First the author is taking us through a journey through climate science and Earth’s climate history. We learn about the carbon cycle, greenhouse gases, atmospheric layers, the ocean and climate, jet streams, and atmospheric and ocean circulations, ice ages, Milankovitch cycles, and other natural cycles. We learn about how and why climate has changed in the past and how we know that we humans are changing it rapidly today, and how climate causes weather. We learn the reasons why we know that the current rapid warming is due to greenhouses and not a natural phenomenon. We learn about the stable climate we’ve had during the last 8,000 years and why it is important that it continues. We learn about how we can know all this stuff. The science is not too difficult and quite interesting.
Then the author describes the many bad effects of climate change, extinctions, drought, floods, sea-level rise, bad weather, illnesses, and much more, some of it which we are already observing. He discusses potential solutions, geoengineering and the politics around climate change, treaties, the economy, denial, etc. The book is packed with information. I believe I learned 100’s of new things and I think I was reminded of another 1000 things.
I loved the illustrations showing the atmospheric layers and Earth’s natural history. They were a good help for my memory. I like the organization of the book, the useful information, the lucid explanations and good overview. It enhanced my understanding of not just climate science but of several other topics in science and it improved my understanding of how the world works.
However, I disagreed with a few of his statements, especially his unfair portrayal of nuclear power. Chernobyl was an RBMK reactor without a containment shield, the monster of a totalitarian state and run accordingly. I also found what he said about nuclear waste, proliferation issues, nuclear safety and economy to be misleading at best. The author was obviously very ignorant of this topic. Personally, I believe that nuclear power must be part of the energy mix as we replace fossil fuels, and that it is nothing to be afraid of. However, I am not going to reduce my five star rating to four stars because of it because it was a very small part of the book, and I liked the rest. I highly recommend this book.
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