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54th out of 58 books
—
12 voters
Storms Of My Grandchildren: The Truth About The Climate Catastrophe And Our Last Chance To Save Humanity
by
James Hansen
In Storms of My Grandchildren, Dr. James Hansen—the nation’s leading scientist on climate issues—speaks out for the first time with the full truth about global warming: The planet is hurtling even more rapidly than previously acknowledged to a climatic point of no return.
Although the threat of human-caused climate change is now widely recognized, politicians have failed to...more
Although the threat of human-caused climate change is now widely recognized, politicians have failed to...more
320 pages
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I think in the fullness of time this could turn out to be the most important book I will ever read. It’s not an easy book – the science is complicated and there are too many dry accounts of James Hansen’s encounters with leading politicians and administrators (clearly the author trying to place on record that he tried to do something). However the message is clear. Climate change is an existential threat, it’s much more serious than you think, it’s happening now, and it’s nearly too late to turn...more
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This is the best book yet written covering the global warming issue. It is the first book from the preminent scientist in the field, a man who has been studiying the science involved for more than 35 years. He is the expert of experts on the technical issues concerned.
He is very clear in the book about what we know and what we don't know.
One thing we do know is that the West Antarctic ice sheet is going to collapse if CO2 emissions are not curtailed. We don't yet know when the collapse will star...more
He is very clear in the book about what we know and what we don't know.
One thing we do know is that the West Antarctic ice sheet is going to collapse if CO2 emissions are not curtailed. We don't yet know when the collapse will star...more
First, Hansen isn't afraid to call out Democrats as well as Republicans for selling us short on honestly and seriously addressing global warming and climate change. Related to that, he's not afraid to call out international accords such as Kyoto as having an international political angle to them.
Second, because of the "angle" of the book, what might seem scaremongering from many an author isn't from him. Maybe the "extinction of homo sapiens" is a bit that way, but, given that H. sapiens sapiens...more
Second, because of the "angle" of the book, what might seem scaremongering from many an author isn't from him. Maybe the "extinction of homo sapiens" is a bit that way, but, given that H. sapiens sapiens...more
Storms of my Grandchildren: The Truth about the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity by James Hansen
"Storms of my Grandchildren" is a book about the science, history, politics and recommendations on how to address the global warming reality of our planet. This 320-page book is composed of the following eleven chapters: 1. The Vice President's Climate Task Force, 2. The A-Team and the Secretary's Quandary, 3. A Visit to the White House, 4. Time Warp, 5. Dangerous Retic...more
"Storms of my Grandchildren" is a book about the science, history, politics and recommendations on how to address the global warming reality of our planet. This 320-page book is composed of the following eleven chapters: 1. The Vice President's Climate Task Force, 2. The A-Team and the Secretary's Quandary, 3. A Visit to the White House, 4. Time Warp, 5. Dangerous Retic...more
James Hansen is possibly the best-known climate scientist around, as famous for what he wasn't allowed to say as what he did say. He has been an accomplished researcher and a strong voice for taking actions to avert climate change.
This book is an unhappy combination of climate science primer and political memoir. The science is fairly intense (not hard, but he doesn't waste time getting to details) but scattered and the political memoir is, frankly, boring. It is an important book in that this i...more
This book is an unhappy combination of climate science primer and political memoir. The science is fairly intense (not hard, but he doesn't waste time getting to details) but scattered and the political memoir is, frankly, boring. It is an important book in that this i...more
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Good but sometimes a bit technical.
The book is somewhat autobiographical, following Hansens's career and showing how the climate science developed into our current understanding about global warming. Hansen paints a pretty scary picture of our future if we continue to burn all the fossil fuels in the ground.
When these global warming books turn to our options for dealing with the situation I usually start to lose interest because it is so daunting and so politically impossible to deal with. But...more
The book is somewhat autobiographical, following Hansens's career and showing how the climate science developed into our current understanding about global warming. Hansen paints a pretty scary picture of our future if we continue to burn all the fossil fuels in the ground.
When these global warming books turn to our options for dealing with the situation I usually start to lose interest because it is so daunting and so politically impossible to deal with. But...more
This book has a lot of boring politics, but makes up for it with superb explanations of climate science.
Hansen insists he doesn't mean to fear monger, but goes on to use terms like global catastrophe, end of the world, a planet in peril, death of the planet, etc. These emotionally charged terms seem totally out of place in his otherwise sane presentation of scientific information.
He obviously knows little to nothing about biology or astronomy, because he states over and over that all life on Ear...more
Hansen insists he doesn't mean to fear monger, but goes on to use terms like global catastrophe, end of the world, a planet in peril, death of the planet, etc. These emotionally charged terms seem totally out of place in his otherwise sane presentation of scientific information.
He obviously knows little to nothing about biology or astronomy, because he states over and over that all life on Ear...more
This is an important and compelling book. Dr. Hansen is perhaps the world’s leading climate scientist and long one of the most persistent heralds of imminent and potentially catastrophic climate deterioration. I began reading half-convinced that we – Americans, earthlings – needed to begin soon to take forceful steps to reduce greenhouse gas emission levels, and expected the book to convince me somewhat further. This book fully convinced me. The writing is good, not great. The author is a bit of...more
"Greenwashing, expressing concern about global warming and the environment while taking no actions to actually stabilize climate or preserve the environment, is prevalent in the United States and other countries, even those presumed to be the "greenest."
"If the sun becomes brighter, it is a climate forcing that would tend to make earth warmer. A human-made change of atmospheric composition is also a climate forcing."
"The largest human-made climate forcing is due to greenhouse gases."
"What is cl...more
"If the sun becomes brighter, it is a climate forcing that would tend to make earth warmer. A human-made change of atmospheric composition is also a climate forcing."
"The largest human-made climate forcing is due to greenhouse gases."
"What is cl...more
I wish this were better written because it's so important and from such an authoritative figure. However, it is hard to read and has skippable political reminiscence passages.
The latter can be summarised in one word - censorship, both by the US administration and NASA muzzling their scientists. This seems to surprise Hansen. He also has touching faith in informing the public. They don't care, James. They're only concerned with Strictly Come Dancing and their pay cheques. Effective action will ha
...more
An important book -- and while it is cliché to say " is a 'must read'", James Hansen's "Storms Of My Grandchildren" really is one. Dr. Hansen does an excellent job explaining and fitting together the many puzzle pieces of anthropogenic climate change: the what & why of greenhouse gases, changing weather patterns (intensity/deluge/drought), and atmospheric & oceanic warming (and acidification). Also, where things are unknown/uncertain/conflicting, Dr. Hansen says so -- for example many wi...more
This should be required reading for political leaders, who continue to ignore the coming climate catastrophe. There is a lot of climate science here, and some of it is difficult to follow, but the effort is worth it. You will learn a lot about the way the sun works, the orbit of the earth, and the feedbacks, many of them difficult to anticipate and analyze, that complicate the climate issue. The book actually works best as an indictment of the role of money in politics. The book is scary, and so...more
All in all, one of the best, most factual and well-researched books on climate change. That said, the book has some failings.
James Hansen, of NASA, is probably THE most knowledgeable authority on Climate Change in America. He goes through a detailed discussion of the science of global warming that would convince even the most die-hard climate denier. His predictions for the future are terrifying, and I am left with a feeling of hopelessness after reading this book. The political power of the fo...more
James Hansen, of NASA, is probably THE most knowledgeable authority on Climate Change in America. He goes through a detailed discussion of the science of global warming that would convince even the most die-hard climate denier. His predictions for the future are terrifying, and I am left with a feeling of hopelessness after reading this book. The political power of the fo...more
After reading Richard Heinberg's "The Party's Over," an excellent dissection of our current energy predicament, I vowed to take a break from "heavy" books and read something a tad lighter. I broke my vow, deciding instead to read James Hansen's "Storms of My Grandchildren," a brilliant walk through the science of global warming and the evidence that we are on the precipice of catastrophic environmental problems.
I couldn't resist another heavy book, because I consider "Storms" to be a companion t...more
I couldn't resist another heavy book, because I consider "Storms" to be a companion t...more
Very hard to rate with a number between one and five. It is a topic of literally vital importance and I give it five stars because of the function the book intends to serve. It is written by one of the world's leading climate researchers. Rather than discussing the science (which I expected, but there's only one chapter on it) he goes into detail about how the science is getting blocked on the policy level. Given that atmospheric CO2 has increased more than 30% since 1960 and human policy is now...more
Hansen deals unflinchingly with the tricky intersections where science collides with policy. One dramatic change this book had on me is my view of nuclear power: along with Beyond Oil and $20 Per Gallon, this book has made me see that we are going to need efficient nuclear power that reuses 99% of its waste to replace fossil fuels, especially coal, for electricity generation. Another important point Hansen convinces me of is that preventing a new Ice Age is a trivial matter (no more than a few f...more
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In Greek mythology, Cassandra was granted the gift of prophecy but was later cursed so that no one would ever believe her predictions. When she foresaw the destruction of Troy, she was unable to do anything to prevent or forestall these tragedies despite her desperate warnings and pleas.
It seems to me that James Hansen is a modern-day Cassandra. He knows, through the gifts of hard work and science, that civilization is causing its own demise through its obsessive compulsion to burn every drop of...more
It seems to me that James Hansen is a modern-day Cassandra. He knows, through the gifts of hard work and science, that civilization is causing its own demise through its obsessive compulsion to burn every drop of...more
Amazing read that should be required for every college student, for every governor, for every Congressman, for the President! Hansen tells it like it is, laying out the rational for our pending climate disaster, plus how we can avoid it *but* only if we act now! Perhaps the most important book ever written. Funny thing--one of Hansen's premises is that scientists need to better learn to communicate with the public; unfortunately as important as this book is I must wonder aloud if he met his own...more
"Ladies and gentlemen, your governments are lying through their teeth." Now 70, famed NASA scientist and whistleblower James Hansen has nothing to loose but the future of our grandchildren - and the earth. Hansen navigates a plethora of data, graphs, explanations and personal anecdotes describing why climate change is a real and immediate threat to all species on earth. And why little of substance is being done. Besides an explanation of why the scientific evidence is being distorted and withhel...more
Rarely has an author of a nonfiction science book genuflected before the alter of his own experiences. While I agree with many of Hansen's conclusions -- particularly about the worrisome implication that CO2 emissions shouldn't exceed 350ppm (they're already at 390) -- and appreciate his contributions to climate science, the many excessively-worded vignettes based on this or that meeting or speech given by the author grew tiresome. I appreciate Hansen's motivations and desire to save the world f...more
A very interesting book. Almost depressing in so many ways. The whole problem revolves around Washington and money. Until we change the campaign finance laws, our votes mean nothing. Big business wields too much power in Washington.
As the title reflects, this is about our grandchildren. What kind of world are we going to leave them. We are very near the tipping point. My personal belief is, unfortunately, people will wake up too late to do anything to reverse this.
My hat is off to Big Business w...more
As the title reflects, this is about our grandchildren. What kind of world are we going to leave them. We are very near the tipping point. My personal belief is, unfortunately, people will wake up too late to do anything to reverse this.
My hat is off to Big Business w...more
Climatologist and scientist James Hansen leads a neo-Paul Revere's ride warning the world about the rising, catastrophic, chaos inducing, extinction threat of global warming. Standard governmental protocol, drifting deeper into the hubris range, demands, amongst other things, a severe avoidance of alarmism. The derivation of this complacency itself is what alarms. It is also essential that this foolishly long discretionary period imbued with inaction and empty talk end. From what legitimate sour...more
You may read a better book this year, but you won't read a more important one. This book, from 2009, is more relevant than ever because the tipping point looms bigger with each day. There is no issue greater than this: the fate of the earth. Our foremost climate scientist warns us to take major, radical action, before we pass a literal point of no return. He talks about the bipartisan fight against positive change, saying the Democrats were in some ways more obstructive to his efforts than the R...more
This first book by James Hansen, the dean of American climate scientists and the man who introduced a mass audience to the concept of “global warming” in a Congressional hearing nearly a quarter of a century ago, was published right before the failed Copenhagen conference at the end of 2009, and not quite drowned out by the phony “Climategate” email scandal. It contains long and detailed tales of high-level political disappointment, as his assumption that once the danger we are in was publicly k...more
"Greenwashing, expressing concern about global warming and the environment while taking no actions to actually stabilize climate or preserve the environment, is prevalent in the United States and other countries, even those presumed to be the "greenest."
"If the sun becomes brighter, it is a climate forcing that would tend to make earth warmer. A human-made change of atmospheric composition is also a climate forcing."
"The largest human-made climate forcing is due to greenhouse gases."
"What is cl...more
"If the sun becomes brighter, it is a climate forcing that would tend to make earth warmer. A human-made change of atmospheric composition is also a climate forcing."
"The largest human-made climate forcing is due to greenhouse gases."
"What is cl...more
This manifesto by the director of NASA's Goddard Space Institute is a difficult, distubing read. I'm not sure what is more frightening: Hansen's descriptions of an imbroglio at NASA in which he butted heads with its public affairs office (the head of which had formerly held positions in public relations for Southern Company, the second-largest holding company of coal-burning utilities in the United States) and entailed the amazing disappearing mission statement (NASA's mission statement was surr...more
The content of this book is great, even though it's hard to get through. If you read it conscientiously, as I did, there is a lot of technical stuff and terms which I hadn't encountered elsewhere -- like "climate forcings." So this isn't just your rehash of "An Inconvenient Truth."
But if you stick with it, it's really educational and motivational. He talks about the possibility of a runaway greenhouse effect in which the Earth essentially turns into a planet like Venus. He talks about resistance...more
But if you stick with it, it's really educational and motivational. He talks about the possibility of a runaway greenhouse effect in which the Earth essentially turns into a planet like Venus. He talks about resistance...more
Dr. Hansen has been a hero of mine for over 25 years. This latest book should be required reading for every single member of our government - all 545 of them, including both houses of Congress, the President, and all nine Supreme Court Justices. Now you know how I feel about the man and his work. My more complete review of this book appears on an online magazine, A News Cafe. For the sake of brevity, here is the link to it:
http://anewscafe.com/2010/02/23/storm...
http://anewscafe.com/2010/02/23/storm...
Good information, and a very earnest presentation, but I found it hard to keep reading. It gives a personal inside picture of why political measures to address climate change are so very hard to bring about because of powerful special interests; the ongoing and deliberate compromising of scientific findings by political appointees; and why very strong grassroots public pressure will be key to bringing about any significant change in this area, if indeed change is brought about at all.
Very good and serious book about climate change by a competent scientist. Hansen explains very clearly why there is a great risk that IPCC among others has been too optimistic. His idea of fee and dividend system as a carbon tax is very interesting and makes more sense than cap and trade. He also favors rapid buildup of nuclear capacity which is one more indication that he is after solving the problem rather than creating and appearance of activity.
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