Apocalyptic catastrophes, whether in Haiti or Japan, raze cities, drown coastlines, and—if you are willing to read the ruins—reveal the human sources of "natural" disaster.

    Although Australia’s prompt, science-led response to COVID-19 has not been perfect, it has saved tens of thousands of lives. But for decades, governments have ignored, ridiculed or understated the advice of scientists on the climate emergency.Now, in the wake of the megafires of 2020, a time of reckoning has arrived. In The Climate Cure renowned climate scientist Tim Flannery takes aim at those responsible for the campaign of obfuscation and denial that has already cost so many Australian lives and held back action on climate change.Flannery demands a new approach, based on the nation’s response to COVID-19, that will lead to effective government policies. The Climate Cure is an action plan for our future. We face a fork in the road, and must decide now between catastrophe and survival.

    

    But the past is hard to escape. The 'City has always been a dangerous place to live: now it's lethal. Not only are the crime lords exploiting its lawless streets, it is also the unwitting test bed for a sinister corporate technology. As Jaz tries to find an old friend who needs him, can a new ally help? Can he even be trusted? 'Trust A Few' is the first book in 'Haruspex', a tense new, sci-fi trilogy from Fortune's Fools.

    Regardless of the challenges she faced through her short life, she persevered and started her first year at college, rooming with her best friend Jill. However, a brutal attack that left her near death caused her to be without a way to easily relay information about her attackers. With no other options available to communicate with others – and with boredom as a result of being confined to a hospital bed having a detrimental effect on her health – Jill came up with a way for her best friend to play a game. Not just any game, though; Uniworld Online was the newest offering from Unitech, a company that designed a new method of fully immersing oneself into a game using a special technology called and NVERS. Set in a fantasy setting with opposing Light and Dark Factions, the immersive virtual reality game is unlike anything the world had ever seen. Having never played a video game before, though, Cadence is subjected to completely unfamiliar territory. Unlike every other player inside Uniworld, she isn’t playing the game to kill monsters and get stronger; instead, she wants to help the citizens of the world (which the other players call NPCs), which gives her a sense of purpose while her body heals back in the real world. The best thing about Uniworld, however, is that it provides her with something she has never had before: a voice. And with that voice, she has an opportunity to bring justice to her attackers – and maybe even change the landscape of Uniworld in the process.

    “Yeah, I figured that was it,” he says. “It’s going to blow up in our faces,” Superior admits. “So… want to help me kidnap her and leave her on an island in the Pacific Ocean?” “Tatiana?” Jack asks. “Sparky. If we did that to Tatiana she’d never stop yelling at us,” Superior says. Jack bursts out laughing, only to put his cup on the bar and shrug when he’s done. “Sure, sounds like fun,” he says. “I’ll go find some rubber gloves.” “That’s my grandson-in-law,” Superior says with a brilliant smile. “And these two are the ones I REALLY wanted to introduce last, Grandpa,” Aubrey says, tugging her grandfather over to them with a severely irritated expression on her face, “but I have to do it now because they’re planning to do something stupid and need to be stopped.”

    At the same time as climate change has assumed this status, it has become a topic more likely to be included in a church sermon. Indeed, while once considered the concern of scientific institutions, climate change is now increasingly incorporated into faith-based initiatives with even Pope Francis weighing in, issuing an encyclical on the subject as explained in chapter 16 by Paul Driessen. There are those who believe Pope Francis, and admire another climate change exponent, Al Gore – who marketed An Inconvenient Truth with comment, ‘the fact of global warming is not in question’ and that ‘its consequences for the world we live in will be disastrous if left unchecked’. And then there are the die-hard sceptics who dare to doubt. Many claim that these climate sceptics and their support base have an undue political influence, successfully thwarting attempts to implement necessary public policy change. This book is a collection of chapters by so-called climate sceptics. Each writer was asked to write on an aspect of the topic in which they are considered to have some expertise. None of them deny that climate change is real, but instead, they point out how extremely complex the topic of Earth’s climate is, with some of the contributors also querying the, often generally accepted, solutions. As you will see, this is not a book with just one message, except perhaps that there is a need for more scrutiny of the data, and of our own prejudices. This book’s reason for being is to give pause for thought, and to throw some alternative ideas and considerations into the mix.

    The waters rose, submerging New York City. But the residents adapted and it remained the bustling, vibrant metropolis it had always been. Though changed forever.Every street became a canal. Every skyscraper an island.Through the eyes of the varied inhabitants of one building, Kim Stanley Robinson shows us how one of our great cities will change with the rising tides.And how we too will change.

    

    Hike, camp and chill. Instead, the world comes to an end in a series of blue boxes. Animals start evolving, monsters start spawning and he gains a character sheet along with physics defying skills. Now, John has to survive the apocalypse with all the world's electronics not working, get back to civilization and defeat the monsters and aliens eyeing his city. But survival is not as easy as killing your way out of the nearest monster horde. The apocalypse will throw new challenges every step of the way and there are aliens - both friendly and contentious - that must be dealt with. And, as always, humanity will be its own greatest enemy. This collection contains the first three books of the highly rated System Apocalypse series (Life in the North, Redeemer of the Dead and the Cost of Survival) and completes the first arc - Whitehorse and the Yukon. The System Apocalypse contains elements of games like level ups, experience, enchanted materials, a sarcastic spirit, mecha, a beguiling dark elf, monsters, minotaurs, a fiery red head and a semi-realistic view on violence and its effects. Does not include harems.

    Nature.Bea’s five-year-old daughter, Agnes, is slowly wasting away. The smog and pollution of the City—an over-populated, over-built metropolis where most of the population lives—is destroying her lungs. But what can Bea do? No one leaves the City anymore, because there is nowhere else to go. But across the country lies the Wilderness State, the last swath of open, protected land left. Here forests and desert plains are inhabited solely by wildlife. People are forbidden. Until now. Bea, Agnes, and eighteen others volunteer to live in the Wilderness State as part of a study to see if humans can co-exist with nature. Can they be part of the wilderness and not destroy it? Living as nomadic hunter-gatherers, this new community wanders through the grand country, trying to adhere to the strict rules laid down by the Rangers, whose job it is to remind them they must Leave No Trace. As the group slowly learns to live and survive on the unpredictable and often dangerous land, its members battle for power and control and betray and save each other. The farther they roam, the closer they come to their animal soul.To her dismay, Bea discovers that, in fleeing to the Wilderness State to save Agnes, she is losing her in a different way. Agnes is growing wilder and closer to the land, while Bea cannot shake her urban past. As she and Agnes grow further apart, the bonds between mother and daughter are tested in surprising and heartbreaking ways.Yet just as these modern nomads come to think of the Wilderness State as home, its future is threatened when the Government discovers a new use for the land. Now the migrants must choose to stay and fight for their place in the wilderness, their home, or trust the Rangers and their promises of a better tomorrow elsewhere.

    Sea level will rise for at least 1,000 years. Shorelines will shift significantly by 2050 Property values may start to decline this decade. Rising sea level is the most profound long-term aspect of climate change. Yet, the public is almost completely unaware of the magnitude of the problem. For three million years sea level regularly moved up and down almost 400 feet with the ice age cycles. Now, after 6,000 years of minimal change, we are entering a new era of rapid sea level rise. In clear, easy-to-understand language, this book explains: * The science behind sea level rise, plus the myths and partial truths used to confuse the issue. * The surprising forces that will cause sea level to rise for 1,000 years, as well as the possibility of catastrophic rise this century. * Why the devastating economic effects will not be limited to the coasts. * Why coastal property values will go “underwater” long before the land does, perhaps as early as this decade. * Five points of “intelligent adaptation” that can help individuals, businesses, and communities protect investments now and in the future.

    In this nightmare society, air pollution is so bad that gas masks are commonplace. Infant mortality is up, and everyone seems to suffer from some form of ailment.

     Eli knows corruption runs deep within the compound. It's a reality he's forced to confront every year on Bid Day. He’s watched his cadets die one by one, and he knows this year will be no different. But when your job is to go out into the radiation-soaked Fringe so that others can live in peace, you don’t ask too many questions. For Harper, the bid system works just fine. She’s the best developer in her year, and she's confident she’ll find a place among the wealthy, respected Systems workers. But when an upset in the bidding lands Harper in Recon, she’ll be forced to venture out into the Fringe under the command of dark, enigmatic Eli Parker. In her search for answers, Harper will learn that in the compound, the truth doesn’t set you free. It gets you killed. If you love kickass heroines, tormented heroes, steamy tension, and blistering action, you’ll love this nonstop dystopian adventure!