Synopses & Reviews
Last year, awareness about global warming reached a tipping point. Now one of the most dynamic writers and one of the most respected scientists in the field of climate change offer the first concise guide to both the problems and the solutions. Guiding us past a blizzard of information and misinformation, Gabrielle Walker and Sir David King explain the science of warming, the most cutting-edge technological solutions from small to large, and the national and international politics that will affect our efforts.
While there have been many other books about the problem of global warming, none has addressed what we can and should do about it so clearly and persuasively, with no spin, no agenda, and no exaggeration. Neither Walker nor King is an activist or politician, and theirs is not a generic green call to arms. Instead they propose specific ideas to fix a very specific problem. Most important, they offer hope: This is a serious issue, perhaps the most serious that humanity has ever faced. But we can still do something about it. And theyandrsquo;ll show us how.
Review
ADVANCE PRAISE FOR THE HOT TOPIC
andldquo;This is a fantastic book. Itandrsquo;s just what the world needs right now.andrdquo;andmdash;Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers
andldquo;A masterful book, wonderfully well-written. It should become the authoritative statement on climate change and what to do about it for years to come.andrdquo; andmdash;James Lovelock, author of The Revenge of Gaia
About the Author
GABRIELLE WALKERandnbsp;has a PhD in chemistry fromandnbsp;Cambridge Universityandnbsp;and has taught at both Cambridge and Princeton universities. She is a consultant to Newandnbsp;Scientist, contributes frequently to BBC Radio, and writes for many newspapers and magazines. She is also the author ofandnbsp;four books, including An Ocean of Air and Antarctica. She lives inandnbsp;London.Sir David King is the UK Government's Chief Science Adviser.andnbsp; In this position, he has instigated the Energy Research Partnership, run the Government Foresight program on Flood and Coastal Defenses, and set up the Climate Change Conference at Exeter in 2005, as well as lectured on climate change to numerous parliaments and governments.andnbsp;
Table of Contents
Contents
Preface ix
part I The Problem
1 Warming World 3
2 Whodunnit? 19
3 Feeling the Heat 32
4 In the Pipeline 47
5 Climate Wild Cards 64
part Ii Technological Solutions
6 What Should We Aim For? 81
7 More from Less 97
8 Planes, Trains, and Automobiles 110
9 Power to Change 126
part Iii Political Solutions
10 It’s the Economy, Stupid 147
11 The Road from Kyoto 166
12 Rapidly Developing Nations
(or, come on in, the agreement’s lovely) 178
13 Industrialized Nations
(or, whose fault is it anyway?) 188
14 How You Can Change the World 214
Acknowledgments 229
Appendix: Climate Myths, Half-Truths,
and Misconceptions 231
Selected Glossary 241
Notes 245
Index 267