Tag Archive for: climate science

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Hot Air: The Inside Story of the Battle Against Climate Change Denial | Peter Stot

Ours is the age of global warming. Rising sea levels, extreme weather, forest fires. Dire warnings are everywhere, so why has it taken so long for the crisis to be recognised?

Here, for the first time, climate scientist Peter Stott reveals the bitter fight to get international recognition for what, among scientists, has been known for decades: human activity causes climate change. Across continents and against the efforts of sceptical governments, prominent climate change deniers and shadowy lobbyists, Hot Air is the urgent story of how the science was developed, how it has been repeatedly sabotaged and why humanity hasn’t a second to spare in the fight to halt climate change.

“Hot Air provides a deep insight into the nasty, iniquitous, and nefarious tactics used to deny the reality of climate change. Peter Stott’s first-hand account brilliantly documents the 30-year war against climate scientists in the name of fossil fuels, political expedience, and climate denial.” ― Prof. Mark Maslin, author of How to Save Our Planet

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Firmament: The Hidden Science of Weather, Climate Change and the Air That Surrounds Us | Simon Clark

 

A thin, invisible layer of air surrounds the Earth, sustaining all known life on the planet and creating the unique climates and weather patterns that make each part of the world different.

In Firmament, atmospheric scientist and science communicator Simon Clark offers a rare and accessible tour of the ins and outs of the atmosphere and how we know what we know about it. From the workings of its different layers to why carbon dioxide is special, from pioneers like Pascal to the unsung heroes working in the field to help us understand climate change, Firmament introduces us to an oft-overlooked area of science and not only lays the ground work for us to better understand the debates surrounding the climate today, but also provides a glimpse of the future that is possible with this knowledge in hand.

“An engaging account of something essential to life on Earth yet barely understood by most people: the atmosphere. If you don’t know your stratosphere from your troposphere, you will after reading this lively history… all the more powerful thanks to a final chapter that explains how this complex system is changing, and what that means for the future of humanity.” –Financial Times

The Ends of the World: Volcanic Apocalypses, Lethal Oceans, and Our Quest to Understand Earth’s Past Mass Extinctions | Peter Brannen

The Ends of the World - Peter Brannen

When we talk about ‘saving the planet,’ we forget that the planet is perfectly capable of saving itself. In the last half billion years there have been five major Earth catastrophes resulting in mass extinction – most as a result of changing climate, and some even caused by the lifeforms they extinguished. But each time, life has bounced back, often more glorious and incredible than before.

Journalist Peter Brannen takes us on a wild ride through these mass extinctions and in the process, offers us a glimpse of our increasingly dangerous future. There are many analogs with present-day climate shifts and Brannen introduces us to the researchers on the front lines who are piecing together what really happened.

Part road trip, part history, and part cautionary tale, The Ends of the World takes a deep-time tour of the ways that our planet has clawed itself back from the grave, and casts our future in a completely new light. A fascinating and compelling read.

– Sandy Winterbottom

The Treeline | Ben Rawlence

The Arctic treeline is the frontline of climate change, where the trees have been creeping towards the pole for fifty years. These vast swathes of forests, which encircle the north of the globe in an almost unbroken green ring, comprise the world’s second largest biome.

Scientists are only just beginning to understand the astonishing significance of these northern forests for all life on Earth. Six tree species – Scots pine, birch, larch, spruce, poplar and rowan – form the central protagonists of Ben Rawlence’s story. In Scotland, northern Scandinavia, Siberia, Alaska, Canada and Greenland, he discovers what these trees and the people who live and work alongside them have to tell us about the past, present and future of our planet.

At the treeline, Rawlence witnesses the accelerating impact of climate change and the devastating legacies of colonialism and capitalism. But he also finds reasons for hope. Humans are creatures of the forest; we have always evolved with trees. The Treeline asks us where our co-evolution might take us next. Deeply researched and beautifully written, The Treeline is a blend of nature, travel and science writing, underpinned by an urgent environmental message.