “shrieked like a five-year-old on Christmas Day.” Throughout, he details the dangers his team faced, like malaria and the threat of encountering deadly snakes far away from medical attention. The narrative also serves as an apt sociological account of the region; Greenbaum describes the graft of local officials, the warmth displayed by many Congolese people, and the area’s rampant poverty. Readers will be captivated. (Oct.)