Customer Reviews

Climate Change: Picturing the Science

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

As noted by the authors, this book was structured around a medical metaphor of symptoms, diagnosis, and possible cures. The book is a collection of essays from scientists from many fields: climatology, meteorology, biology, geology, oceanography, chemistry, climate modeling, environmental politics, astrophysics, and other fields, so it becomes clear to the reader how climate change has impacted all aspects of planet Earth. The authors have summarized the latest research in climate science in a style that makes the information very accessible to the non-scientist.

The authors also make it clear what is well known vs. what is not well known in the rapidly evolving field of climate science. A very fair representation of the current science.

For those looking for more actual data, there are better books, but this book is an excellent resource for the general public and I have listed it on my Global Warming Website linked below.

Scott A. Mandia, Professor - Physical Sciences
[...]

This book provides an excellent introduction to the science behind climate change and the options we have available to us. Climatologist Gavin Schmidt of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and photographer Joshua Wolfe have collected a variety of scientists, photographers, science historians and science writers who tell and show the story of what may be the biggest challenge facing us. Difficult concepts are explained clearly for the reader just trying to sort out the conflicting information that is out there, but there is also something for those who have kept up with the science. The authors do not try to show a false balance, but do explain where the uncertainties lie.

There are a number of books that are worth reading; what makes this book of particular value is the striking photography; from the "bathtub rings" of Lake Meade to the destruction caused by bark beetles. The pictures of scientists in the field and in their labs and offices (Wally Broecker's office is truly notable) are a nice touch. The writing, although contributed by different authors, is excellent and the chapters are well-integrated. The chapters that stand out to this reviewer are 1. "Taking the Temperature of the Planet" by Peter deMenocal, 6. "Climate Drivers" by Tim Hall and 7. "Studying Climate" by Drs. Schmidt and deMenocal. The essays and photo-essays that follow many of the chapters provide further snippets of information.

One quibble I have is that the book does not provide extensive notes. The reader is directed to books, web sites and the IPCC reports, but some original sources and scientific review papers would help the more advanced reader. But the strengths of the book are such that his book belongs up there with other excellent climate-related books such as Elizabeth Kolbert's "Field Notes from a Catastrophe", David Archer's "The Long Thaw" and Joseph Romm's "Hell and High Water". It is truly worth a read.

This book brings to life the fact that climate change is not an intellectual theory. It's happening right now as you read this all around the world. Even worse is the fact that the pace of climate change is picking up speed, faster than the worst predictions of most experts. For other books like this I would recommend Extreme Ice Now: Vanishing Glaciers and Changing Climate: A Progress Report and the PBS documentary Extreme Ice.

This book is a wonderful combination of the imagery and science. At one level, it could be a fascinating book about the wonders of scientific research, while at another it could be a collection of wonderful photography from scientists around the world. Seamlessly combining these two fronts, while elucidating the truth about climate change in a very real and striking way, "Climate Change: Picturing the Science" allows its readers to literally see what is happening to our world and those who are searching for a cure.

For what it aims to do, this book is excellent. The authors aim at a basic but accurate introduction to anthropogenic global warming (AGW)in an accessible and attractive format. Included are not only the basics of AGW per se but also discussion of how the different forms of climate science are done, the consilient evidence, and a brief but useful introduction to policy issues. There are many stunning photographs and the text sections are clear and concise.

This book provides a useful précis of current climate science accompanied by enjoyable photographs.

Those looking for in depth explanations of anthropogenic climate change will not find them here, but thorough education is not the book's goal. I found it informative and enjoyable.

Gavin Schmidt is an actual (gasp) climate scientist, one who has published extensively in the peer reviewed science journals. He moderates the web site www.RealClimate.org.

Al Gore's AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH is OK at a popular level. For those wanting more -- this is a good place to start.

The AGW denialists will hate it!

John Burgeson

This book makes the case for anthropomorphic global warming in accessible way for nonscientists like me. The photos and occassional graphs gave life to the text. An excellent read but a very depressing subject. It's even more depressing that all this hard work of many hard working and dedicated climatologists is getting picked apart and misconstrued by Fox News and the denialist industry spawned by the dollars of the carbon extraction industries. But that's another book, Climate Cover-Up by James Hoggan.

An amazing amount of detailed but coherent information in one place. It also really lets you know that even this collection is just the tip of the (melting) ice berg of evidence and knowledge.

It's not 'dumbed down' either which I appreciated. Unfortunately this stuff can't be dumbed down enough to be intelligible to the wacko 'deniers', and if it WAS dumbed down that much it wouldn't be convincing. This isn't a problem with the book, but does underscore the intractable problem: NO book no matter how good can make the case to people who aren't willing (or are unable) to pay attention.

This pictorial does little to enlighten the debate over the role of anthropogenic carbon in climate change.