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The No-Nonsense Guide to Climate Change: The Science, the Solutions, the Way Forward
Just as the need for action on climate change becomes more urgent and overwhelming, the campaign to deny that humans are causing it has gained more traction. This completely new book meets the skeptics head on, offering a guide to the science, an insight into the politics of climate justice, and a clear sense of the way forward.
Danny Chivers is a freelance carbon analyst and environmental writer. He recently created an online carbon calculator encapsulating all of the United Kingdom's emissions for the Guardian, and is working on one that will do the same for the United States.
Danny Chivers is a freelance carbon analyst and environmental writer. He recently created an online carbon calculator encapsulating all of the United Kingdom's emissions for the Guardian, and is working on one that will do the same for the United States.
207 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2010
About the author
Danny Chivers
5 books4 followersDanny Chivers is a freelance carbon analyst and environmental writer. He recently created for The Guardian newspaper an online carbon calculator encapsulating all of the UK’s emissions – and is working on one that will do the same for the US. He is also a prominent performance poet.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 2, 2017
This is an excellent introductory text on climate change. Danny Chivers has a clear and readable style; I was able to read the whole thing, including the dry numbers sections, and stay interested in the facts. Text-boxes and bullet-points through out help break up the text and Chivers has a good sense of humour that keeps things from getting too depressing. The situation outlined here is depressing, but by the end I was feeling hopeful that there was something I could do about it.
The book is divided in three parts: the science, the solutions and the way forward. Part A, the science, is only a quarter of the book. Danny Chivers doesn't really waste time-getting bogged down in the details. He gives a broad over-view of the general consensus in the scientific community. I get the feeling that Chivers, as a professional climate change researcher, is impatient with justifying and explaining facts which are accepted reality by scientists, although challenged elsewhere. If you're looking for a detailed explanation of the science behind climate change, this probably isn't the book. Instead, after outlining the problem, the book is mostly occupied with what we can do about it.
Part B, the solutions, explains who and where the worst polluters are and what they need to do. It's pretty dismissive of the more optimistic options. The possibility of nuclear power saving the day got very short shrift, which I found a little disappointing. I've read elsewhere that the new nuclear power technologies are promising and I would've appreciated a deeper explanation of why they're not going to cut it. But this is a short book, so there wasn't really space for that. The solution is really uncompromising: massive reduction of CO2 output before it's too late. And it'll be too late very soon.
Part C, is a catalogue of the ways in which western governments and corporations have created the mess, sustained it, promoted it and lied and obfuscated about cleaning it up. Frankly, as a citizen of a western democracy, it's an embarrassing read. Our governments and businesses must radically change their laws and practises if runaway global warming is to be prevented. We cannot make this change by remembering to turn off the lights and using eco-friendly soap. The most useful thing western citizens can do is to get involved politically and force our governments to act in our best interests (and it really is in our interests for the climate not to get as bad as it could).
This is the only book I've ever won in Goodreads giveaway!
The book is divided in three parts: the science, the solutions and the way forward. Part A, the science, is only a quarter of the book. Danny Chivers doesn't really waste time-getting bogged down in the details. He gives a broad over-view of the general consensus in the scientific community. I get the feeling that Chivers, as a professional climate change researcher, is impatient with justifying and explaining facts which are accepted reality by scientists, although challenged elsewhere. If you're looking for a detailed explanation of the science behind climate change, this probably isn't the book. Instead, after outlining the problem, the book is mostly occupied with what we can do about it.
Part B, the solutions, explains who and where the worst polluters are and what they need to do. It's pretty dismissive of the more optimistic options. The possibility of nuclear power saving the day got very short shrift, which I found a little disappointing. I've read elsewhere that the new nuclear power technologies are promising and I would've appreciated a deeper explanation of why they're not going to cut it. But this is a short book, so there wasn't really space for that. The solution is really uncompromising: massive reduction of CO2 output before it's too late. And it'll be too late very soon.
Part C, is a catalogue of the ways in which western governments and corporations have created the mess, sustained it, promoted it and lied and obfuscated about cleaning it up. Frankly, as a citizen of a western democracy, it's an embarrassing read. Our governments and businesses must radically change their laws and practises if runaway global warming is to be prevented. We cannot make this change by remembering to turn off the lights and using eco-friendly soap. The most useful thing western citizens can do is to get involved politically and force our governments to act in our best interests (and it really is in our interests for the climate not to get as bad as it could).
This is the only book I've ever won in Goodreads giveaway!
January 13, 2013
As a short introductory text on the issue of climate change I don’t think this book can be beaten. The ‘no-nonsense’ book series, which obviously includes this one, attempts to quickly and succinctly offer a broad overview of a topic with the lay reader in mind. As such this book is not a science book but rather a book about a scientific issue - the book actually offers a pretty holistic introduction to climate change i.e. is it real? Did we do it? Why haven’t we fixed it yet?
Being an introductory text the book tries to provide context by discussing the political and cultural factors which influence the discourse and hold up the potential solutions for climate change. Whilst I found these chapters to be pretty straightforward and non controversial, readers of a right wing persuasion may find these chapters rather trying (although there’s nothing here you wouldn’t expect a book on climate change written by an environmental scientist to say).
To my mind this is a perfect system for an introductory text. The book is well written, it provides context, it covers a somewhat dry subject with clear concise language and it offers some potential solutions to the problem. Scientists may prefer a more advanced text but for nigh on everyone else this book provides a good overview of climate change and the problems we face whilst trying to tackle it.
Being an introductory text the book tries to provide context by discussing the political and cultural factors which influence the discourse and hold up the potential solutions for climate change. Whilst I found these chapters to be pretty straightforward and non controversial, readers of a right wing persuasion may find these chapters rather trying (although there’s nothing here you wouldn’t expect a book on climate change written by an environmental scientist to say).
To my mind this is a perfect system for an introductory text. The book is well written, it provides context, it covers a somewhat dry subject with clear concise language and it offers some potential solutions to the problem. Scientists may prefer a more advanced text but for nigh on everyone else this book provides a good overview of climate change and the problems we face whilst trying to tackle it.
January 6, 2017
I got this as a first reads. I found it very interesting. Although I already knew a decent amount about climate change before reading the book, I also learnt a lot of new information as well. The explanations of the science behind climate change were particularly good. The sceptic boxes were also interesting, and useful as well. I found the imagining of a zero carbon world, and the way it was described in one chapter, a little idealistic and unrealistic but other than that the book touched on some interesting ideas.
October 17, 2019
Probably a bit out of date now - published 2010 - but one can assume things have got worse. There was plenty of information here for me. As usual with science books, I'm not sure how much of it I will retain, but it was good to read the specifics rather than having vague ideas that CO2 and methane are Bad Things without knowing how or why.
At the end he is optimistic about people rebelling and forcing governments to start to act, and perhaps that is finally happening. Also, I liked his pen picture of how life might look in a world without fossil fuels.
At the end he is optimistic about people rebelling and forcing governments to start to act, and perhaps that is finally happening. Also, I liked his pen picture of how life might look in a world without fossil fuels.
August 8, 2017
page 118
October 2, 2021
11 years since published, this quick read covers all the main topics needed to have a clear understanding of the mess we are in and what needs to happen to have any chance of a liveable planet for most species. Spoiler alert we have not done what’s necessary over the last decade. Highly recommended reading for any level of knowledge on the ongoing existential crisis that affects us all.
September 24, 2021
I have decided to try to educate myself on the topic of Climate change and chose this as an introduction. It served that purpose well , providing a basic overview.
On to other similarly themed books !
On to other similarly themed books !
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews