Best of
Climate-Change

2015

The Age of Sustainable Development


Jeffrey D. Sachs - 2015
    Sachs is one of the world's most perceptive and original analysts of global development. In this major new work he presents a compelling and practical framework for how global citizens can use a holistic way forward to address the seemingly intractable worldwide problems of persistent extreme poverty, environmental degradation, and political-economic injustice: sustainable development.Sachs offers readers, students, activists, environmentalists, and policy makers the tools, metrics, and practical pathways they need to achieve Sustainable Development Goals. Far more than a rhetorical exercise, this book is designed to inform, inspire, and spur action. Based on Sachs's twelve years as director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, his thirteen years advising the United Nations secretary-general on the Millennium Development Goals, and his recent presentation of these ideas in a popular online course, "The Age of Sustainable Development" is a landmark publication and clarion call for all who care about our planet and global justice.

Fossil Capital: The Rise of Steam Power and the Roots of Global Warming


Andreas Malm - 2015
    How did we end up in this mess?In this masterful new history, Andreas Malm claims it all began in Britain with the rise of steam power. But why did manufacturers turn from traditional sources of power, notably water mills, to an engine fired by coal? Contrary to established views, steam offered neither cheaper nor more abundant energy—but rather superior control of subordinate labour. Animated by fossil fuels, capital could concentrate production at the most profitable sites and during the most convenient hours, as it continues to do today. Sweeping from nineteenth-century Manchester to the emissions explosion in China, from the original triumph of coal to the stalled shift to renewables, this study hones in on the burning heart of capital and demonstrates, in unprecedented depth, that turning down the heat will mean a radical overthrow of the current economic order.

Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to Know


Joseph Romm - 2015
    The last decade's spate of superstorms, wildfires, heat waves, and droughts has accelerated the public discourse on this topic and lent credence to climatologist Lonnie Thomson's 2010 statement that climate change represents a clear and present danger to civilization. In June 2015, the Pope declared that action on climate change is a moral issue.This book offers the most up-to-date examination of climate change's foundational science, its implications for our future, and the core clean energy solutions. Alongside detailed but highly accessible descriptions of what is causing climate change, this entry in the What Everyone Needs to Know series answers questions about the practical implications of this growing force on our world:- How will climate change impact you and your family in the coming decades?- What are the future implications for owners of coastal property? - Should you plan on retiring in South Florida or the U.S. Southwest or Southern Europe? - What occupations and fields of study will be most in demand in a globally warmed world? - What impact will climate change have on investments and the global economy?As the world struggles to stem climate change and its effects, everyone will become a part of this story of the century. Here is what you need to know.

A Disgrace to the Profession


Mark Steyn - 2015
    In this riveting book, Mark Steyn has compiled the thoughts of the world's scientists, in their own words, on hockey-stick creator Michael E Mann, his stick and their damage to science. From Canada to Finland, Scotland to China, Belgium to New Zealand, from venerable Nobel Laureates to energetic young researchers on all sides of the debate analyze the hockey stock and the wider climate wars it helped launch.

Climate Change: The Facts


Alan Moran - 2015
    Climate Change: The Facts features the world’s leading experts and commentators on climate change. Highlights of Climate Change: The Facts include: Ian Plimer draws on the geological record to dismiss the possibility that human emissions of carbon dioxide will lead to catastrophic consequences for the planet. Patrick Michaels demonstrates the growing chasm between the predictions of the IPCC and the real world temperature results. Richard Lindzen shows the climate is less sensitive to increases in greenhouse gases than previously thought and argues that a warmer world would have a similar weather variability to today. Willie Soon discusses the often unremarked role of the sun in climate variability. Robert Carter explains why the natural variability of the climate is far greater than any human component. John Abbot and Jennifer Marohasy demonstrate how little success climate models have in predicting important information such as rainfall. Nigel Lawson warns of the dire economic consequences of abandoning the use of fossil fuels. Alan Moran compares the considerable costs of taking action compared to the relatively minor potential benefits of doing so. James Delingpole looks at the academic qualifications of the leading proponents of catastrophic climate change and finds many lack the credentials of so-called ‘sceptics’. Garth Paltridge says science itself will be damaged by the failure of climate forecasts to eventuate. Jo Nova chronicles the extraordinary sums of public money awarded to climate change activists, in contrast to those who question their alarmist warnings. Kesten Green and Scott Armstrong compare climate change alarmism to previous scares raised over the past 200 years. Rupert Darwall explains why an international, legally binding climate agreement has extremely minimal chances of success. Ross McKitrick reviews the ‘hockey stick’ controversy and what it reveals about the state of climate science. Donna Laframboise explains how activists have taken charge of the IPCC. Mark Steyn recounts the embarrassing ‘Ship of Fools’ expedition to Antarctica. Christopher Essex argues the climate system is far more complex than it has been presented and there is much that we still don’t know. Bernie Lewin examines how climate change science came to be politicised. Stewart Franks lists all the unexpected developments in climate science that were not foreseen. Anthony Watts highlights the failure of the world to warm over the past 18 years, contrary to the predictions of the IPCC. Andrew Bolt reviews the litany of failed forecasts by climate change activists.

What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming: Toward a New Psychology of Climate Action


Per Espen Stoknes - 2015
    With dozens of examples—from the private sector to government agencies—Stoknes shows how to retell the story of climate change and, at the same time, create positive, meaningful actions that can be supported even by deniers.In What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming, Stoknes not only masterfully identifies the five main psychological barriers to climate action, but addresses them with five strategies for how to talk about global warming in a way that creates action and solutions, not further inaction and despair.These strategies work with, rather than against, human nature. They are social, positive, and simple—making climate-friendly behaviors easy and convenient. They are also story-based, to help add meaning and create community, and include the use of signals, or indicators, to gauge feedback and be constantly responsive.Whether you are working on the front lines of the climate issue, immersed in the science, trying to make policy or educate the public, or just an average person trying to make sense of the cognitive dissonance or grapple with frustration over this looming issue, What We Think About When We Try Not To Think About Global Warming moves beyond the psychological barriers that block progress and opens new doorways to social and personal transformation.

Dire Predictions: Understanding Climate Change


Lee R. Kump - 2015
    Respected climate scientists Michael E. Mann and Lee R. Kump address important questions about global warming and climate change, diving into the information documented by the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) and breaking it down into clear graphics that explain complex climate questions in simple illustrations that present the truth of the global warming problem clearly. These experts take scientific findings about climate change and global warming and use analogies, striking images, and understandable graphics to make the global warming question clear to both skeptics and scientists. Dire Predictions shows the evidence and the causes that respected scientists have documented in IPCC findings and climate change studies — this powerful, illustrated book is updated with the latest IPCC information and is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding global warming and climate change and in joining the debate over the best way to combat global warming.

Lukewarming: The New Climate Science that Changes Everything


Patrick J. Michaels - 2015
    The consequences of this gathering may be enormous. In this new ebook, experts Patrick J. Michaels and Paul C. Knappenberger assess the issues sure to drive the debate before, during, and after the Paris meeting.

The New Shade Garden: Creating a Lush Oasis in the Age of Climate Change


Ken Druse - 2015
    In The New Shade Garden, Ken Druse provides this generation with a comprehensive guide to creating a shade garden with an emphasis on the adjustments necessary for our changing climate. Druse offers advice for common problems facing today’s gardeners, from addressing the deer situation to watering plants without stressing limited resources. Detailing all aspects of the gardening process, the book covers basic topics such as designing your own garden, pruning trees, preparing soil for planting, and the vast array of flowers and greenery that grow best in the shade. Perfect for new and seasoned gardeners alike, this wide-ranging encyclopedic manual provides all the information you need to start or improve upon your own shade garden.

Drinking Molotov Cocktails with Gandhi


Mark Boyle - 2015
    Another world is not only possible; it is essential. Yet despite our creative and determined efforts to attain social justice and ecological sustainability, our global crises continue to deepen.In Drinking Molotov Cocktails with Gandhi, best-selling author Mark Boyle argues that our political and economic system has brought us to the brink of climate catastrophe, ransacking ecosystems and unraveling communities for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many. He makes a compelling case that we must "rewild" the political landscape, as history teaches us that positive social change has always been wrought by movements prepared to use any means available.The time has come for pacifists, revolutionaries, and freedom fighters to work together for the creation of a world worth sustaining. Eloquent, visionary, and beautifully written, this incendiary manifesto strikes at the heart of the world’s crises and reframes our understanding of how to solve them, signaling a turning point in our journey towards an ecologically just society.The three R’s of the climate change generation—reduce, reuse, and recycle—are long overdue for an upgrade .Welcome to resist, revolt, rewild.Mark Boyle is the author of The Moneyless Man and The Moneyless Manifesto. He lived completely without money for three years, and is a director of the global sharing community streetbank.com.

Climate Gamble: Is Anti-Nuclear Activism Endangering Our Future? (2017 edition)


Rauli Partanen - 2015
    This, despite the wealth of evidence proving nuclear safety, scalability and efficacy in cutting emissions." - Kirsty Gogan, Co-Founder and Director of Energy for Humanity ****************** This is an improved and updated 2017 edition of the original Climate Gamble (2015) that has seen tremendous success and has been published in several languages around the world. We have included key takeaways for each chapter, most recent data for the graphs and an index for the reader’s convenience (printed version), among other, smaller fixes, additions and corrections here and there. "Climate Gamble - Is Anti-Nuclear Activism Endangering Our Future?" is a straightforward, easy to read and thought-provoking book on one of our greatest challenges - climate change - and it's most misunderstood and misrepresented mitigation tool - nuclear power. From the backcover: Humankind has won many great victories in the fight against climate change. However, these victories are rarely acknowledged or reported. Is this because they were won with nuclear power? Preventing dangerous climate change requires world energy production to be almost completely free from fossil fuels by 2050. At the same time, energy consumption keeps growing, as the population increases and those mired in poverty try to create better lives for themselves. With almost 87 percent of our energy produced with fossil fuels, the challenge is unprecedented in both its scale and urgency. International organizations agree that meeting this challenge will require the use of all the tools at our disposal: Renewable energy, more energy conservation and better efficiency, carbon capture and storage – and nuclear power. At the same time, the global environment and energy discussion is largely dominated by a vocal opinion that climate challenge and global poverty should be conquered with nothing else than renewables, energy conservation and energy efficiency. This book explains how this opinion is largely based on very selective reading of relevant studies and reports, wishful thinking about the powers of technological miracles, and even straight-out falsification of statistics and misrepresentation of facts. Does the anti-nuclear movement really help to give people objective, relevant information they need to make up their minds about zero-carbon energy production, the scale of the challenge, and in particular the up- and downsides of nuclear power? Or are they just spreading fear and uncertainty, while making a huge gamble with the climate, potentially endangering both human civilization and the Earth’s ecosystems?

Natural Gas: Fuel for the 21st Century


Vaclav Smil - 2015
    With its vast supplies of conventional resources and nonconventional stores, the extension of long-distance gas pipelines and the recent expansion of liquefied natural gas trade, a truly global market has been created for this clean fuel.Natural Gas: Fuel for the 21st Century discusses the place and prospects of natural gas in modern high-energy societies. Vaclav Smil presents a systematic survey of the qualities, origins, extraction, processing and transportation of natural gas, followed by a detailed appraisal of its many preferred, traditional and potential uses, and the recent emergence of the fuel as a globally traded commodity. The unfolding diversification of sources, particularly hydraulic fracturing, and the role of natural gas in national and global energy transitions are described. The book concludes with a discussion on the advantages, risks, benefits and costs of natural gas as a leading, if not dominant, fuel of the 21st century.This interdisciplinary text will be of interest to a wide readership concerned with global energy affairs including professionals and academics in energy and environmental science, policy makers, consultants and advisors with an interest in the rapidly-changing global energy industry.

Seeing Green: The Use and Abuse of American Environmental Images


Finis Dunaway - 2015
    These images, and others like them, have helped make environmental consciousness central to American public culture. Yet most historical accounts ignore the crucial role images have played in the making of popular environmentalism, let alone the ways that they have obscured other environmental truths.   Finis Dunaway closes that gap with Seeing Green. Considering a wide array of images—including pictures in popular magazines, television news, advertisements, cartoons, films, and political posters—he shows how popular environmentalism has been entwined with mass media spectacles of crisis. Beginning with radioactive fallout and pesticides during the 1960s and ending with global warming today, he focuses on key moments in which media images provoked environmental anxiety but also prescribed limited forms of action. Moreover, he shows how the media have blamed individual consumers for environmental degradation and thus deflected attention from corporate and government responsibility. Ultimately, Dunaway argues, iconic images have impeded efforts to realize—or even imagine—sustainable visions of the future.   Generously illustrated, this innovative book will appeal to anyone interested in the history of environmentalism or in the power of the media to shape our politics and public life.

The Sixth Extinction: by Elizabeth Kolbert | Key Takeaways, Analysis & Review: An Unnatural History


Instaread Summaries - 2015
    In this book, the author demonstrates that species are dying out at a rate comparable to the previous mass extinctions, and if the trend of global warming, deforestation, and pollution continues in its present course, the numbers of extinct species will meet or exceed that rate of destruction. This event will include the extinction of humanity. What this means is that the current loss of life today will soon justify the term “The Sixth Extinction,” a mass extinction like the one that destroyed the dinosaurs 65 million years agoWhen humans originated about 100,000 years ago, they began to hunt some species into extinction. Their ability to outcompete other early hominids for food led to the extinction of those species, including Neanderthals.The extinction of species picked up steam when humans began transforming great swaths of forest and plains into farmland about 10,000 years ago…  PLEASE NOTE: This is key takeaways and analysis of the book and NOT the original book.    Inside this Instaread of The Sixth Extinction: Overview of the book Important People Key Takeaways Analysis of Key Takeaways   About the Author With Instaread, you can get the key takeaways and analysis of a book in 15 minutes. We read every chapter, identify the key takeaways and analyze them for your convenience.

When Trucks Stop Running: Energy and the Future of Transportation


A.J. Friedemann - 2015
    Ships, trucks, and trains are the backbone of civilization, hauling the goods that fulfill our every need and desire. Their powerful, highly-efficient diesel combustion engines are exquisitely fine-tuned to burn petroleum-based diesel fuel. These engines and the fuels that fire them have been among the most transformative yet disruptive technologies on the planet. Although this transportation revolution has allowed many of us to fill our homes with global goods even a past emperor would envy, our era of abundance, and the freight transport system in particular, is predicated on the affordability and high energy density of a single fuel, oil. This book explores alternatives to this finite resource including other liquid fuels, truck and locomotive batteries and utility-scale energy storage technology, and various forms of renewable electricity to support electrified transport. Transportation also must adapt to other challenges: Threats from climate change, financial busts, supply-chain failure, and transportation infrastructure decay. Robert Hirsch, who wrote the Peaking of World Oil Production report for the U.S. Department of Energy in 2005, said that planning for peak world production must start at least 10, if not 20 years ahead of time. What little planning exists focuses mainly on how to accommodate 30 percent more economic growth while averting climate change, ignoring the possibility that we are at, or near, the end of growth. Taken for granted, the modern transportation system will not endure forever. The time is now to take a realistic and critical look at the choices ahead, and how the future of transportation may unfold."

Resurrection Science


M.R. O'Connor - 2015
    In Resurrection Science, journalist M.R. O’Connor explores the extreme measures that scientists are taking to try and save them, from captive breeding and translocating genetically rare individuals to frozen zoos and de-extinction. Each chapter in this beautifully written book focuses on a unique species and the people entwined in its fate.

Afterburn: Society Beyond Fossil Fuels


Richard Heinberg - 2015
    He is widely regarded as one of the world's most effective communicators of the urgent need to transition away from fossil fuels.

Austerity Ecology & the Collapse-porn Addicts: A defence of growth, progress, industry and stuff


Leigh Phillips - 2015
    Everyone from black-hoodied Starbucks window-smashers to farmers' market heirloom-tomato-mongers to Prince Charles himself seem to be embracing 'degrowth' and anti-consumerism, which is nothing less than a form of ecological austerity. Meanwhile, the back-to-the-land ideology and aesthetic of locally-woven organic carrot-pants, pathogen-encrusted compost toilets and civilisational collapse is hegemonic.Yet modernity is not the cause of climate change and the wider biocrisis. It is indeed capitalism that is the source of our environmental woes, but capitalism as a mode of production, not the fuzzy understanding of capitalism of Naomi Klein, Bill McKibben, Derrick Jensen, Paul Kingsnorth and their anarcho-liberal epigones as a sort of globalist corporate malfeasance.In combative and puckish style, science journalist Leigh Phillips marshals evidence from climate science, ecology, paleoanthropology, agronomy, microbiology, psychology, history, the philosophy of mathematics, and heterodox economics to argue that progressives must rediscover their historic, Promethean ambitions and counter this reactionary neo-Malthusian ideology that not only retards human flourishing, but won't save the planet anyway.We want to take over the machine and run it rationally, not turn the machine off.

Future Arctic: Field Notes from a World on the Edge


Edward Struzik - 2015
    As polar ice retreats and animals and plants migrate northward, the arctic landscape is morphing into something new and very different from what it once was. While these changes may seem remote, they will have a profound impact on a host of global issues, from international politics to animal migrations. In Future Arctic, journalist and explorer Edward Struzik offers a clear-eyed look at the rapidly shifting dynamics in the Arctic region, a harbinger of changes that will reverberate throughout our entire world. Future Arctic reveals the inside story of how politics and climate change are altering the polar world in a way that will have profound effects on economics, culture, and the environment as we know it. Struzik takes readers up mountains and cliffs, and along for the ride on snowmobiles and helicopters, sailboats and icebreakers. His travel companions, from wildlife scientists to military strategists to indigenous peoples, share diverse insights into the science, culture and geopolitical tensions of this captivating place. With their help, Struzik begins piecing together an environmental puzzle: How might the land’s most iconic species—caribou, polar bears, narwhal—survive? Where will migrating birds flock to? How will ocean currents shift? And what fundamental changes will oil and gas exploration have on economies and ecosystems? How will vast unclaimed regions of the Arctic be divided? A unique combination of extensive on-the-ground research, compelling storytelling, and policy analysis, Future Arctic offers a new look at the changes occurring in this remote, mysterious region and their far-reaching effects.

While Glaciers Slept: Being Human in a Time of Climate Change


M. Jackson - 2015
    Jackson, a National Geographic Expert, reveals how these events are deeply similar and intertwined. She tells the story of her parents struggles with cancer while describing in detail the planetary changes she s witnessed in Africa, Alaska, and in the lower 48. Above all else, Jackson shows that even in the darkest of times there is clear reason for hope and light.Readers are drawn into a world where complex climatic themes and glacial processes are broken down for a general audience through writing often tinged with whimsy. Jackson dances us over solar, wind, and geothermal mysteries, bringing us along on expeditions where she teaches climate change for National Geographic. Climate change, she convinces us, is not just about science it is also about the audacity of human courage and imagination. "While Glaciers Slept" shows us that the story of one family can be the story of one planet, and that climate change has a human face."While Glaciers Slept" is one of the first books to explore climate change in truly human terms. Currently book is approximately 60,000 words. A variety of photographs of glaciers, glacial landscapes, expeditions, and the author are available from National Geographic photographers including Kim Heacox, David Estrada, Jes Therkleson, Peter Richards, Federico Pardo, and Jill Schneider."While Glaciers Slept" is an innovative way to write about climate change, which has mass-market appeal. Climate change is in the news daily, but many people do not understand what it is, what is at stake, and most importantly, how it affects them personally. Ambivalence and confusion towards climate change by general audiences is in part rooted in scientific reports that readers find inaccessible due to the dense science and confusing language. Frankly, most of climate change media bores readers into a state of uncaring neutrality. Unpacking scientific topics such as glacier construction by utilizing every day, human analogy and metaphor is one of this book s truest strengths. "While Glaciers Slept" is an original way to bridge the gap between the human life cycle and planetary life cycle while providing intimate access both. "While Glaciers Slept" tells a relatable and intimate story of a family whose dynamic, like our planet s, is shaped and changed as it struggles to exist under the increased presence of disease and death."While Glaciers Slept" teaches readers about climate change in beautiful, accessible language while also providing a compelling human narrative. Women, a large segment of the book-buying market, will pick up this book because, at its heart, this is a story about a family struggling to overcome the loss of a mother and a father while trying to keep sight of the beauty and hope that is still in this world. Younger readers involved in sustainability and green movements will gravitate towards this book for nourishment and hope. Fans of nature writing will be attracted to "While Glaciers Slept" as Jackson weaves her personal story around the developing narrative of the world surrounding us. Stories of wild places sprinkled with interesting facts and tidbits are found in every chapter. Much of "While Glaciers Slept" explores two landscapes of endless fascination: Alaska and Africa. These places catch people s imagination in stirring ways as evidenced by the growing lists of books and television shows hitting the market every year. If readers cannot travel themselves to those remaining wild places, the next best thing is to pick up a book describing them. Another market for this book is anyone within the environmental sciences. Scientists are continually looking for better ways to translate hard science into human language: and that is precisely what this book does. Anyone seeking to understand glaciers, climate change, or sustainability, will buy this book. Quick and engaging, it suits many different age and education levels."

The Problem of the Hot World


Pam Bonsper - 2015
    What happens when five forest friends discover their trees are no longer growing? When there is no more grass to eat? When there is no more water? When the world is too hot? This book follows the friends- a fox, a bear, an owl, a mole, and a deer- on an exciting adventure to find out where the water went and how to get it back.

Climate Change, Capitalism, and Corporations


Christopher Wright - 2015
    This book explores the complex relationship that the corporate world has with climate change and examines the central role of corporations in shaping political and social responses to the climate crisis. The principal message of the book is that despite the need for dramatic economic and political change, corporate capitalism continues to rely on the maintenance of 'business as usual'. The authors explore the different processes through which corporations engage with climate change. Key discussion points include climate change as business risk, corporate climate politics, the role of justification and compromise, and managerial identity and emotional reactions to climate change. Written for researchers and graduate students, this book moves beyond descriptive and normative approaches to provide a sociologically and critically informed theory of corporate responses to climate change.

Climate Change and Society: Sociological Perspectives


Riley E. Dunlap - 2015
    While there has been significant progress in natural science understanding of climate change, social science analyses have not been as fully developed. Climate Change and Society breaks new theoretical and empirical ground by presenting climate change as a thoroughly social phenomenon, embedded in behaviors, institutions, and cultural practices.This collection of essays summarizes existing approaches to understanding the social, economic, political, and cultural dimensions of climate change. From the factors that drive carbon emissions to those which influence societal responses to climate change, the volume provides a comprehensive overview of the social dimensions of climate change. An improved understanding of the complex relationship between climate change and society is essential for modifying ecologically harmful human behaviors and institutional practices, creating just and effective environmental policies, and developing a more sustainable future. Climate Change and Society provides a useful tool in efforts to integrate social science research, natural science research, and policymaking regarding climate change and sustainability.Produced by the American Sociological Association's Task Force on Sociology and Global Climate Change, this book presents a challenging shift from the standard climate change discourse, and offers a valuable resource for students, scholars, and professionals involved in climate change research and policy.

Wicked Wise: How to Solve the World's Toughest Problems


Ken Wilber - 2015
    This first entry looks at some of the most pressing and topical issues affecting the world today, from the clash of religions and cultures in a globalized world to the growing dominance of technology. The book sets the scene for debating the key challenges facing current and future generations, and sets possible agendas for how leaders, and potential leaders, can solve challenges through the wise application of multi-tiered multi-channel, multi-organizational intervention lead in a highly developed, enlightened, and selfless way.