I struggle trying to decide what to write about this book. On the one hand, large portions of it are extremely tedious to get through and seem like overkill. On the other hand, a few parts are some of the best writing on the global warming issue I have read recently. The book begins with a section that covers about the first half, which is basically an almost blow-by-blow accounting of all sorts of censorship, editing, distortion, and intimidation by political appointees in NASA. I suspect many people will give up on this book before finishing this part. I think it is too long and detailed. Perhaps more summary with a few well-placed examples would have sufficed. Around the middle of the book, the tone changes greatly, and there is much more coverage of Hansen's actual work through the years and what it showed about global warming. In this section Hansen is depicted as a careful scientist who basically got it right 30 years ago and has been getting better since. This section contains some of the best descriptions of how real-world data and modeling fit the picture, and why global warming deniers are way off base. Finally, towards the end of the book emphasis shifts to Hansen's more recent advocacy in favor of doing something, and (the author's)dire predictions for what's in store if we don't. Curiously, the descriptions of how much Hansen has been doing found at the end of the book seem a little out of synch with the claims of censorship and muzzling found at the beginning of the book.
In the second half of the book, Bowen seems to rely on the work of Journalist Ross Gelbspan, who shares an interest in how political forces have tried to distort or derail the science of global warming, and some of the material from his own previous book on the study of ice.
I think the following extremely important points can be gleaned from the book:
1) Hansen is a very meticulous scientist who shys away from political involvement or spectacular claims in public, in spite of how is he generally characterized by those hoping to smear him.
2) Hansen is perhaps the most important global warming researcher in the US, and has an incredible 30+ year record of solid work and correct predictions or views on things.
3) We have essentially lost many years of attacking the problem of global warming by allowing short-term corporate interests to dictate a policy that puts profit above long-term stability of the environment.
4) There is overwhelming and basically unassailable evidence of what is going on, and a strong basis for solid predictions of what could happen.
I will conclude by suggesting this book, while being very important in some aspects could have been much better in many ways. It can't decide if it's a biography on Dr. Hansen, an investigative report on Bush administration attempts to stymie science, or a scientific wake-up call on global warming. I give it three stars because it's so hard to get through the first half. However, I do suggest that anyone interested in this topic give it a try.
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