This
blog has recorded 1360 posts in the past decade – mostly on serious social matters.
One issue has, however, been curiously absent – namely climate change. There was,
admittedly, a brief
reference earlier in the year to The Club of Rome’s report - Come On! Capitalism,
short-termism, population and the destruction of the planet; (2018) (superbly summarized in this article in the fascinating Cadmus journal).
Change – why we need a radical turnaround; Graham Maxton (2019). Written to try to persuade the ordinary citizen of the need to take this issue more seriously – and therefore without the copious referencing of an academic book. Would be even better with a few carefully-chosen references..Full access the usual way
Come On!
Capitalism, short-termism, population and the destruction of the planet;
Club of Rome (2018). This is the definitive text (in full here) for anyone who
wants an up-to-date overview of the point we’ve reached. These are the people
who first alerted us in 1972 and were pilloried mercilessly by the corporate elites
for their audacity.
But
it is all
of 5 years since I last did an extended post on the issue – when I summarized
a great book with the title “Why we Disagree on Climate Change”
A
short, vivid
article in the current issue of the New York Review of Books had me pulling
some books off the shelves and wondering about this gap in the blog’s musings.
It starts by recognizing a twofold problem which confronts those who write
about climate change –
First, how to overcome readers’ resistance to
ever-worsening truths, especially when climate-change denial has turned into a
political credo and a highly profitable industry. ….
Second, in view of the breathless pace of new
discoveries, publishing can barely keep up. Refined models continually revise
earlier predictions of how quickly ice will melt, how fast and high CO2
levels and seas will rise, how much methane will be belched from thawing
permafrost, how fiercely storms will blow and fires will burn, how long
imperilled species can hang on, and how soon fresh water will run out (even as
they try to forecast flooding from excessive rainfall). There’s a real chance
that an environmental book will be obsolete by its publication date.
The
article looks at two recently-published books on the ecological crisis – the first
The
Uninhabitable Earth based on an article which had attracted the usual
criticism for scaremongering when it appeared in 2017
Its critics have largely
been subdued by infernos that have laid waste to huge swaths of California;
successive, monstrous hurricanes—Harvey, Irma, and Maria—that devastated Texas,
Florida, and Puerto Rico in 2017; serial cyclone bombs exploding in America’s
heartland; so-called thousand-year floods that recur every two years; polar ice
shelves fracturing; and refugees pouring from desiccated East and North Africa
and the Middle East, where temperatures have approached 130 degrees Fahrenheit,
and from Central America, where alternating periods of drought and floods have
now largely replaced normal rainfall.
“The Uninhabitable Earth”
has become a best seller – and taps into the underlying emotion of the day:
fear. This book is meant to scare the hell out of us, because the alarm sounded
by NASA’s Jim Hansen in his electrifying 1988 congressional testimony on
how we’ve trashed the atmosphere still hasn’t sufficiently registered. “More
than half of the carbon exhaled into the atmosphere by the burning of fossil
fuels has been emitted in just the past three decades,” writes Wallace-Wells,
“since Al Gore published his first book on climate.”
How many warnings do we
need?
It’s 30 years since the American Congress received that warning from James
Hansen; and almost 50 years since the Club of Rome’s “The Limits to Growth”
explosive report in 1972. I had thought that was the first such warning but a
book I’ve just been reading (“The Wizard and the Prophet”) tells me that 1948
saw the publication of no less than 2 prescient books – “Our Plundered Planet”
by F Osborn and “Road to Survival” by W Vogt (who figures as the “prophet” in
the book (see list below)
Naomi
Klein
is
a well-known Canadian journalist who, like most of us, had tended to hide her
head in the sand on this issue – with justifications that equally explain my own blog silence on the issue - that
- it was too complex;
- others were dealing with it;
- technical change would sort things out; or
- a few personal changes in life-style could at least salve the conscience….
In 2009 a chance encounter changed that – and she started to write This Changes Everything which became a bestseller in 2014. A couple of reviews give excellent and detailed summaries which will help you select the most appropriate part of this rather sprawling book (the link in the title gives the entire text). I had read the book a few years ago but have now gone back to it to read more carefully – along with the second book on the reading list I’ve developed below. And here's an update
- it was too complex;
- others were dealing with it;
- technical change would sort things out; or
- a few personal changes in life-style could at least salve the conscience….
In 2009 a chance encounter changed that – and she started to write This Changes Everything which became a bestseller in 2014. A couple of reviews give excellent and detailed summaries which will help you select the most appropriate part of this rather sprawling book (the link in the title gives the entire text). I had read the book a few years ago but have now gone back to it to read more carefully – along with the second book on the reading list I’ve developed below. And here's an update
Hopefully this goes some
way to make up for my failure to give this life-and-death issue the priority it
warrants…..
Climate Change Resource
TheUninhabitable Earth – life after warming;
David Wallace-Wells (2019) This highly readable
book from a journalist who has compressed his extensive reading into a series of
short, very punchy chapters can be accessed by clicking the title.
https://www.catherineingram.com/facingextinction/
- written by someone who believes we really are nearing the end...
Change – why we need a radical turnaround; Graham Maxton (2019). Written to try to persuade the ordinary citizen of the need to take this issue more seriously – and therefore without the copious referencing of an academic book. Would be even better with a few carefully-chosen references..Full access the usual way
The
report probably falls into the category of “not give up hope completely” and
the technical options described in detail in the last part of the book do give
the impression that things might still be fixed….But the politics suggests
otherwise
Drawdown – the most
comprehensive plan ever proposed to reverse global warning; ed Paul Hawken
(2017). The title may be a bit over the top but the scale of research
undertaken for a superbly-designed book
was impressive
This
Changes Everything – capitalism v the climate; Naomi Klein (2014).
The Wizard and the prophet – science and the future of our planet; Charles Mann (2014)
This book by the Canadian journalist is written for those who are already convinced about the
need for urgent action. Those new to the issue should first read books such as “The Uninhabitable
Earth” and Lynas to get a sense of how bad things are.
A couple of reviews give excellent and detailed summaries which will help you select the most appropriate part of Klein's book (the link in the title gives the entire text). The first is here. The second review gives a useful summary of the scientific issues at stake and then of each chapter. Another review gives a more selective summary
A couple of reviews give excellent and detailed summaries which will help you select the most appropriate part of Klein's book (the link in the title gives the entire text). The first is here. The second review gives a useful summary of the scientific issues at stake and then of each chapter. Another review gives a more selective summary
Part 1,“Bad
Timing,” explores the political context in which the battle against climate
change has been fought, and the political dimensions and implications of
climate change policy. The “bad timing” she is referring to is the way that the
need for collective action on climate change came into public awareness at
almost exactly the same time as neoliberalism become the dominant political
force on the planet.
Part 2,
“Magical Thinking,” explores the various attempts to address climate change
that Klein argues haven’t worked: large green groups partnering with big
business to find market-based solutions; billionaires and philanthropists
attempting to solve the problem on their own terms; and geo-engineering and
imagined future technology. This is what Klein refers to as “magical thinking.”
Part
3, “Starting Anyway,” contains six chapters that explore forms of grass-roots
resistance to the expansion of the fossil-fuel industry, and community-led
solutions to climate change. The Wizard and the prophet – science and the future of our planet; Charles Mann (2014)
A detailed
study by a journalist of two figures at opposite ends of the climate debate.
“The Carbon Crunch; how we’re getting climate
change wrong – and how to fix it”; Dieter Helm (2012). This by an
economist – and the subtitle is the giveaway to his optimism
Why
we Disagree on Climate Change – understanding controversy, inaction and
opportunity; Mike Hulme (2009). An environmental scientist Professor takes a
rare and deep look into our cultural disagreements – using anthropological
insights
“Storms
of my Grandchildren – the truth about the coming climate catastrophe and our
last chance to save humanity”; James Hansen (2009). A powerful story
of how one scientist has tried to warn us
Blessed Unrest - how the largest social movement in history is restoring grace, justice and beauty to the world; Paul Hawken (2007); Beautifully-written history of the environmental movement, with particular emphasis on the contemporary aspects. Very detailed annex.
Blessed Unrest - how the largest social movement in history is restoring grace, justice and beauty to the world; Paul Hawken (2007); Beautifully-written history of the environmental movement, with particular emphasis on the contemporary aspects. Very detailed annex.
“Six
Degrees – our future on a hotter planet”; Mark Lynas (2007) A detailed
examination by an environmental journalist of what happens when the planet
heats up – one degree at a time. Bear in mind that our present increase of 1.5
degrees is already causing havoc – and that reputable organisations such as the
World Bank predict a 4 degree increase
“The revenge of Gaia – why the earth is
fighting back – and how we can still save humanity”; James Lovelock (2006). One
of our most famous scientists (just turned 100) who coined the Gaia concept
“The Carbon War – global warming and the end
of the oil era”; Jeremy Leggett (1999) from an entrepreneur and
writer passionately committed to alternative energy
“Slow Reckoning; the
ecology of a divided planet”; Tom Athanasiou (1996) by an activist
and writer. Still worth reading 20 years on for the breadth of its references
“The End of
Nature – humanity, climate change and the natural world”; Bill McKibben
(1989). McKibben
was one of the early environmental writers – and this is his classic book
Update; https://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/the-politics-of-climate-change-is-this-time-different/
Update; https://oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/the-politics-of-climate-change-is-this-time-different/
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