Product Description

Customer Reviews (5)

Probably better for advanced readers
The author focuses on the intersection between politics and science.He covers both areas well; the politics is interesting and the science is accurate, if my understanding of the subject is correct.

I originally wrote a review that criticized the book for favoring one solution, a solution I consider to be futile, over all the others.After an exchange of comments with the author, I concluded that the problem was only that I hadn't understood the text.Perhaps his intent was to collate all the strengths and weaknesses of the various solutions available.I can imagine that any study like that would contain any number of internal counter-arguments that might appear to be contradictions.Even after dialoging with him I still am unclear what his intent was.It could be that my intellect does not grasp the nuances of the manuscript.

I think a reader would gain some good information.I don't think he would come away with a clear road map of how to solve this important problem.

So I think the book is an interesting read, but only one of many.If you're trying to choose from among the spate of books on this subject, I'd recommend either Whole Earth Discipline by Stewart Brand or Storms of My Grandchildren by James Hansen.

A refreshing new approach to a tired problem
Starting on this page Amazon lists 38 books about climate change.Five of these, (3 of which were written by scientists), support the hypothesis of carbon dioxide induced global warming.Thirty one, (17 of which were written by scientists), are skeptical of that hypothesis and present several alternative viewpoints.There certainly is no consensus nor "settled science" here.After twenty years the orthodoxy remains the same, one knob controls the whole immensely complex system known as climate.Occam smiles at his razor. Common sense weeps.Billions of research dollars have been spent on building a monument, a virtual Tower of Babel clad in silicon and engraved with fallible algorithms.After all of this time and money,we have only the elegance of our ideas and astonishing tools to show for it.Meanwhile heresies have spread; atheists are speaking louder, and an audience of agnostics grows.

Mike Hulme broke the climate war monotony last year when his book," Why We Disagree About Climate Change", did not try to convince anyone of the rightness of any argument but instead examined the unique human psychologys behind all of it.Nordhaus and Shellenberger in "Environment 360" argued that efforts to use climate science to justify decarbonization should cease and a divorce arranged.Roger Pielke Jr. walks farther down this road examining the issue from a sociological and political standpoint.That is key.We who have been arguing the science for twenty years need to listen when Pielke says this is really a political issue not a scientific one.Forget arguing about the science.Nothing will be settled until some hypothesis is confirmed by empirical confirmation in the real world and that is not likely to happen.Meanwhile the climate science budget would be better spent on observational science examining regional climate.We know regional climate exists; that it directly affects mankind and vice versa in several ways. It is time to leave the virtual world where the arctic and the desserts share the same climate and return to reality.

Reality is what politics is all about.Pielke convincingly illustrates the coming reality of enormous energy demand emanating from increasing living standards and increasing population.We either cross our fingers and let the cards fall as they may (with all the risks that entails) or we get governments involved in an overall planning posture. He builds his political solution on two solid pillars.First man-made carbon dioxide in the air is not a good thing says a huge segment of the population.Whether this is true or not is beside the point; It has become axiomatic and there is widespread support for action to limit it.But that support disappears when it runs into Pielke's iron law of climate policy which is that there is a "deeply held global and ideological commitment to economic growth" that trumps any climate program.These undeniable facts need to be reconciled.

Getting climate science out of the picture is important if the atheists and heretics are to remain calm.Going after carbon dioxide is what matters most to the orthodox; they won't miss the science.Is there a way to limit carbon dioxide in the atmosphere without it being part of a costly climate program?Can it be done without competing with economic growth?The answer is not to be found in science or in some ideological commitment.It is found in good politics.Pielke saves the how and the best for the last chapter and I will not spoil your suspense by describing it here.The book is well written and fun to read as he takes you on several interesting and enlightening side journeys.It is a climate book far different from the same old routine.The logic is impeccable and Pielke does not scream like his critics which means that politicians will probably never get behind his ideas.

no energy breakthrough = no decarbonization progress
For three decades, I had a ringside seat to some of the events in the book.As a young post-doc at the National Center for Atmospheric Research in 1982, I recall a seminar in which we were shown a plot of average global temperature for the past century, and then a modeling effort that included various combinations of three forcings: volcanic aerosols, solar variability and rising CO2 concentration.Good agreement with the rising trend of temperature was obtained only with the inclusion of CO2 (and presumably the feedback processes in the model).We were invited to conclude that the model was pretty good, and that the forecast for the future increase of temperaturewas credible.

Fast forward to 2010.We can now read a widely publicized article in the Journal of Climate titled "Why Hasn't Earth Warmed as Much as Expected?" written by top-notch atmospheric scientists(look for the Brookhaven National Lab press release).The article is premised on the conclusion that the Earth hasn't warmed as much as expected, and asks why.Recent data and analysis now discount a global-warming "time-bomb", ascenario by which the global temperature lags behind the equilibrium value for the current concentration of carbon dioxide, because of the large heat capacity of the oceans. The "time-bomb" provides a nice exercise in ordinary differential equations, an exercise that I have taught in class.If CO2 is frozen at the current value, a further doubling of global temperature increase could still occur, if the time-bomb parameters are stretched to the upper bound.But in light of recent data and analysis, the actual time-bomb scenario for Earth appears closer to the lower bound.So at least two other possible answers to the posed question invite reconsideration.One possible answer is that positive feedback processes in the prognostic models are too large, a second possible answer is that anthropogenic haze could be offsetting the enhanced greenhouse effect.Both of those answers are in fact allowed by IPCC-endorsed science, as is the possibility that thenet anthropogenic effect has actually been close to zero, and thus global temperature change observed in the last century was largely a natural fluctuation, driven by mechanisms unappreciated back in 1982.All this uncertainty about what has been happening in the past century contributes to uncertainty about what will happen in the next, and, as Pielke points out, research in the coming decade is likely to reveal more uncertainly, not less.

Now on to Pielke's book. In writing my above paragraphs, highlighting the state of the science the way I did, I have positioned myself as a borderline "skeptic" within my academic community.I would go over the borderline if I characterize as ludicrous Al Gore's statement that "We have at our fingertips all of the tools we need to solve three of four climatecrises - and we only need to solve one" and go on to characterize our Senator Inhofe's statement thatthe threat of catastrophic global warming is the "greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people" as entirely reasonable, given the energy and development advocacy that his detractors use global warming science for.At that point I would be in trouble with a crowd of advocates that doesn't really know how the Kyoto treaty works (doesn't know who receives the penalty fines), doesn't know that a capacity factor of at most 30% needs to be figured into a news story about a wind farm and its cost,and is clueless about the watts per square of meter of photosynthesis in agriculture. The academic zeitgeist is that the iconic Socolow "wedges" would happen if the naysayers would just stop detracting from the public will to mitigate global warming.The crowd's lack of understanding of energy technology leaves them oblivious to Pielke's iron law of climate policy(contemporary economic well-being trumps global warming mitigation at all times and at all places, regardless of the extent of thepublic's acceptance of the "majority view" about global warming) so the advocates mistakenly engage in a "vicious battle with those who express minority views about climate science" (page 44). And more on page 44: "Further, efforts to intensify public opinion could indeed have the opposite effect if they are perceived to be misrepresenting the scientific and policy arguments for action.In fact, as I will show in Chapter 7, that is exactly what has happened."

After reading page 44, an eager reader, if already savvy about renewable energy (on the level of Mackay's book, rather than Gore's) and the science-fiction geoengineering ideas (such as adding aerosols to the stratosphere), may then want to go straight toChapter 6 an page 143 titled "How Climate Policy Went Off Course and the First Steps Back in the Right Direction" (it doesn't blame the skeptics). Chapter 7: "Disasters, Death and Destruction".(For that chapter, I not only had a ringside seat but also occasionally jumped into the ring to give a couple of whacks).A title of a subsection is "Untangling a Decade of Misrepresentation of Disasters and Climate Change"(the malfeasance did not originate from the deniers).And Chapter 8:"The Politicization of Climate Science" (with recent headlines of Climategate, IPCC scandals, Copenhagen breakdowns and vindication of hurricane skeptics,Senator Inhofe is no longer noteworthy).Pielke hits three home runs with these chapters.Pielke is thorough in his research and his outstanding quotes all have citations. Here is one of my favorites, a segment of a quote from Sarewitz on page 212: "Value disputes that are hidden behind the scientific claims and counterclaims need to be flushed out and brought into the sunlight of democratic deliberation".

When public presentations of climate science willfully conflated bad science with the good science, the silence in my scientific community was indeed noteworthy,as if all could be forgiven if the conflation helped focus the public on properly rearranging their values.But nowadays, thanks to books like Pielke's, it is bit easier for members in my community to claim that they were skeptics all along too,and even to claim that they were speaking out, but just doing so softly so as not to jeopardize (or appear jealous of) funding streams, or inadvertently to be abetting conservative causes.Roger Pielke Jr. has a long record of wisdom and integrity on climate and energy issues, and deserves the accolades for his book.

On page 50 we read 'Similarly, Senator Barbara Boxer (D-CA) promised that "any kind of cap-and-trade system that comes forward will not raise energy and gas prices." ' Of course, given the iron law,Congress will only be able to enact such token gestures.Without a breaktrough in energy technology (say in photovoltaics or advanced nuclear fuel cycles), decarbonization policies can expected to do nothing more then nudge a gentle shift away from coal to natural gas for electricity generation, in regions that have a plentiful and secure natural gas supply.In his final chapter Pielke argues for a modest carbon tax, and then mustering the political will to keep the revenue stream targeted at energy R&D.

A masterful analysis
Pielke is a expert on science policy from the University of Colorado. He runs a popular and often controversial blog. He should not be confused with his father, with the same name, who is an important climate scientist.

Pielke's style is soft spoken but he is not afraid to make strong judgements. He proposes an "iron law of climate policy" that basically says that no climate policies that cause substantial, immediate economic pain will ever be implemented. If you accept his iron law (and I do) then it is clear that all the CO2 control efforts that are supposed to be implemented via cap and trade or other unpleasant government mandates or taxes will never see the light of day. Yet Pielke believes that CO2 control is important and he proposes solutions that don't violate his iron law.

The book is filled with well-presented useful information. His discussion of climategate, the publication of numerous private emails exchanged between important climate scientists, is the best I've ever seen.

Pielke's strength is illuminating politicized debates with facts and logical analysis. Obviously climate or global warming is one of those. Because he grew up in the important climate science community centered in Colorado and started his career in science, he knows many of the important players personally.

A Thoughtful Approach to the Next Round of Climate Policy
(This reviews the pre-release version.)

After a tumultuous year in climate policy - from Climategate to the failure of the Copenhagen talks and the probable death of cap-and-trade - Pielke's book offers the most thoughtful approach to climate policy, taking honest stock of both the current state of science and politics. It is excellent for those who are familiar with the debate as well as those new to the issue.
Pielke is one of the few experts willing to critique those he agrees with, and he spends a fair amount of time highlighting the politicization of climate science by both sides. While arguing that climate change presents real risks, he is effective at noting the unscientific excesses of advocates of aggressive climate policy. Several anecdotes tell the story of how noted scientists used their credentials to make claims they admit are unscientific. These exaggerations, Pielke argues, have increased public skepticism about the science, making it more difficult to come to policy agreement.
The book does an excellent job explaining the basics of climate science, offering some good guidelines for what is known and where the scientific uncertainty lies. It is one of the few books I've read recently that offers both clear explanations and the complexity involved in understanding climate science. Most effective is the way he uses this solid scientific foundation to characterize the size and nature of the challenge of reducing carbon emissions. Perhaps the best insight, however, is that while many who debate climate policy focus on debating the details of climate science, Pielke argues an effective policy approach can be found even without certainty regarding the exact nature of the risks from climate change.
Finally, he argues for a technology-centered approach to decarbonizing. He also keeps in mind something that sometimes gets lost in the traditional climate debate -- the dignity of humans that obliges us to respect individual choice and help those in poverty improve their lives. Although I am not as confident that political leaders can determine how to effectively or fairly invest in technology solutions as Pielke, this is a narrow area of debate. For those trying to understand what is next for climate policy, "The Climate Fix" is simply a must read.
... Read more

Product Description
In The Climate War, Eric Pooley--deputy editor of Bloomberg BusinessWeek--does for global warming what Bob Woodward did for presidents and Lawrence Wright did for terrorists. In this epic tale of an American civil war, Pooley takes us behind the scenes and into the hearts and minds of the most important players in the struggle to cap global warming pollution--a fight in which trillions of dollars and the fate of the planet are at stake.

Why has it been so hard for America to come to grips with climate change? Why do so many people believe it isn't really happening? As President Obama's science advisor John Holdren has said, "We're driving in a car with bad brakes in a fog and heading for a cliff. We know for sure that cliff is out there. We just don't know exactly where it is. Prudence would suggest that we should start putting on the brakes." But powerful interests are threatened by the carbon cap that would speed the transition to a clean energy economy, and their agents have worked successfully to deny the problem and delay the solutions.

To write this book, Pooley, the former managing editor of Fortune and chief political correspondent for Time, spent three years embedded with an extraordinary cast of characters: from the flamboyant head of one of the nation's largest coal-burning energy companies to the driven environmental leader who made common cause with him, from leading scientists warning of impending catastrophe to professional skeptics disputing almost every aspect of climate science, from radical activists chaining themselves to bulldozers to powerful lobbyists, media gurus, and advisors in Obama's West Wing--and, to top it off, unprecedented access to former Vice President Al Gore and his team of climate activists.

Pooley captures the quiet determination and even heroism of climate campaigners who have dedicated their lives to an uphill battle that's still raging today. He asks whether we have what it takes to preserve our planet's habitability, and shows how America's climate war sends shock waves from Bali to Copenhagen. No other reporter enjoys such access to this cast of characters. No other book covers this terrain. From the trenches of a North Carolina power plant to the battlefields of Capitol Hill, Madison Avenue, and Wall Street, The Climate War is the essential read for anyone who wants to understand the players and politics behind the most important issue we face today.

PRAISE FOR THE CLIMATE WAR

"Eric Pooley has written a riveting tale, the very first account of the epic American campaign to get serious about global warming. This story has heroes, like my friend Al Gore, and it has some villains. What it doesn't have is an ending; that part is still up to us. Which is why anyone who worries about the future of our nation--or wonders why it has been so hard for us to deal with climate change--should read this book."
--President Bill Clinton

"The Climate War offers a behind-the-scenes look at the most consequential political battle of our time. It's a compelling--and often disturbing--read."
--Elizabeth Kolbert, Author of Field Notes from a Catastrophe

"In the ever-expanding literature on climate change, this is the first book to put a human face on the problem by getting into the heads of the people who are trying to solve it, deftly revealing the messy entanglement of idealism and realism that ultimately results in progress."
--Michael Oppenheimer, Albert G. Milbank Professor of Geosciences and International Affairs, Princeton University

"If the science is so clear and compelling--the way we use energy is dangerously overheating the planet--the how come it's so agonizingly difficult for America to face facts and lead the way toward a global solution? Finally, I have a good idea why, thanks to Eric Pooley's lucid chronicle of the long-running struggles--political, personal and above all, economic--to define the world that our children and grandchildren will inhabit."
--Kurt Andersen, Author of Heyday and Reset and Host of public radio's "Studio 360"

"The first great campaign book about the political battle over climate change. Eric Pooley brings us inside this epic struggle in which science, business, and politics all come together. The characters are fascinating and the stakes are enormous."
--Walter Isaacson, President and CEO, The Aspen Institute and Author of Einstein: His Life and Universe

"The legislative process revealed: Eric Pooley paints the personalities, the strategies, and the intrigue of climate politics in vivid detail. A page turner and a must-read for anyone who cares about the climate, and about America's continued ability to tackle problems and lead."
--Katie McGinty, Former Chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality

"Eric Pooley's The Climate War is a painstakingly researched account of how climate change grew to become one of the defining political issues of a generation. As progressives in America and around the world fight to head off climate disaster, Pooley's book presents a much-needed history of the campaign for climate protection, and reminds us, once again, why urgent action is so necessary."
--John Podesta, President and CEO Center for American Progress

"The Climate War is a great book not just because it chronicles the bloody political fight to save the planet, but because it's the best argument I've ever read for how a single policy idea--cap and trade--can change the world."
--Jeff Goodell, Author of How to Cool the Planet

"Journalism with principles: epic in scale, masterful in narrative and detail, with well-paced winks at the tragic absurdity of it all."
--Eric Roston, Author of The Carbon Age ... Read more

Customer Reviews (12)

ACCURATE, WITH LIMITED RELEVANCE
The book is an accurate summary of climate change politics, especially in America.However, no realistic recommendations are offered that will change the present gridlock on climate change action one iota.

Climate change is proceeding faster than expected, and by the time it makes itself felt in an indisputable manner, it will be too late to arrest progress.From all I have read, especially from independent scientists such as James Lovelock, it probably is too late already.We appear to be locked in the feed-forward destabilizing cycle of methane release from the Siberian tundra, and I see no way out.

But if there were a way out, the most drastic action would have to be taken immediately, given the scale of global climate processes.Blocking this action are the special interests who profit substantially from the status quo.The rules of the game are stacked in their favor.If we follow the old Anglo-Saxon debate rules of giving equal weight to both sides of the argument, we will have continual paralysis listening to both sides of the argument, as the author documents only too well.

The rules of the game need to be changed!As Lovelock points out, climate change/global warming has the potential to elimate billions from the world's population.This is genocide on a scale not seen in human history, and makes the genocide of the twentieth century pale in comparison.The 'deniers' are in fact mass murderers of our grandchildren and their progeny, and need to be treated no differently from how the twentieth century mass murderers were treated.Enough of these books that present 'all sides' of global warming!Expose these 'deniers' for the mass murderers that they are, treat them appropriately, and then hope it is not too late to take the appropriate action required to arrest the problem.

Climate Change Politics is indeed a War
Wonky, wonky, wonky.If you are a policy wonk, you will love this book.If you follow the politics of global warming and are not a climate "skeptic", you will love this book.If you listen to National Public Radio, follow politics, and think the political process is interesting, you will probably love this book.If you are a climate change "skeptic", why bother reading this book?You'll probably disagree with the author about 90 percent of the time, and then think you've wasted your money.

The title of the book is a little misleading. The book really doesn't go back very far in "the climate war", only covers the United States, and covers very little of the rest of the world.The title of the book should have been "How the 2009 American Climate Bill was Defeated".That's what the whole book is about.As such, it is a bit depressing for those of us who think something should be done at the national level to reduce greenhouse gas emissions sooner rather than later.Admittedly, when the author started writing the book, he thought it would have a different ending, one in which a meaningful climate bill was successfully passed.However, because no such bill looks feasible currently (2010); the effect of reading the book is to be reminded just how powerful the coal and petrochemical industries really are.I sincerely hope this last statement becomes out-dated soon.

The book gets a maximum 5 of 5 stars for its depth and effort, and from what I can tell, extreme accuracy and fair reporting of climate change politics in America.Having said that, it's not perfect.

A few of the book's limitations:
1) The author does not touch upon the science of global warming, he assumes anybody reading the book is probably familiar with the basic science behind human-caused warming.The author is not a global warming skeptic, although he doesn't appear to be in the "imminent extinction of humanity" camp either.

2) The author writes about the U.S. as if it were the center of the world.

3) Although the author writes extensively on cap and trade, he doesn't actually do a very good job of explaining what it is.A nice graphic would have helped - cap and trade is actually a nuanced and not very inherently obvious concept for those new to it - I believe the author is so immersed in cap and trade politics, he forgot that the average person really does not understand the concept of cap and trade.

4) The author appears to believe that nothing bad should ever happen to the all-mighty corporate business interests, whether or not they are destroying human health or a livable environment.(He's quite an apologist for maintaining existing business practices so that no economic disruption occurs.)

Perhaps the biggest question I have about the author is whether or not he really believes carbon capture and sequestration (storage) is feasible.The author appears to endorse that coal-burning power plants can actually reduce their greenhouse gas emissions by successfully capturing the carbon dioxide, then transporting it and storing it underground or under the ocean, where it is safely kept out of the atmosphere.Unfortunately, carbon capture and storage is the most cynical, manipulative, false "solution" to reducing greenhouse gas emissions that exists today.The coal industry wants you to believe in "clean coal", which simply does not exist and cannot exist with current technology.The reason why "clean coal" is mentioned by industry is to lull people into a false sense of security that there is "a solution".However, anybody who has spent more than one hour researching feasibility of carbon capture and storage will tell you that it's just not going to happen in the next 50 years.Anybody telling you something differently is trying to sell you a bill of goods.I'm not exaggerating, just do your own research.

If "clean coal" will not exist, then instead of complaining, I would suggest the U.S. Senate and Congress to get serious about reducing greenhouse gases by requiring mandatory energy efficient buildings, and passing a minimum gas mileage of 70 mpg by the year 2020 vehicle model year (not as difficult as it sounds).Further, coal power plants can be replaced by power plants operating on natural gas, wind, solar, and nuclear (gotcha on that one, maybe).Even painting roofs white can cut down dramatically on air-conditioning in the summer - ever wonder why they whitewashed the houses in hot Mediterranean villages?

I suppose my main criticism of the book is that Mr. Poole seems to fervently believe in the power of the free market to solve problems, even global warming.However, this almost religious and blind belief in capitalism is what got the world into the environmental mess we are in.I suggest "more of the same" will not get us out of the hole we've dug ourselves into.Perhaps more intelligent planning will get us out of the hot state of affairs we are in.

A 'must' for both science and social issues libraries concerned with climate change issues
THE CLIMATE WAR: TRUE BELIEVERS, POWER BROKERS, AND THE FIGHT TO SAVE THE EARTH provides a portrait of an American civil war, and considers the hearts and minds the most important players in global warming issues. Why do so many believe global warming isn't happening? The author spent three years with scientists and politicians who either warned or disputed climate science: his is an outstanding survey and a 'must' for both science and social issues libraries concerned with climate change issues.

Excellent US-centric account
If you're interested in climate change and climate policy, and if you have a laser-beam focus on the United States context and limited interest in what transpires outside, Eric Pooley's book is a must-read. It's not perfect - it is a joirnalist's account, not a historian's, and thus has a few too many magazine-profile-esque potted biographies; it is also very much focussed on the activities of the main sources who cooperated with Pooley. If you're a climate sceptic, or a red-blooded enviro who disdains compromise with markets and corporations, you will bristle at Pooley's point of view, which is pro-climate action, pro-market and pragmatic, and entirely overt. There's really no picture of what was happening outside the US - international meetings are described only in terms of other countries' responses to US action and inaction - but as an account of the long and unfinished road to US climate legislation this is an entirely essential book.

Way Too Long -
Author Pooley spent three years talking to people on all sides of the Cimate War, hoping to document a happy ending. Instead, it turned into an epic without any ending - nothing has been resolved, and the problem continues to grow. Unfortunately, Pooley's 496 pages are incredibly too long, and not worth reading in their entirety - even though the topic is very important.

In early 2007 a New York Times poll found that 90% of Democrats, 80% of Independents, and 60% of Republicans favored 'immediate action.' Concern over Katrina had helped boost interest in taking action. Evangelicals, retired generals, and a coalition of 10 Fortune 500 corporate came out in favor of a cap, the Supreme Court ruled the EPA could regulate CO2, and California and other states legislated cuts. Meanwhile, experts were also concluding that they'd underestimated the speed of climate change - evidence of climate change was already visible, and some believed the goal should be 350 PPM, not the original 450 PPM. Reducing CO2, however, would cost money - 25 states get at least half their electricity from coal. Opponents also contended that a 'cap-and-trade' approach would result in closing U.S. plants and shipping work overseas, to non-complying countries. On the other hand, Duke Energy, PSEG, and NextEra Energy support.

By 2008, public support had fallen to '69%, overwhelmingly from a decline in Republican support. Opponents took to sponsoring conferences designed to look life forums for scientific inquiry, though actually the point was to generate media attention. Anti-tax groups are frequent co-sponsors. Speakers with dubious credibility become featured. The Bush administration suppressed worrisome reports.

China is now spending about 2X the amount of the U.S. on renewable energy, possibly $738 billion over the next decade. ... Read more

Product Description
Dwindling resources. Massive population shifts. Natural disasters. Spreading epidemics. Drought. Rising sea levels. Plummeting agricultural yields. Crashing economies. Political extremism. These are some of the expected consequences of runaway climate change in the decades ahead, and any of them could tip the world towards conflict. Prescient, unflinching, and based on exhaustive research and interviews, Climate Wars promises to be one of the most important books of the coming years. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

The single most compelling look at our future
This book does what few of us dare to: it actually looks at a world that has crossed the threshold of runaway global warming, where positive (self-reinforcing) feedbacks kick in.As Dyer explains, if carbon emissions from fossil fuels warm the planet more than 2 degrees, then natural processes, so far held in check, begin to take it much further.What would happen to human society in such a world?The first key fact is that in many parts of the globe there would be a shortage of food.And very likely there would be conflict.

Dyer had a heated debate with Indian activist Vandana Shiva on Democracy Now about geoenginnering.If, like me, you distrust technological fixes, you may well agree with Shiva.But it is a sign of the strength of Dyer's book that it is the best discussion of the hazards of geoengineering that I have seen, even though he advocates it.

If there is a weakness in the book, it is that it is written with analytical, almost fatalistic detachment, and thus it is not in itself a call to action.We must change how we live and we must do the seemingly impossible and very steeply cut our carbon emissions -- right away.This will be extremely difficult.Read Dyer's book, think about the world he describes, and you will find you have the energy to try very hard indeed.

I have just read a library copy, but I am sure I will wind up buying the book anyway.(You buy a dictionary even though you have looked at one in the library.This is a text to come back to.)

Our future reality?
Climate Wars (by Gywnne Dyer), as a title, is a bit misleading. Yes, it does give some hypothetical scenarios of wars that could be caused by the effects of climate change. But the meat of the book is not hypothetical, worst-case scenario fantasies. The majority of the book is devoted to the reality of what we know now, scientifically, and what we didn't really fully understand just 10-15 years ago. This is a well-researched (from my layman's perspective) book on the current state of our climate, the science behind global warming fears, the human-generated pollution that is largely responsible for it, and how just a little bit of warming could very well have a snowball effect into outright global climate change on a scale that humans would, in short time, have very little resources or technologies to combat.

My opinion is that this is a must read for all humans, as this topic affects all of us; and if we ignore it, it is to our own peril. But on the optimistic side, no one knows for sure what will happen or how climate change will unfold. There are too many unknowns to decisively conclude that Pakistan will suffer devastating floods due to global warming (oh, crap! haven't I been hearing about Pakistan's flood crises a lot lately in the news, well after this book was written?!?). And we can't predict to 100% certainty that Russia will suffer droughts and therefore food production will suffer massive losses...or maybe the author of this book did have some things right! It was quite eery reading this book and the specific potential scenarios that could happen within a few decades, only to turn on the TV and see these scenarios playing out in real time, right now!!! Yikes! It certainly gave me a wake-up call...and a bit of guilt complex as I continue driving my gasoline powered car (though it does get relatively good milege) and continue to use electricity that is probably mostly coal-powered. I have cut back though. The scary thing is, if you believe Gwynne Dyer, the amout of cuts to global greenhouse gas emissions, at this point, would have to be MASSIVE in order to avert the worst that global warming has in store for us.

But the author ends on an optimistic note: Maybe geo-engineering (though very controversial) can save the day until energy-hungry societies are finally convinced that global warming is real, is serious, and is only going to end in the ultimate demise of human civilization unless we change our polluting habits and our attitudes towards earth.

Happy reading, and sweet dreams :{

Plausible scenarios of a possible, yet still avoidable future holocaust . . .
Dyer's analytical expertise and exhaustive research style is well-demonstrated in this well-planned and executed book detailing the possible future we the human race face as global warming escalates.He gives clear and well-reasoned scenarios based on interviews with climate scientists and political science advisers from around the globe.

The one thought I had on finishing the book."It's really happening.The end of the world we have heard about in all our religious stories since childhood, the Judgment Day, the Appocallypse, is coming.This is our final test as a species.Will we survive?"

The author does not bring in any spiritual or religious perspective.That was my add-on.I would have welcomed some, actually, since the future he paints basically hinges on global cooperation or possibly extinction of our species, and perhaps all other species, as apparently has been argued by paleontologists for prior extinction episodes in the Earth's history.Apparently there have been five episodes in the past that resulted in carbonic acid oceans, burping hydrogen sulfide into the atmosphere and poisoning all life on the planet at the time.Dyer does not explain how the Earth recovered from these extinction episodes, but refers to a book by a paleontologist about a green sky (caused by hydrogen sulfide).Maybe I will look that up later, but I have no reason to doubt what is apparently accepted science for past mass extinctions (except for the dinosaur thing 65 million years ago--that was apparently the result of an asteroid hitting in the Yucatan area of Mexico--before it was Mexico of course.)

As you can see, I don't retain most of what I read, so am not a good person to give book reports.I read, make up my mind as to the rationality of the presentation, then mostly just take away the general ideas.

Dyer's general idea for the book to is to 'show, don't tell' what a warmer world will do to civilized society and international relationships.He stresses that these are not 'predictions', but possible outcomes, reasoned analysis based on his knowledge of military planning currently undertaken by many world powers at this time.

In the process of showing this, he gives detailed explanations of what exactly has happened in the last 200 years to cause this situation and some experts' ideas of what humanity can do to address it.

His book is frightening because of the level of detail he provides.He doesn't just say 'seas will rise and populations will have to migrate.'He describes the millions and hundreds of millions of 'climate refugees' clogging borders, causing wars; the famine and hunger that will result as the mid-latitudes of the Earth turn into deserts.'Agricultural areas west of the Mississippi', he says.I'm thinking, IOWA?I live in the Chicago area.California no longer producing ANY agriculture.The Southwest gone back to desert.New Orleans finally abandoned in 2050 or so.What about Phoenix?Tulsa?Salt Lake City?Kansas City?Dallas?The specificity is the stunning part about this book, and the final chapter had me going back to my prayers for the first time in a long time.

Dyer still puts his faith in science to save us--and it may if the global community can eventually ante up.But I am more of a cynic than he.Politics as usual is certainly not going to work.Other reviewers have detailed his explanation for the lack of political will based in the 40-year time lag before seeing any benefit to the huge sacrifices called for.

I see it more like this:This is our generation's time to sacrifice ourselves for the survival of humanity.If science doesn't ante up; if the politicians don't ante up; if God doesn't step in to save us--there is still that ultimate sacrifice that drives the whale to beach itself.The older generation may have to en masse offer ourselves up to reduce the population enough to give the children time to cope with it all.

Horrible thought.But we're all gonna die anyway if we don't, so why not?Instead of all of us trying to protect ourselves, maybe we could reach down deep and learn to be super-human, finally.That is the only way I see us passing this ultimate test.

Just read it!
Whoa, this one is scary! I borrowed it from a friend last week, and after reading partway through the first scenario I e-mailed her and said 'Think you'd better have your book back, don't think I can cope with reading it!' (I know, I'm a wimp) But then I opened the book at random and found myself reading chapter 4, the optimistic 'Bob the Builder' chapter, and I was hooked (sent another e-mail to my friend 'it's OK, I'm going to read the chapters, anyway!). Gwynne Dyer's writing style is refreshingly direct, the content even occasionally has some dry humour in it, very unexpected considering the subject matter.

This is an important book - it's ultimately politics that will determine how we react and how we cope. Only governments can make the decisions about what kind of transportation, energy generation and other key systems we use in future. And the scenarios are unfortunately all too plausible. (And yes, I steeled myself and eventually read all of the scenarios too, just before the final chapter - the first scenario is the worst).

Read this book for a slightly different perspective on climate change, read it for the succinct and highly-readable account of the Copenhagen climate summit in December 2009, read it for a realistic assessment of the geopolitical landscape - just read it.

Long on editorializing; short on analysis
Gwynne Dyer is an insightful analyst of international political and military affairs.His single volume work, "War," and its related video series (currently unavailable, alas) is a seminal work in the understanding of the institution of warfare in modern society.Much of that earlier work was spent addressing the issue of whether war is simply unavoidable, in which case we are collectively doomed by the arrival on the scene of nuclear weapons.In this sense, "War" is still timely and quite thought provoking.

With the decline of Russia and the outright collapse of the Soviet system, the prospect of Mutually Assured Destruction via nuclear holocaust has been dimmed in public perception and practically abandoned by Dyer.This is unfortunate as nuclear weapons have not disappeared, and we seem to be on the brink of a new and even more perilous "nuclear age."But Dyer has moved on to other topics as may be seen in this book.

In "Climate Wars," Dyer attempts to apply his exceptional understanding of military and policy decision making to an inter-relationship with climate change/global warming.The idea that nations will use military force to stem the influx of "climate refugees" from environmentally ravaged countries or to wage war for rapidly depleting resources is a frightening concept worth exploring.Dyer at least raises these prospects, but most of his book is focused on trying to persuade the reader of the reality of this impending global catastrophe while periodically taking swipes at the United States for its venality and short-sightedness in refusing to accept the concept of climate change and for not exercising global leadership in meeting the challenges of the same.

Dyer does much the same thing in about one third of his editorial columns, and that may be why this book is so unsatisfactory.It is one long editorial rather than the sort of trenchant analysis that Dyer provides when he is a bit farther removed from his subject (i.e. more objective).

Dyer's intellect is powerful enough, and his writing style pleasing enough, that any work of his is worth reading.This volume, however, is a disappointment.
... Read more

Product Description
An unprecedented union of scientificanalysis and stunning photography illustratingthe effects of climate change on the globalecosystem.Going beyond the headlines, this work by leadingNASA climate scientist Gavin Schmidt and masterphotographer Joshua Wolfe illustrates as neverbefore the ramifications of shifting climate.Photographic spreads show retreating glaciers,sinking villages in Alaska’s tundra, and dryinglakes. The text follows adventurous scientiststhrough the ice caps at the poles to the coralreefs of the tropical seas. Marshaling dataspanning centuries and continents, the booksparkles with cutting-edge research and visualrecords, including contributions from experts on atmospheric science, oceanography,paleoclimatology, technology, politics, and thepolar regions. As Jeffrey D. Sachs writes in his powerful foreword, “Climate Change is atour de force of public education.”

160 color illustrations ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

The Art of Science
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.

Excellent Introduction
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.

excellent!
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.

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

Good Summary of AGW
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. ... Read more

Product Description
<>This classic text on school finance contains the most comprehensive and current information that affects school finance, including historical, economic, technological/mathematical, and legal points of view.

Customer Reviews (4)

Mission Impossible!
I ordered my book on January 13, 2010 and paid for it through Amazon.com. To-date, I have not received my purchased book. Amazon.com claims I should have received my book by now. I have contacted Amazon.com and the sender with no concrete results or answers. All I received was a Refund policy which stated the conditions of how Amazon.com will not refund my money.
In three years Amazon.com has always been very reliable and now my heart is broken and my course work is suffering greatly. I can not reach customer service only email them with no great responses to my requests. I need thema to contact my professor at least.
Today is February 14, 2010. Still not book. Now I am out of $105.99. In this economy, who can offer this.

Very disappointed,
Sharon Washington

Financing Education in a Climax of Change
So far this has been an easy read book and everything that I have been assigned to read and respond on has been in this book!Great Job!

Great book!
This book is informative, easy to read and user-friendly. The arrangement of the text on the pages makes it easy to read section by section. There are no wasted words in this book, so there is no wasted time reading. It's a great resource for future use. I'm definitely keeping mine.

G. Buermann, Middle School Principal

A little disappointed

My book arrived with a small rip on the outside cover near the binding, and I tried to take a picture, but it would not show up good enough for viewing.Also, I thought the book was new and expected the binding to be tighter, but the front cover flopped open wide. Overall, the book is in good shape, I was just a little disappointed. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (71)

Follow the money
If you've thought that the media coverage about global warming- excuse me, "climate change"- has been weird for the last two decades, you're not alone.The author shows that we weren't watching a scientific debate but rather a coordinated public relations campaign.The author should know- he is the president of a successful public relations firm in Canada.

Why wasn't this a scientific debate?Because, as Hoggan explains in his first chapter, there is no debate and there hasn't been for at least 20 years.All articles printed in peer-reviewed journals and all scientists whose expertise is in climate study agree.The earth is warming, human activities are contributing to that warming and, perhaps most importantly, humans can alter those activities to reverse or stop some of the damage.

It is that last point that has indirectly led to the confusion that has played out in the popular media for so long.If we change our behavior, the parties that will be most impacted are the corporations who produce oil, coal and other fossil energy products.Indeed, ExxonMobil has been shown to be one of the biggest contributors to the "think tanks" and "grassroots" organizations that have worked to sow doubt about global warming.Coal companies are close behind.Many of the tactics that are used to discredit the scientific understanding and exploit the minimal factor of uncertainty (more about when than if) were pioneered by tobacco companies in the decades before.

The author worries that we're going to be outraged by what he writes, but at some points you just laugh, especially after you've read about the seventh or eighth "climate expert" who is shown to be anything but.While I admire anyone who can get a Ph.D. in any field, I must agree that someone whose degree is in sociology or classics isn't as qualified to critique climate research as someone whose degree is in, well, climatology or atmospheric physics.

That's funny.What isn't funny are the lies- excuse me, exaggerations- frequently used by the debunkers or deniers.I suppose it's one thing to cherry pick facts and drastically misconstrue someone's position, but it's another thing to essentially forge signatures or trick someone into participating in the making of a video or the authorship of a paper.

As much as we can be justifiably disgusted by these tactics, let's not let the mainstream media off the hook for their role.Media outlets should be open to "balancing" viewpoints when they are talking about matters that are based on opinion or somewhat unknown.Most things might fall into that: politics, economic policy (most agree that's an educated guess) and restaurant, movie and book reviews.But when we're talking about facts (documented historical finding, the law and agreed upon scientific facts), no, they do not have an obligation to host a debate on the matter.Simply claiming that everyone has the right to exercise their free speech doesn't excuse them from publishing something that is factually incorrect, such as the infamous George Will op-ed in 2009 in the Washington Post.

The author made his case very well, but the first few chapters stumbled.His transition from the tobacco company tactics to the climate deniers was a little jarring- how did we get there?- but it otherwise flowed pretty well.However, citing Wikipedia not once but twice just made me shake my head- I had to take off a star for that.

Still, a good history of why and how- everyone should read this.

Great! (But terrifying)
This book is great if you are interested in the topic. Even being in the field, this had a ton of new information I had no idea about previously. The book clearly shows how it is an incredibly organized mission to discredit the science. I particularly recommend Chapter 16 as a nice overview of information and the state of the public image of global warming. I only wish they had put one of the more reputable quotes on the front cover . . . (no offense Leo). Maybe not a page turner for your average reader, but definitely a worthwhile book!

Excellent book!
"Climate Coverup" is a wonderful piece of work, exposing an incredible effort to undermine years of scientific research and fool the public.It is written in a clear, concise style and makes and irrefutable argument.

Lacking focus
I was very excited about reading Climate Cover-Up and the book started off with the powerful, if not particularly surprising argument that the battle over global warming was one more of public relations than of truth or science. It turns out that the author has been a professional in this field for most of his working life. This turned out, initially, to be a strength of the book, but ultimately became its undoing. What should have been the primary theme of the book, global climate change, slowly morphed into a lengthy and ultimately, boring analysis of public relations often delving into the complex histories around the efforts around the long public debate about cigarettes and how they ought to be marketed in the US. Moreover, while global climate change is an international problem, the author tended to focus on Canadian sources which made the book feel parochial and added to the sense that this was really not the book I was look for. Climate Cover Up is not a failure. How these issues are addressed by public relations firms is an important part of understanding the how the problem gets processed in our socio-political world, but most of was both predictable and, finally, less than exciting or revealing reading.
Eric is the author of: Liberation from the Lie: Cutting the Roots of Fear Once and for All

Quite a preach to the choir
Throughout the book Mr Hoggan presents plenty of well-documented cases of cover-ups, wrong-doings by "deniers" and "junk scientists" under the payroll of big industry, the naughty Bush Administration, and other more subtle "saboteurs" responsible for the "bogus"global warming controversy. The book is very comprehensive but almost no new material is presented as most of it has already been available in the web for some time. Mr. Hoggan strongly believes that there is consensus among scientists and no scientific controversy, the only controversy is artificially created by the denial industry, as he called it, and climate change is undeniable and catastrophic. Truly a preach to the choir!

The author is so dogmatic regarding the science and policies regarding climate change, that he leaves no room for any middle ground position, lukewarmers, or even healthy skepticism: you are either a good guy or a bad guy, you either accept the science or you are a contrarian.In the real world however, the fact is that there are plenty of positions between these two extremes. Not surprisingly Hoggan attacks in the book several individuals with no connections to big oil, big energy or the Bush administration, such as reputable scientists Freeman Dyson and Richard Lindzen, independent and healthy skeptic Stephen McIntyre, the self-declared environmentalist Bjon Lomborg, and the late Michael Crichton.I was surprised he did not attack Nigel Lawson, as his book makes quite a few non no-sense criticisms to the economics of climate change (seeAn Appeal to Reason: A Cool Look at Global Warming).

Why? Because these are the worst kind of enemies to the cause, as each of these individuals dared to raise a couple of good questions or painful issues, or the worst sin, tried to verify the results of peer-reviewed papers (such as the famous Hockey Stick) or questioned the economics of climate change mitigation.According to Hoggan if you do not have a Ph.D. in climate science or related fields, and published peer-reviewed papers on the field, you should keep your mouth shut. Throughout the book Mr. Hoggan, from the high moral ground the righteousness of his cause entitles him, uses well-known tactics to prevent any serious debate, so these individuals are subject to ad hominem attacks, guilt by association or age, and as he recommends to the readers, always looks first for the credentials and motive, in particular, the economic interest of those dissenting, never mind the merits of their arguments.As so many other advocates and interest groups do today, Mr Hoggan is dominated by emotion, dogmatism, and intolerance of dissent, and not even once he engages the actual merits of the arguments. Don't you know healthy skepticism is required for science to progress? A good cause is no justification for censoring the scientific debate.

Of course that anyone with a background in science or engineeringwith good common sense can make some uncomfortable questions, these people are more than qualified to ask questions about the methods of science, and anyone with experience in computer simulation surely wonders about climate simulation and particularly the calibration "fudge" factors, as Freeman Dyson calls them. Didn't we learn anything with failure of the infallible financial risk models developed by the best minds and mathematicians of the planet? And regarding climate mitigation, of course that those with a background with economics are qualified to ask uncomfortable questions too. And regarding writer Michael Crichton, most of his science fiction work is based on distrust and misuse of science and technology, and State of Fear is no exception. Crichton raised a quite valid criticism and made objective recommendations in the author's afterword of that novel.

Even the not so innocent Lawrence Solomon in his book The Deniers: The World Renowned Scientists Who Stood Up Against Global Warming Hysteria, Political Persecution, and Fraud**And those who are too fearful to do so, raises some valid issues. Chapter 8 presents criticism by Freeman Dyson and Antonino Zichichi, questioning the confidence and validity of climate simulation forecasts, particularly regarding the use of parametrization or "fudge factors". Also look for Hendrik Tennekes arguments regarding the lack of falsifiability from Popper's philosophical point of view.

And as for McIntyre the Climategate scandal demonstrated that he was right in the money (see details in the book Climategate: The Crutape Letters (Volume 1)). The unethical and non scientific behavior of the two renown climate scientists involved in this scandal more than justify to conduct climate research in the way that Crichton suggested, following the strict protocols used in medical and pharmaceutical research.However, neither this scandal, nor the small big errors in the fourth IPPC report mean that climate science is a fraud as extremist deniers have asserted, indeed it point us to the urgent need of more transparency and accountability by the climate science establishment.

Because this issue is so contentious, I recommend you to read "The Economist" piece on the March 20-26 edition entitled "The clouds of unknowing. This is a very balanced view of the realities and limitations of climate science, and the problem with exaggerations, there is plenty of grey in between, lukewarm indeed, and alarmism is not helpful. In order to understand why this debate has become so polarized and irrational, and a really insightful discussion about the sociological reasons of the controversy I recommend Mike Hulme's Why We Disagree About Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity, and he is a renown climate scientist just in case you were doubting his credentials. For a book in the same line of thinking but written for the laymen do not miss Climate of Uncertainty, quite a balanced view of the debate and a bold criticism both sides of the controversy and their attempts do manipulate us toward their political agenda.

And finally, regarding any kind of scientific controversy or dubious claims, read Lies, Damned Lies, and Science: How to Sort through the Noise around Global Warming, the Latest Health Claims, and Other Scientific Controversies, quite a primer to explore for your own controversial scientific claims in an objective matter.

PS: for those who think my review was too harsh, please read the Hartwell Paper published in May 2010 (available for free in pdf format in the web, just google). In this publication Hulme and another 13 academics and energy advocates argued that the Kyoto Protocol has failed to produce any discernable real world reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases in fifteen years, and therefore, after the Copenhagen fiasco, Kyoto has crashed. They argued that this failure opens an opportunity to set climate policy free from Kyoto and they propose a controversial and piecemeal approach to decarbonization of the global economy which will be more pluralistic and much more effective than the policies based on Kyoto. They also are quite honest about the uncertainties and limitation of climate science, not precisely what Mr. Hoggan wants you believe in his book and proving that there is indeed a quite spacious middle ground. Do not miss it. ... Read more

Product Description
Switters is a contradiction for all seasons: an anarchist who works for the government; a pacifist who carries a gun; a vegetarian who sops up ham gravy; a cyberwhiz who hates computers; a man who, though obsessed with the preservation of innocence, is aching to deflower his high-school-age stepsister (only to become equally enamored of a nun ten years his senior).

Yet there is nothing remotely wishy-washy about Switters. He doesn't merely pack a pistol. He is a pistol. And as we dog Switters's strangely elevated heels across four continents, in and out of love and danger, discovering in the process the "true" Third Secret of Fatima, we experience Tom Robbins -- that fearless storyteller, spiritual renegade, and verbal break dancer -- at the top of his game.

On one level this is a fast-paced CIA adventure story with comic overtones; on another it's a serious novel of ideas that brings the Big Picture into unexpected focus; but perhaps more than anything else, Fierce Invalids is a sexy celebration of language and life.Amazon.com Review
The fierce invalid in Tom Robbins's seventh novel is a philosophical,hedonistic U.S. operative very loosely inspired by a friend of the author."Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll are enormously popular in the CIA," claimsSwitters. "Not with all the agents in the field, but with the goodones, the brightest and the best." Switters isn't really an invalid, butduring his first mission (to set free his ornery grandma's parrot,Sailor, in the Amazon jungle), he gets zapped by a spell cast by a"misshapen shaman" of the Kandakandero tribe named End of Time. The shamanis reminiscent of Carlos Castaneda's giggly guru, but his head ispyramid-shaped. In return for a mind-bending trip into cosmic truth--"theHallways of Always"--Switters must not let his foot touch the earth, orhe'll die.

Not that a little death threat can slow him down. Switters simply hops intoa wheelchair and rolls off to further footloose adventures, occasionallyswitching to stilts. For a Robbins hero, to be just a bit high, notearthbound, facilitates enlightenment. He bops from Peru to Seattle, wherehe's beguiled by the Art Girls of the Pike Place Market and his 16-year-oldstepsister, and then off to Syria, where he falls in with a pack ofrenegade nuns bearing names like Mustang Sally and Domino Thirry. WillSwitters see Domino tumble and solve the mystery of the Virgin Mary? Canthe nuns convince the Pope to favor birth control--to "zonk the zygoticzillions and mitigate the multitudinous milt" and "wrest free from awoman's shoulders the boa of spermatozoa?" Can the author ever resist ashameless pun or a mutant metaphor?

The tangly plot is almost beside the point. Switters is a colorfulundercover agent, and a Robbins novel is really a colorful undercover essaycelebrating sex and innocence, drugs and a firm wariness of anything thattries to rewire the mind, and Broadway tunes, especially "Send in theClowns." Some readers will be intensely offended by Switters's yen foryouth and idiosyncratic views on vice. But fans will feel that extremism inthe pursuit of serious fun is virtue incarnate. Fierce Invalids Homefrom Hot Climates is classic Tom Robbins: all smiles, similes, andsubversion. --Tim Appelo ... Read more

Customer Reviews (212)

Fierce it is!
Fiercely funny, fiercely wise, and the most unusual characters and plot you can imagine.If you love things off the beaten path, mixed with a little sex, a little libation, and a lot of humor this book is for you!And somehow world religion is involved. Tom Robbins is a philosopher/theologian that sees the world from a different angle than the rest of us.And he never misses a chance to laugh at how serious we take ourselves.People of the world...relax!

"Fierce Invalids" as religion
I love this book. I listen to it on TAPE as I drive from job to job on the freeways of Southern California. I rewind constantly to enjoy again and again the insightful, articulate and often hilarious ruminations of Tom Robbins. I purchased copies for all of my friends. Read "Fierce Invalids from Hot Climates". It will change your life...or at least the way you LOOK at life.

in love with himself
I wish the author loved himself a little less and loved his readers a little more.I found myself skimming over pages of fat, looking for the meat.

Not What I Was Expecting
Wow!This book is quite bad.

I have wrestled with ways to describe it to my friends, and the best I've settled on is to call Robbins a talented wordsmith who uses language like a middle-schooler.Imagine giving a young child a huge vocabulary and then asking him to write a crazy story: this is EXACTLY how the book reads.He uses five adjectives when one would do.He clutters his sentences when a simple declaration would suffice.He name-drops authors, poets, and singers as if in college and trying to impress a girl.All in all, the book is an exercise in overcompensation that makes for difficult reading.

I consider myself a "serious" reader in that I strive for quality in my reading list.I am not so quick to judge as to call Robbins a bad writer, but he is not exactly refined in the sense that I need.The good news is that you can do an easy litmus test yourself: read the first page of the book.If you can stand it - indeed, if you can even enjoy it - then you might have what it takes to tackle this one.I didn't.

perfection
this is the book of books. if you read the one star reviews on this page you'll see people who have read every other tom robbins book and hated this one. that says it all. if you really understand robbins you will not be disappointed. ... Read more

Product Description
Ralph and Anna Eldred are an exemplary couple, devoting themselves to doing good. Thirty years ago as missionaries in Africa, the worst that could happen did. Shattered by their encounter with inexplicable evil, they returned to England, never to speak of it again. But when Ralph falls into an affair, Anna finds no forgiveness in her heart, and thirty years of repressed rage and grief explode, destroying not only a marriage but also their love, their faith, and everything they thought they were.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Great British Author
I didn't discover Hilary Mantel until two weeks ago when I read a July 2005 New Yorker magazine (I don't remember the week).All I can say is that I thought I was well read, but now I wonder.No, I AM well read! So how have I missed this great author?And why, I demand to know, hasn't she won a Booker Prize?

Anyway, in the two weeks since my discovery, I have read "A Change of Climate" and "Fludd".I now have before me "A Place of Greater Safety" which I hungrily look forward to.In fact, I plan to read all of her books.I even considered becoming one of those nuts who dedicates a web page to his or her favorite author.I won't, however, but not because Mantel is unworthy of such adulation, but because, well, I am not a nut.

Finally, please allow me do the reader of "A Change of Climate" a great favor: do not read the back cover, as it tells way too much of the story.Instead, trust Mantel to tell you the story.You won't be disappointed.Great writing and great story.

Family secrets
Instinctively, people know that when a pain is too great to be endured, it is appropriate to wait until it can be more rationally confronted. But there is always the danger of pushing the pain so far away that it becomes inaccessible, if never, ever forgotten. "To some people great grief is an indecency...They blame the bereaved."

After a stunning tragedy in Africa, where Ralph and Anna Eldred have gone as missionaries, they return home, cautioning their family never to speak of the horror they have endured. It is relegated to the past, where it will stay. The Eldred's are compliant people, particularly Ralph, a man of good intentions who works for the family charitable trust, providing necessities, such as food, clothing and shelter for those less fortunate. But for their brief years in Africa and the trauma they suffer on the Dark Continent, the Eldred's personify the spirit of missionary life.

Once again residing in England providing for the downtrodden, Anna and Ralph live out a self-effacing routine. As a Christian, Ralph believes in service, so compassionate that he cannot turn away from those in need. Covertly, Ralph is concerned that people will mistake him for a man who loves mankind in general, but not persons in particular. However, this is exactly how he is perceived, soldiering on for over twenty years after the tragedy, burying himself in the trivia of everyday obligations. His endless pursuit of virtue in hopes of atonement can never be realized.

Meanwhile, Anna suffers grievously for Ralph's neglect, enduring a constant ache, her own survival defined by the ever-present needs of her four children. Anna has paid a terrible price for her silence all these years. Ralph grows more distant and preoccupied, Anna more edgy and neither expects the emotional eruption when Ralph falls into a romantic entanglement with a local woman.

Mantel is gifted writer, dissecting her character's motivations with elegant precision, especially their great missionary hubris, the vagrant self-congratulatory thoughts that creep into even the most well-meant acts, as the couple seeks to bury the past under the weight of the present. Layer upon layer, the author builds a structure that appears sturdy but ultimately collapses under the weight of grief and silence. Whether the couple recovers will be determined by their spiritual strengths and human weaknesses, the delicate balance between expectations and reality. Luan Gaines/2004.

We Know These People
This is the first novel of Hilary Mantel that I've read, and I'm eager to read more. Her style is her strength: she is a keen observer of human character, human fraility, human environments, and she describes the environment, emotions and atmospheres with a crystal clarity. For example, her paragraph about the end of a semester caused me to relive those times: "only dogged by that usual feeling of anticlimax the end of exams brings. After this, you think, after my papers are over, I will do, and I will do ... and then you don't. You are a shell, enclosing outworn effort. You expect a sense of freedom, and yet you feel trapped in the same old body, the same drab routines; you expect exhilaration, and you only feel a kind of habitual dullness, a letdown, a perverse longing for the days when you read and made notes and sat up all night."

Mantel's characters are muddlers. They muddle through life with good intentions, but feel displaced and unsatisfied. Yet you care for them, and say to yourself, "I know these people!" There are many robust characters [Ralph and Anna, missionaries in Africa; their children, searching for their place in the world; Ralph's sister Emma] and threads interwoven through the basic story. The main characters are Ralph and Anna, missionaries who go to Africa to "do good". Evil events there haunt their lives when they return to England.

The novel is written as an "entertaining read", in a page-turning style -- you are interested in the characters and events. Yet it is a substantial work, addressing important themes: good versus evil, do our choices make a difference, the cost of cultural misunderrstandings, the loss of faith, how any sense of security is an illusion. While entertaining, Mantel is not afraid of the artist's obligation to tell us unpalatable truths about ourselves.

My one complaint is that the ending was too predictable; I felt that the novel was "wrapped up", rather than allowed to find its own ending.

British Sensibilities
Save your money.Or, if you need to spend it, buy plain yogurt -- you will find the bland white stuff much more exciting than this novel. If you do buy this book, you will wade through pages and pages waiting for the story to get started and then you will not care about a single character you meet.In the course of the book, there are love affairs, savage beatings, and a kidnapping or two, and all these incidents unfold without an ounce of passion, desire, or emotion.Anna, the long suffering wife, is so strangled that she can't bring herself to demand a new washing machine.She and her obtuse husband never talk to each other or to their children.And we are supposed to care about the marriage of these two?Buy yogurt.

This thoughtful family saga evokes a climate for change.
When asked, rhetorically, by his sister, "Whatever happened to the dinosaurs?", Ralph, the main character responds, "Their habitat altered...A change of climate." Inhis rebellion against his parents, their closed,religiously fundamentalist point of view, andhis father's financial blackmailing regarding his career choices, Ralphintentionally changes his physical habitat andhis climate by escaping to South Africa withhis bride.

Working as a lay person at a mission and vigorously opposingapartheid, Ralph and Anna eventually areimprisoned, then banished to Bechuanaland,now Botswana. It is here that the savagery which creates apermanent and terrible climate in their marriage occurs, asavagery not limited to one race as Ralph andAnna had perceived in South Africa.

As the story bouncesfrom the present in England back twenty years to Africa, thereader lives through the vivid and terribleAfrican experiences and simultaneously sees how they havepermeated the lives of these good, but often naïve, people.Both Ralph and Anna have rejected thetraditional religion of their parents in favor of doing good deeds intheir family lives and through a social servicetrust. But as Ralph's uncle James points out,"There is nothing so appallingly hard...as the business of beinghuman."

While the reader cheers asJames grows and eventually embraces life, s/he alsofears for Anna, who remains emotionally closed, despite her gooddeeds, fearful that she "should loseeverything, one of these days." As the events resolvethemselves and the "competition in goodness" comesto an end, we see real humans trying to putaside the petrified past and to change the climate of their lives, and wewill, perhaps, evaluate our own lives.Can weaccept change, or are we dinosaurs at heart? ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (112)

Sensible outlook
The writer presented his easy-to-understand comments on a complex topic without launching an attack on everyone who is concerned about warming of the planet and possible consequences. This book would be instructive, but gut-wrenching, reading for anyone who is 100% behind proposals to stop man-made global warming no matter what the effects on our economy.

MUST READ!!
Climate Confusion is a great book that will bring you back to the basics of the Global Warming phenomenon.

A real climatologist, not a former next president of the United States, takes you on a fact finding tour of science versus politics. Roy Spencer points out how economics plays a vital role in our decisions if in fact global warming is man-made but also provides plenty of evidence that there is simply proof that man has done this.

All it takes is a quick review of the constituents of the atmosphere and you find that H2O, not CO2, is the biggest contributor of global warming and this book goes to great length to show that science does not yet understand the H2O component enough to make any kind of interpretation on the impact of man.

My favorite quotes from the book relate the economics of Climate Change and the environment:

"But as long as the supposed "rights" of nature supersede the rights of the people to use the natural resources that they require to thrive, the United States will never approach energy independence."

"poverty in poor countries is not from a lack of natural resources" & "the biggest impediment to wealth building within a nation is governmental interference and control over people's lives"

A great book on a global fraud
I have studied the global warming / climate change issue for several years. This book is the best discussion on the warming that has taken place and how it fits in geologic time.

Funded by Exxon and the Heartland institute
This work of fiction has no place in the Science category.The author is funded through the Heartland Institute, an organization dedicated to defending Big Oil and sowing confusion about global warming for the sake of corporate profits.Time after time the author has been exposed as a charlatan and a mouthpiece for the oil industry.

Stay far, far away from garbage like this.

More disinformation masquerading as "balanced" science
Here is what the "most helpful favorable view" said: "He [Spencer]is clearly no biased partisan"

This subject is so manipulated and driven by ideology that Spencer, simply by acknowledging something that is basic science -- of course our activities affect climate -- is suddenly "no biased partisan."

The greatest threat to mankind is not climate change (mass warfare is probably a greater threat anyway in the big picture in terms of what it can do), but rampant ignorance.Spencer, someone with some knowledge on the subject who is to anyone who is both intimately familiar with the topic AND objective and can dissociate the politics from the science, is an ideologue.That is contributing to our ignorance on this topic.

I glanced through this, and it's the same Roy Spencer as most everywhere else. Making assumptions, postulating them as fact. Omitting key details.And presenting small facets of the actual relevance and issue, erroneously, as if it defines the whole.

On his rather disinformative website -- where he does exactly the same as described while of course, similarly mixing in just enough science -- Spencer made the grandiloquent case as to why climate change is "exaggerated" (despite the fact that we keep on burning fossil fuels at rapid pace, are not sufficiently adjusting methane output, and deforestation continues.)

His key basis was to attack computerized climate models. Which of course, even though they have been more accurate than not (sometimes by quite a bit) overall, are easy to poke many holes in. It does not mean they are worthless, or tell the real story (or even can tell the real story.)

And this attack upon how climate models are flawed was his key point, from which he was able to assert that climate change concern is overwrought."Since," as he put it:

"Computerized climate models are the main source of concern over manmade global warming."

They are the most popular. They are the easiest to grab a hold of. The most tangible, in some ways, since obviously something that is based in physics, geology and biology and concerns future effects, is otherwise abstract. But they are not the main source of concern. (Or "cause," which is the context Spencer used here, as his basis against the issue itself.) Anyone who writes that they are the main source or cause of concern, let alone uses it as the key basis for his case against climate change, either does not really understand the issue, or is an ideologue.

Spencer is one of the two. Take your pick.

Questions to Spencer pointing out, incidentally, that models are not the main cause for concern but a way for us to at least try and put a tangible handle on more specific (and often limiting) parameters, have never been answered by him, as they might upset his neat little over-simplistic and highly misleading take on the issue; a take which supports a predetermined view.This is something, despite constant protestation and assertions to the contrary, that is driving much of the analysis of the "work" and assertions on this issue today. ... Read more

Product Description
Is the weather truly getting worse? When it comes to global warming, dire predictions seem to be all we see or hear. Climatologists Patrick Michaels and Robert Balling Jr. explain why the news and information we receive about global warming have become so apocalyptic. The science itself has become increasingly biased, with warnings of extreme consequences from global warming becoming the norm. That bias is then communicated through the media, who focus on only extreme predictions. The authors compellingly illuminate the other side of the story, the science we aren't being told. This body of work details how the impact of global warming is far less severe than is generally believed and far from catastrophic. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (29)

Couldn't finish the book ...
I wish I could say I read the entire book.But I didn't.I just couldn't.

It's entirely possible the authors have a point -- and that they make it in the book.

But because every page is FILLED with arcane numbers, stats and graphs, you'd never know it.

The first three chapters consume 100 pages, and in the first pages of Chapter 4, I realized I wasn't going to finish the book.I have no doubt the information is in there, and that the book can / will be useful to ... someone.But not me.

Good gracious.Life is too short!

Reality Check
Well, it seems now there are some people who cling to notions that the current global warming is nothing to be bothered about. We could argue about the science until the sun becomes a dwarf star, but the point we should keep in mind is that the overwhelming majority of the world's scientists do accept the "AGW" and consider it something to be greatly concerned about. But let me put it another way. I'm sure you've heard of "Pascal's Wager" regarding the existence of God. Well, think of this climate argument as "Gore's wager." If global warming is nothing to be concerned about, what have we lost by believing it is and taking the appropriate actions? We might clean up the air and the oceans, stop sending billions of dollars over to Muslim countries for oil, we might develop many new businesses and create lots of new jobs, and the only thing the world would lose is an unhealthy environment. If the doom-sayers are right, however, and we do nothing, then we might tip the planet into a runaway climate change that might destroy life on Earth and leave us smoldering like Venus. I personally don't want this, and hope we can stop fouling our own nest, but I say again, even if the predictions are too dire, what do we stand to lose except an unhealthy environment and a dependent relationship with an Arab country (Saudi Arabia) that is cranking our terrorists faster than we can even name them? Personally, I see no reason not to take the threat seriously. Exxon Mobil would have to move to alternate energy and give up their obscene profits, but somehow that doesn't bother me too much. (I agreed with another readers assessment so much, felt worthwhile to repost it)
Check out the following website, very interesting:
[...]

Well worth reading for anyone interested in the topic, regardless current opinion
This is a serious review of some of the most recent observational data in the context of how it conforms, or does not, to the various predictions made by prognosticators of serious environmental impacts associated with 'Global Warming', and with the predictions of climate change made by various 'Global Warming' models themselves.

Agree or disagree with the analysis of the authors, it raises serious questions that need to be addressed.

It's a reasonably well written treatment for such rather technical material, approachable without sacrificing too much technical detail, well organized and coherent.

I'd recommend it highly to anyone interested in Climate or Climate Policy regardless of one's particular perspective on the issues.

It's also excellent referenced for a popular treatment, and allows those interested to continue to investigate both the authors' arguments and their treatment of the information from their sources.

A damn good book!!!
Patrick Michaels and Robert Balling have done a great job of exposing the tripe, and worse, that have nearly overwhelmed all sectors of our nation.The authors should receive the Nobel Prize for Literature next year and the Pulitzer Prize as well."Then truth will out," and finally it has.

Graphs, Graphs, Charts, Charts, is that All You Can't Manage?
I get a little tired of people complaining that they have to read a chart or a graph to understand something, or that they have to wade through one while reading an important book.When I was in secondary school, you couldn't graduate without showing rudimentary ability to read a graph.

The writers have the credentials to tackle the subject and do it well.I'm reminded of the book "Silent Spring" (Ehrlich is still a tenured professor last I checked) that warned of global freezing in the early 1970s and influence the tail end of the hippie generation.

When it comes to verbal explanation of the man-made Armageddon through global warming hoax, I would send those who cannot read graphs to YouTube and listen to a brief lecture by Christopher Monckton, Prime Minister Marager Thatcher's science advisor, who debunks the false science well.And to think that exposure of the hoax through the publication of e-mails from the University of East Anglia came out after this book--what a shame.

Nonetheless, the case for climate cycles is irrefutable, and man's contribution to them is negligible.No, Mr. Glover, the "failure" of Copenhagen did not lead to the earthquake in Haiti.
If I ever hear Dennis Franz (the most believable cop I know of on film or TV) ever utters such gibberish I may have to seriously consider Hari Kari.

But, until that time comes, even with my Ph.D. in hand, I recommend this book to anyone interested in the TRUTH, which the scientific method helps us distinguish from fallacy, but a search for which is never entirely over.I write this after the election of Senator Brown in Massachusetts, so I don't have to rail against the insanity of Cap and Trade at the moment.The bumper sticker I have seen one of my neighbors put on his or her auto that they paid for their Carbon Dioxide emissions in advance, makes my laugh and cry.Where would the American breadbasket, that feeds the world, be without Carbon Dioxide.Thanks to the NEA, do the young "skulls full of mush" that Limbaugh refers to not even know basic physiology and plant physiology?

May God help us when scientific dialogue is completely silenced by the supporters of State decrees about the outcome of informed debate. ... Read more

Product Description
One of Nancy Mitford’s most beloved novels, Love in a Cold Climate is a sparkling romantic comedy that vividly evokes the lost glamour of aristocratic life in England between the wars.

Polly Hampton has long been groomed for the perfect marriage by her mother, the fearsome and ambitious Lady Montdore. But Polly, with her stunning good looks and impeccable connections, is bored by the monotony of her glittering debut season in London. Having just come from India, where her father served as Viceroy, she claims to have hoped that society in a colder climate would be less obsessed with love affairs. The apparently aloof and indifferent Polly has a long-held secret, however, one that leads to the shattering of her mother’s dreams and her own disinheritance. When an elderly duke begins pursuing the disgraced Polly and a callow potential heir curries favor with her parents, nothing goes as expected, but in the end all find happiness in their own unconventional ways. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A modern classic
On August 10th Vintage will reissue several classic novels by Nancy Mitford, including Love in a Cold Climate.Mitford was perhaps the brightest of the "Bright Young Things" immortalized in the fiction of Evelyn Waugh.

Originally published in 1949, Love in a Cold Climate is a comedy of manners that revolves around the naughty Polly Montdore, whose scandalous marriage left her disinherited, and her Canadian cousin Cedric Hampton, the heir apparent.

The action of both this and its prequel, The Pursuit of Love, run concurrently, taking place between the wars, with everyone's favorite cousin, Fanny Wincham, serving as impartial narrator.

Aside from an engaging storyline, tart wit and charming prose style, Love in a Cold Climate is of particular relevance to gay readers for the no nonsense presentation of the flamboyantly aesthetic Cedric, who is thoroughly and unrepentantly gay. He is a rather heroic character (not at all tragic like poor Sebastian Flyte from Brideshead Revisited and so many other gays of pre-Stonewall literature), possessed of great personal magnetism and self-esteem; and though his open homosexuality alternately shocks and delights society, he ultimately proves a great catalyst for happiness and reconciliation in the lives of those closest to him.

Kindle Bonus
The Kindle edition by Penguin Classics (ASIN: B002RI9YOQ) also contains the novels "The Pursuit of Love" and "The Blessing"

Lady Montdore finally finds the daughter she never had.
This is a fun, interesting novel that is not for anyone who does not love irony.It is perhaps best appreciated by people who may like Waugh (I think they were friends).Possibly if anyone likes Jan Austen, this novel will please you as well.The similarities to Austen are only in the stucture of certain scenes, and the happy, silliness of the plot wonderfully subverts Jane Austen.Its a really sad and comic look at love and women.It is perhaps mostly about the changing times for women of a particular class.The only reason I do not give it five stars is that I feel it ends too abruptly.But the last scene is magnificent.Look for the paralels between it and the last scenes of sense and sensibility.Its great!
This book is not for the girly, sentimental novel reading sort unless you have a good sense of humor.

Cold Is Right -- And Creepy Too!
Such a disappointment! I had been hearing about the glamorous, scandalous, sexy Mitford sisters for years -- Jessica the fiery and sexy Communist, Unity the glamorous and sexy she-Nazi, Diana the sleek and sexy fascist, Debo the demure and sexy duchess, and (last but not least) Nancy the sly and sexy writer of satirical novels. So when I got the chance at last to read LOVE IN A COLD CLIMATE I was expecting something like the sisters themselves were supposed to be -- sly and sexy, elegant and aristocratic.

Wrong, wrong, wrong! Who'd a thunk it? The low down here is that Nancy Mitford hates sex -- terrified of it. Finds normal men frightening and repulsive, yet has quite a soft spot for elderly gay men who wear lipstick and makeup and lounge around in women's dressing gowns. Creepy, creepy, creepy. You can see now why no one in the family thought it odd when sister Unity fell in love with Adolph Hitler!

Oh, and the satire -- where is it? Almost nothing in this book really addresses class issues in a meaningful way. There are no direct confrontations between the aristocrats and the wealthy industrial class -- much less the working poor. There's a bit of snide gossip, but again it's served cold. No sexy scandals, just bizarre and faintly repulsive stories about people who are far too creeped out by the human body to ever feel anything for anybody but themselves.

Somewhere in Nancy Mitford's life, there must have been a lot of pain. Pain in big buckets, Eugene O'Neill style family in agony type pain. But sadly, she never turned her tortured family past into a deep feeling masterpiece like LONG DAYS JOURNEY INTO NIGHT. Instead she just played it safe, writing cold and shallow novels like this one.

So sad!

Fanny-tastic!
I found this novel a teeny weeny bit disappointing after its superlative predecessor, 'the Pursuit of Love'.I think if I compare the two, I can see why - 'Pursuit' packs about ten novels worth of incident into its slim frame, as terse, fast, heartless and comic as 'Candide' (Mitford wrote a biography of Voltaire), full of gaps and tacit implications.'Climate' goes back to those gaps and fills them in, following as it does relatively the same time span.This makes for a slower, more thoughtful book, which feels, on occasion, a little padded out.Similarly, both books take their cue from their heroine - 'Pursuit' is as lively, adventurous, funny and adorable as Linda; Polly in 'Climate', though beautiful, is as dull as people find her, and so, when she is in it, is her book.

I say this relatively of course; on any other terms, 'Climate' is a comic joy, full of two sublime new characters, Lady Montdore, the imperious snob, and Cedric, the stereotypical queen from untypical Nova Scotia.Add to these old favourites like Boy, Davey, and, especially, the immortal, phlegmatic Uncle Matthew; some choice set-pieces and an odd flash of the old callousness, and you have a real pleasure, especially in the second half.'Climate''s breezy surface belies a real anger at the limited roles offered women. ... Read more

Product Description
The Rough Guide to Climate Change gives the complete picture of the single biggest issue facing the planet. Cutting a swathe through scientific research and political debate, this completely updated 2^nd edition lays out the facts and assesses the options- global and personal- for dealing with the threat of a warming world. The guide looks at the evolution of our atmosphere over the last 4.5 billion years and what computer simulations of climate change reveal about our past, present, and future. This updated edition includes new information from the 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and an updated politics section to reflect post-Kyoto developments. Discover how rising temperatures and sea levels, plus changes to extreme weather patterns, are already affecting life around the world. The guide unravels how governments, scientists and engineers plan to tackle the problem and includes in-depth information and lifestyle tips about what you can do to help. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

It's ok, but not as objective as I hoped
The book covers a lot of all the things related to Climate Change.
But it's obvious which side the book's author is on, and I would wish that the discussion part would be expanded a lot more.
It wasn't what I hoped, but still good to have, if you have to look up some of the things related to climate change.

Book Review
This is a very good book which gives me lots of useful insight of climate and our environment:

Great Science Fiction (not!)
Mr. Henson's book makes for a rather dull speculative read. For all the so called facts and figures, most of his sources are from the same scientists and organizations responsible for the AGW fraud. My suggestion is, if you care about the environment, save a tree by not wasting your time buying this book.

Little climate change science
The table of contents indicates this book contains very little analysis of climate change over the last 3 million years.Historic climate change must be considered to determine whether climate change now is extraordinary in any way and could therefore be blamed on humans.Evidence worldwide as reported in many scientific reports shows alternating warm and cold periods during the earth's history.During the last two-and-a-half million years, about fifty cold and fifty warm periods have occurred, although only twenty-one of the cold periods are considered to have been major ones, which were separated by interglacial periods.During previous interglacials, ocean beaches as shown in rock layers were higher than the ocean levels today (suggesting higher temperatures and more glacier melting than today), and methane and carbon dioxide (greenhouse gases) levels in the atmosphere were higher than during the glacials.Rapid changes in temperature, known as climatic flickers, have occurred thousands of times during the last ninety thousand years and are included in longer-term climate changes.For example, the last major glacial included two relatively warm periods, one of which included a shift from glacial to interglacial temperatures in only five years.Average temperatures over Greenland during the last interglacial varied up to twelve degrees Centigrade.Many minor glaciations apparently lasted a very short time, followed by rapid warming of up to seven degrees Centigrade in only a few decades.Numerous lines of evidence suggest that temperatures during the Medieval Climate Optimum were higher than today.

Studies of historic climate change thus show that the climate dynamics we see today are essentially the same as before humans. So, no evidence existing today appears to justify the conclusion that humans have caused significant or extraordinary global warming, and The Rough Guide is very deficient if it does not thoroughly summarize the available information on historic climate change.

Complete but distracting format
This book seems to have gained the status of being a go-to reference for those who are interested in global warming and one of the few books that global warming skeptics claim to have read, in many cases. This is understandable because the book is something akin to an encyclopedia of climate change. It has sections and chapters on almost every topic related to climate change, including some of the skeptical arguments and covers everything from the history of climate change to ideas about what can be done. It makes reference to a number of other books and famous researchers. A person could read just this book and have pretty decent overview of the issues involved.

On the bad side, the layout of the book and its style cause a couple of problems. First of all, the book is full of sidebars and boxes with side stories and references to other pages in the book where you can read more on a topic. That would be great if you are paging through or just looking at one topic. However, if you hope to read it straight through like an average book, this format is terribly distracting and you find yourself stopping about every other page to read a sidebar and then continuing on. I suppose there is some reason for laying the book out this way, but not everyone will like it. I give the book only 4 stars based on this alone. The other issue I have with the book is that in some cases, the presentation of a topic is a bit too sketchy and glosses over some important issues or presents so many different points of view that some of them may not be completely compatible.

Overall though, this book is an excellent introduction or rough guide to climate change and a useful reference. It would be a good first book to read and anyone who is interested in a particular aspect presented in the book could easily go on to read more about that specific area. There is even a decent list of other books on climate change in the back. ... Read more

Product Description
An incredible wealth of scientific data on global warming has been collected in the last few decades. The history of the Earth's climate has been probed by drilling into polar ice sheets and sediment layers of the oceans' vast depths, and great advances have been made in computer modeling of our climate. This book provides a concise and accessible overview of what we know about ongoing climate change and its impacts, and what we can do to confront the climate crisis. Using clear and simple graphics in full color, it lucidly highlights information contained in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, and brings the subject completely up-to-date with current science and policy. The book makes essential scientific information on this critical topic accessible to a broad audience. Obtaining sound information is the first step in preventing a serious, long-lasting degradation of our planet's climate, helping to ensure our future survival. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

Climate change 101
A clear, concise rendering of the 2007 IPCC report for non-climatologists written at a university entrance level. The authors take us through the scientific methods behind the IPCC report. Concepts are explained clearly without journalistic embellishment but with a degree of readibility sometimes lacking in the actual IPCC document it explains and is based on. Imparts the appropriate sense of urgency to the looming catastrophe that is likely without prompt action, but avoids notes of despair while pointing out the roadmap for action. Ideal reading for an entry level understanding of this important topic. The textbook of record for Climate Change 101.

The hard science of climate change
This is exactly the book I was looking for.The scientific details are provided and explanations are clear.Even more importantly, the writers are honest about what the current state of climate science can and cannot tell us.The conclusion is inescapable, global climate change is occuring and humans are the cause.How can there possibly be any doubters left?

Impacting the World
Ever since Al Gore rose to the occasion, the world has been waiting anxiously for the definitive treatise on climate change. David Archer and Stefan Rahmstorf, both university professors, have boldly compiled the issues and concerns in the brave new world of //The Climate Crisis.//

The authors have attempted to summarize and assess the scientific literature that has been amassed since the late 1970s. In their account, they backtrack to provide a perspective based on What We Knew and When We Knew It. They are eager to investigate charges that led up to the present time. Reflecting on the issues of the polar ice sheets and permafrost areas of the world, they address popular opinion as well as opinion shifts. Next, they examine the impact of climate change on the oceans and weather.

Looking at the past, they hold out hope for the future, suggesting ways in which nature may cope with climatic change. Finally, we are led into the delicate balance of energy consumption and the effect of greenhouse gas produced by fossil fuels. The authors conclude with concern over world climate policy and whether it will result in conflict or unprecedented global cooperation. A vital read.

Reviewed by D. Wayne Dworsky

An explanation of climate science that even non-scientists can appreciate
The IPCC AR4 report too technical for you?Want to learn about the climate change?Then this is a good book for you."The Climate Crisis: An Introductory Guide to Climate Change" by climatologists David Archer and Stefan Rahmstorf was published this year and does a decent job of explaining the status of climate science to non-scientists.

That doesn't mean the book isn't technical. It is chock full of color graphics, charts, tables, and photographs documenting every aspect of climate science.But the authors work hard to present the information in language that educated non-scientists and scientists and professionals in other fields can more readily understand.Overall they accomplish this goal, though I do think that parts of the book are still technical enough to confuse your "average Joe."Conversely, I don't think they explain some of the charts well enough - there is a tendency to have a narrative and reference a chart or graph, but then not explain the graph in detail.This is intentional as the book is designed to communicate the information on a level that non-climatologists can understand, but I did find myself wanting to drill into the figures more than was enabled.

Still, these are minor quibbles and I find the book to be a very useful addition to the reading list of anyone interested in the topic of global warming or climate change.The authors are both practicing climatologists and professors of climate science. Rahmstorf was one of the lead authors in the most recent IPCC Fourth Assessment Report (called AR4).Both contribute to the RealClimate.org blog on the topic.

The book itself focuses on the state of the science and looks at what evidence of climate change we have already seen, what is happening with snow and ice in various parts of the world, how the oceans are changing, and how climate is measured.They also have chapters on what we might see in the future with respect to climate change, impacts of those changes, and how we can avoid the worst of it.They briefly touch on climate policy in the last chapter, but they focus on the need for action, the global nature of the cooperation required, and the differences between developed and developing nations, rather than discussing any specific policy solution.

I definitely recommend the book.Readers will find it both informative and enlightening.

Consequences to Ecosystems
This ia a book about a real crisis developing on our planet.It is
about carbon dioxide, water vapour, ozone, methane and nitrous oxide
changes because of the human influences on the atmosphere.

You will see that David Archer and Stefan Rahmstorf have put together
a most enlightening repository of facts and prospects.The contents:
{retrospective) What we knew and when we knew it, Earth's energy budget, CLIMATE CHANGE SO FAR, Snow and Ice, How the oceans are changing, The past is the key to the future, What the future holds,
Impacts of climate change, Avoiding climate change and climate policy.

Take the time to read this book on climate change and climate science
basics - you will be glad you did!

Dag Stomberg
St. Andrews, Scotland
... Read more

Product Description
Gardening. Environmental Studies. This generously illustrated book features more than 650 native Californian and Mediterranean plants suited to the climate and microclimates of the Bay Area. More than 550 color photographs show plants in garden settings that blend well with natural surroundings and reduce reliance on water and other limited resources. "This book is a valuable resource for climate-compatible gardening in the Bay Area. It will occupy a prominent place in my library for many years to come" -- Katherine Greenberg, President, Mediterranean Garden Society. "A truly fine book. It's hard to imagine how anyone would want a stuffy old English garden after seeing the beautiful gardens featured here" -- Katherine Grace Endicott, columnist, San Francisco Chronicle, and author, Northern California Gardening. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (15)

EBMUD's Plant Guide is essential
I've been using this book for about two years in the landscape architecture office I work in, and find it is often the first book I go to when creating a plant list. Very informative, with beautiful color photos of every plant listed (of at least the genus). A must have for Bay Area professionals and residents who care about using location appropriate plants. Complements the Bay Friendly Guidelines and is accepted by Bay Friendly as a resource for sites that require adherence to their policies. I highly recommend it.

Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates (Of the San Francisco Bay Region)
With this book, I need no other. Perfect for No. Cal landscapes. Excellent pictures and well organized information.Inspirational.

Dude, we tore out our water-hogging front lawn!!!
With the front lawn, like, gone, we needed to replant, and quick, Dude. Luckily, we'd found the dough to get "Plants and Landscapes for Summer-Dry Climates of the San Francisco Bay Region". This book, like, totally rocked as we planned a low H20 garden with some RAD native California and Mediterranean plants. From picking a groovy tree (Manzanita) to planning an awesome flowering hedge to hide the neighbor's gnarly rusty gas-guzzler (Ceanothus) to planting a funky giant "fried egg" poppy plant (Matilija...or, in Latin it's Romneya Coulteri, Dude), this book has for sure been our right-on resource. Man, this book is literally it - the sweet way-to-go gardening book for us Californians.

Every Landscape Architect I know owns this book
I have an older version 1990, but I've heard the new version is even better.This book is a no-nonsense reference book.It's clearly organized by plant type: trees, vines, shrubs, etc.Within the categories it is organized in tables with nice clear photos; it's great for plant that you don't know the name of and need to find by appearance.This is a great book for any Bay Area gardener who wants to plant responsibly and control their water requirements.And yes, every Landscape Architect I know owns this book.

A great garden guide for California!
This is one of the most helpful books I have ever purchased as a guide to what plants work best in the Mediterranean climate of many parts California.Illustrated with hundreds of color photos so that you can see what the plants look like.It also notes water requirements of each plant - I discovered I was watering plants that don't really want or need summer water. ... Read more

Product Description
This classic resource on school finance contains the most comprehensive and current information that effects school finance, including historical, economic, technological/mathematical, and legal points of view.The writing in this book is both scholarly and engaging, appealing to a diverse audience of students, educational leaders, parents, and legislators.Gives readers a broad overview of school finance in a clear, comprehensive, readable manner.School finance is an ever-changing topic and this book, now in its Ninth Edition, continues to cover all current trends to provide readers with a firm grounding in educational finance issues that administrators need to understand.In-service and pre-service teachers, administrators, legislators and parents. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Almost Like New
I received the book quickly, sooner than I expected.I was told the book was new, even wrapped like new.When I got to chapter 3, the beginning was highlighted.Only 1 page of highlighting, but certainly not new.All in all the book is in good shape, but if it's used, list it as used.

Have not received
Still to this point I have not received this item. I probably will never order from amazon again since it has taken so long. The company needs to do a better job of getting items to their customers on time. Thank you

A keeper
In addition to being a textbook, this is a resource worth adding to your professional library.

Good book
This book was just what I needed for my class.It had all the info that I needed to help me succeed in the class.

Financing Education Review
Great book.Very helpful in my study of the school superintendency.Very practical and useful information. ... Read more

Product Description
Climate change is not 'a problem' waiting for 'a solution'. It is an environmental, cultural and political phenomenon which is re-shaping the way we think about ourselves, our societies and humanity's place on Earth. Drawing upon twenty-five years of professional work as an international climate change scientist and public commentator, Mike Hulme provides a unique insider's account of the emergence of this phenomenon and the diverse ways in which it is understood. He uses different standpoints from science, economics, faith, psychology, communication, sociology, politics and development to explain why we disagree about climate change. In this way he shows that climate change, far from being simply an 'issue' or a 'threat', can act as a catalyst to revise our perception of our place in the world. Why We Disagree About Climate Change is an important contribution to the ongoing debate over climate change and its likely impact on our lives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

On Conceptions of Science and Nature
Hulme's book asks an important question regarding our understanding of 'climate change,' namely: how do different cultures, religions, and histories come to regard the subject in such multifarious ways? Philologically, it is important to understand the histories of words like 'nature,' 'natural,' 'society,' and 'culture' before understanding how these histories came to shape our current ideas re: the science and inform policy decisions. Moreover, disparities in opinion must understand culture ethics, religion, prioritization of outcomes (in this issue and others), and economization, among other data. Climate change will not act as an issue to be solved, but rather, will serve as an impetus to reassess our place in the world and the prioritzation of issues.

Simply superb! A must read for those with a genuine interest in the debate and healthy skepticism
This book is a must read regardless of your side on this debate, and highly recommended for healthy skeptics and those with a genuine interest in the climate change controversy and related policymaking. Not surprisingly the book was included in The Economist list of Best Books of 2009.

Mike Hulme is a renowned climate scientistwith a 30 year experience in the field who works at the University of East Anglia, and even was Director at the now famous CRU (though he was not involved in the Climategate scandal). Considering his honest view on this subject and his openness in the discussion of such contentious issue, in order to avoid any misunderstandings, right at the beginning of the book Mr. Hulme makes explicit his position regarding climate change: he believes the risks posed by climate change are tangible and serious, and require human intervention and management, and also that the global climate is influenced by an array of human activities. However, he does not believe that the way the UN FCCC and the Kyoto protocol are neither the only nor the most appropriate way to attack this problem. Also he "feels uncomfortable that climate change is widely reported through the language of catastrophe and imminent peril, as `the greatest problem facing humanity', which seeks to trump all others."

Mr. Hulme presents quite an innovative and insightful approach to the climate change discussion, by looking at it as a social phenomenon, as an "idea" interpreted differently by different cultures and by our different sets of believes, values, and concerns, and therefore, what it means to different people in different places. He explores the different dimensions of this "idea" in several political, economical, cultural and ethical contexts, and by identifying the different meanings of climate change he argues we can better understand why we disagree about climate change. Some of these meanings include climate change as a justification to fight globalization, as a desire to return to simpler times, while for others is a great opportunity to develop to technologies that will solve the problem, the desire of pride and control. He summarizes these views to what he calls four myths: Eden, Apocalypses, Babel, and Jubilee. Simply brilliant! He also looks at climate change as a wicked problem, and presents a very insightful analysis of the possibilities of elegant and clumsy solutions.

Despite the strong sociological and philosophical discourse, Mr. Hulme makes a very strong case for his view of the problem, and his main argument has been confirmed by two recent events, Climategate and the failure of the Copenhagen meeting. On a second thought, I think this book is also recommended for hard-die global warming advocates, so they can begin to understand why their cause is beginning to erode, and it is not because the science is a hoax, as the deniers camp has declared recently in light of Climategate.

For more on Hulme's approach to climate change as a wicked problem read Clumsy Solutions for a Complex World: Governance, Politics and Plural Perceptions (Global Issues), which tackles other wicked problems of social nature. Academic, but a must read!

PS: Some critics have said that Hulme's ideas are naive. Well, if you are in doubt, read the Hartwell Paper published in May 2010 (available for free in pdf format in the web, just google). In this publication Hulme and another 13 academics and energy advocates argued that the Kyoto Protocol has failed to produce any discernable real world reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases in fifteen years, and therefore, after the Copenhagen fiasco, Kyoto has crashed. They argued that this failure opens an opportunity to set climate policy free from Kyoto and they propose a controversial and piecemeal approach to decarbonization of the global economy which will be more pluralistic and much more effective than the policies based on Kyoto. The Hartwell paper strategic approach is partially based on Holme's book regarding wicked problems and clumsy solutions, as well as taken proper consideration of the different views and interpretations of climate change around the world. There is now one more reason to read Why We Disagree About Climate Change. Do not miss it.

Ultimately we must accept climate change
Too much social discourse is directed at magnifying disagreement and disparaging the motives and intellect of others (for more evidence on this point read the disagreeable review by Joseph Bast).In this fine book, Mike Hulme takes the position that reasonable people can and do disagree; he then sets off to examine the disagreements and the reasons.

Hulme explores numerous areas of disagreement and organizes his chapters around specific areas.He begins with three mostly (though not entirely) science-oriented sources of disagreement, which involve our conceptualization of climates and climate change, the development of scientific thought regarding climate change, and what science can and cannot tell us.From there, he moves onto disagreements regarding economics, religion, fears, communication strategies, development, and government action.The book ends with a provocative chapter about rethinking climate change.

My own nerdy biases initially drew me into the first chapters, especially the history of scientific thought regarding climate change.Hulme points out that scientific acceptance of the notion that climates change is relatively recent, dating only to the 19th century.Widespread scientific acceptance of the theory of anthropogenic climate change on human time scales is newer still.Although components of the theory, such as the greenhouse effect, were developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, it wasn't until the last quarter of the century that broad elements of the scientific began to broadly accept anthropogenic global warming.

However, accepting the likelihood of anthropogenic global warming is only a scientific preliminary.For effective public policy, we need to know much more, including how strong the link between human activities and climate change is, when and how fast systemic changes are likely to occur, how the effects will be distributed, and what the possibilities are for catastrophic changes.As we move into these important areas, the scientific disagreements become larger, and the opportunities for other sources of disagreement to influence scientific discourse also grow.

At a first reading, I was initially disappointed with most of the follow-on, non-scientific "disagreement" chapters.The chapters work well enough in listing and explaining many ways that people can disagree about things.However, they do not explain which disagreements really matter and whether there are fundamental and connecting sources to the disagreements.There are interesting arguments and insights along the way, but much of the material reads like a middle-of-the-road undergraduate term paper--"it could be this (source A), it could be that (source B)," and so on.

Different readers will nonetheless appreciate different things in these chapters.As an economist, I enjoyed an outsider's take on my profession's disagreements.The discussion of development challenges was also very good, especially in reminding us of how many times smart, careful, and concerned people from Malthus to the Club of Rome have predicted doom only to discover that humans have innovated, adapted, and prospered within the then-existing environmental constraints.

The deeper rationale behind these chapters, though, became clearer after reading the final chapter.A central point of that chapter and ultimately of the book is that climate change is here, and the notion of climate change can't be undone.Climate has changed and will change, and humans, to some extent, are affecting this change.Once we accept this, we cannot "unknow" anthropogenic climate change.

Another crucial point in the chapter is that we are unlikely to "solve" the climate change "problem" in any conventional sense in our lifetimes."Solving a problem" implies meeting a particular objective; in the case, of climate change, what would that be?Suppose that science could give us the magic key to setting the planet's climate--where would we set it?Do we want a pre-industrial climate, a 20th century climate, something warmer, something cooler.Also, (and this is the part where the non-science chapters come in) which objectives do we adopt?

Hulme instead advocates for the more sensible position of living with climate change.To be clear, he does not mean this in a fatalistic sense or as a call for a "do nothing approach."Hulme does mean that we must accept that human activities affect the global climate and that those activities have consequences that impede other objectives.He reminds us that our behavior and policy setting should focus on those objectives rather than the fact of climate change.

excellent book
Professor Hulme has a disturbing view on the topic. Very interesting especially due to the monochordial point of view of most of the press. He challenges the accepted courses of action. I definitely recommend.

Climate Con: How It Pays Off
What if CO2 emissions from 6,000 older inefficient PCs in Duluth could be reduced by half by replacing them with one big 5-acre computer in Des Moines run by just 88 people? Think of what we'd save in CO2 emissions!
We'll establish another UN bureaucracy with green jobbers to monitor this mitigation plan! And we'll finance it all - and a make a ton of money - with an annual fee per ton of CO2 emissions saved - paid by New Yorkers required by law to pony up - every year for the life of the computer in Des Moines, estimated at 20 years. We'll charge fees for any files printed in Des Moines and delivered to Duluth (but ignore the CO2 emissions generated in transit).
Along with the Teamsters, NGOs and bureaucrats, New Yorkers will be thrilled by this plan since these are green jobs and, after all, we're saving the planet!
And what could possibly be better than that?

[...] ... Read more

Product Description
Global momentum is building to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. So far, so good. The less happy news is that Earth's temperatures will continue to rise for decades. And evidence shows that climbing temperatures are already having serious consequences for vulnerable people and regions through droughts, extreme weather, and melting glaciers. In this book, climate experts Michael Mastrandrea and Stephen Schneider argue that we need to start adapting to climate change, now. They write that these efforts should focus primarily on identifying the places and people most at risk and taking anticipatory action—from developing drought-resistant crops to building sea walls. The authors roundly reject the idea that reactive, unplanned adaptation will solve our problems—that species will migrate northward as climates warm, and farmers will shift to new crops and more hospitable locations. And they are highly critical of "geoengineering" schemes that are designed to cool the planet by such methods as injecting iron into oceans or exploding volcanoes.

Mastrandrea and Schneider insist that smart adaptation will require a series of local and regional projects, many of them in the countries least able to pay for them and least responsible for the problem itself. Ensuring that we address the needs of these countries, while we work globally to reduce emissions over the long term, is our best chance to avert global disaster and to reduce the terrible, unfair burdens that are likely to accompany global warming. ... Read more

Product Description
This collection gathers a set of seminal papers from the emerging area of ethics and climate change. Topics covered include human rights, international justice, intergenerational ethics, individual responsibility, climate economics, and the ethics of geoengineering. Climate Ethics is intended to serve as a source book for general reference, and for university courses that include a focus on the human dimensions of climate change. It should be of broad interest to all those concerned with global justice, environmental science and policy, and the future of humanity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Repetitive
There are a few ideas communicated in this book worth contemplating. However, I have two major problems with the book - hence its poor review. A) It is highly repetitive. Each essay tends to repeat much of what has already been stated in previous essays. B) From the title, one might expect this to encompass a broad range of ideas and potential approaches to the crisis. It does not. I feel as if the bulk (if not all) the essays are directed toward policy-makers. There is hardly a departure, the whole book through, from this (in my opinion) narrow viewpoint. If you are someone of influence on public policy who is looking for some idealized viewpoints, then this book may be for you. Otherwise, steer clear.

Essential Reading in the Ethics of Climate Change Policy
Some of the best articles on climate change that I have ever read -- and I have "read then all,"In particular the clarity and honesty of Henry Shue. ... Read more

Product Description
An internationally renowned engineer exposes the fantasy world of global warming economics, and debunks the mythology of carbon-dioxide damage.

Gerondeau demonstrates the absurdity of the counter-measures to which the G8 countries are now committed. These complex and formidably expensive measures:

will be nullified by the actions of China and India, where such restrictions are economically and politically unfeasible
will have no discernible effect on the carbon-dioxide in the atmosphere and climate change
make no sense in the light of the impending exhaustion of hydro-carbon sources within the coming century
will come to be viewed as a scarcely credible response to a global delusion amid harmless shifts in climate.

Having sold over 10,000 copies in France, under the title CO2 Un Mythe Planétaire, the book has been brought fully up to date for the English edition. The endorsements of Nigel Lawson and Valéry Giscard d Estaing speak volumes for the authority of this work. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Essential Penetrating Key Insights
This is an excellent and very refreshing book, presented with great clarity, and with penetrating, key insights.While it does not get bogged down in details - the presented points are nonetheless far from being superficial.

First, the author points out that CO2 emissions WILL continue to increase throughout this century.NOTHING - politically, economically, or technologically will prevent the citizens of the world from exploiting cheap fossil energy to make their lives better. Clearly, the developing nations (who are already producing most of the CO2 now) are not going to stop needing and producing more energy-generation capacity.And the developed nations cannot cut back without economic disaster to themselves, and even if they did, the developing nations would gobble up the same fossil fuels the developed nations forgo.What WILL limit the increased emissions is the exhaustion of economically recoverable resources.When it's gone - it's gone - perhaps in 100 years - but not before.Reducing consumption now would delay the transfer from ground to atmosphere only slightly.

So, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere will approximately double over the next century (and then taper back), regardless of what anyone would like to see done.Fortunately this is NOT a serious problem - far far from the disaster the alarmist have been shouting about for even modest increases, and this is Gerondeau's second major point.His view that dangerous, man-made global warming is not a problem (indeed that CO2 does not cause significant warming) is consistent with what at least a dozen recent books on the science have been telling us - contrary to the IPCC.As to the IPCC, Gerondeau's third major point (should we trust the IPCC, Hansen, Gore, etc.) is an overwhelming NO.Once again, there are many books and websites consistent with this agenda-questioning view.

Is Gerondeau telling us to just go ahead and expend energy and not worry about tomorrow? Yes and no I think.Yes because the earth has an immense capacity to take care of itself, and the human race has an immense capacity to solve problems as they come up (with somewhat less predictive ability).And "no" because we will have to deal with finding new sources of energy in a hundred years.But we will adjust and adapt, not to forestall a disastrous climate consequence (unsolvable anyway, and fortunately, imaginary), but nicely tailored to solving real, sensible, economically realistic, and manageable problems with useful results for the near and far term.

Toward the end of the book we find an optimistic and sensible look at alternative energies, and adaptations to any possible climate changes.For example, he reminds us that corn ethanol is a foolish net energy loss (not to mention and destruction of food!) while other bio-fuels will eventually be developed and make sense.Overall, he nicely sets myths and trumped-up alarmist fears in the proper perspective, relative to real problems and realistic solutions.

I almost wish the author had begun his book with words like "now pay attention stupid!" and I am tempted to work in the word epiphany to my reaction to it.This book is translated from the French, so one wonders if the French was exceptionally clear and survived translation, or was it just the clarity of the issues in the author's mind that shines through.A relatively short and easy read. Essential.

Answer question form previous reviewer
I don't have the book yet, but I may get it. The previous reviewer asked if the author has done a service to humanity by arguing for doing nothing. The answer is an unequivocal yes. Wasting resources on imaginary problems takes those resources away from areas where they could be used productively.

Closed book for an open mind
How are we supposed to determine what the content of this book is when there is no way to look inside? Are the publishers afraid of what they have printed? If this book argues against the notion that an unprecedented rise in CO2 will not affect climate, we pray they are right! But what if they are wrong? Will they have helped the human race by making an argument to do nothing? Seems unlikely. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (9)

Recieved exactly what I ordered!
The bookcame brand new and is well written for an understanding of the Earths Climate, Past, Present and Future.It makes a good introduction to paleo-meteorolgy and paleo-climatology.

Excellent!
Great service and price!!! ALthough I pay regular shipping I got it after 3 days.!!

Ignore any low reviews
I expect that this book over time will collect a bunch of 1-star and 2-star reviews from reviewers who mostly have political objections to the content in the book.

The book itself is a good undergraduate-level introduction to climate science, and should be read by anyone who want to understand how climate science has evolved, and what the current state of knowledge is.It is going to be much more accessible to a scientifically-oriented layman than some of the graduate level texts.If you've been reading about climate issues on the web, and want an introduction to the science, this will be an invaluable to transition from reading about climate on the web to getting closer to the science itself.Even if you have political issues with climate science, this book lays out the basics of the actual scientific arguments and presents what is known and does a good job at presenting the certainty with which it is known.If we could have arguments about climate based on the content of this book, rather than whatever someone thinks Al Gore says, it would move forwards the entire debate over climate science.

an excellent introduction to paleoclimatology
Extremelly well illustrated, this book tackle all aspects of paleoclimatology. I will definitively use it a textbook for our students.

No Doubts
A very good introduction to Quaternary paleoclimatology and projections of things to come.
The older edition that I own leaves the question of AGW somewhat open. The latest edition appears to indicate Ruddiman's acceptance of the latest IPCC findings.
Recommended for upper division geography and earth science students who've mastered basic meteorology and/or oceanography. ... Read more