gracemainwaring's review against another edition
5.0
Makes a clear and strong case for how the climate crisis has been neglected and procrastinated for decades.
gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
1.0
The Details:
Narrated by Matt Godfrey
Unabridged
Sadly, this wasn't the type of journalistic non-fiction I enjoy.
It had me too frustrated about men in power not doing anything to help our planet and the way it was written wasn't captivating.
Narrated by Matt Godfrey
Unabridged
Sadly, this wasn't the type of journalistic non-fiction I enjoy.
It had me too frustrated about men in power not doing anything to help our planet and the way it was written wasn't captivating.
samdalefox's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
I enjoyed it more the further I read. The writing is a nice mix between informal commentary (almost like a memoir) and more traditional reporting style. I was dismayed by the lack of references list and have docked it a star accordingly, however a note on the sources was provided at the end commenting that a good deal of the material was sourced from primary interviews with people mentioned by name in the book. I understand the reasoning for this, but still find it disappointing (and explained by point 3 below). The book covers the preamble and moment when almost all countries around the world (though through a USA-centric lens) came close to uniting on how to tackle climate change through a multilaterial binding legal agreement. By the end my resounding feelings are:
- Sadness and anger at the generations before me that had the power to make meaningful change to stop the climate crisis and didn't.
- Despair at humanity's continuing inaction (the science has only expanded further to confirm what we already know in the 1970s and added observed further compounding disasters).
- Dull recognition at the incredible nepotism, privilege, and old boys' club networks the book describes in the political, NGO, scientific, and journalism professions.
- A tiny amount of happiness for aquiring greater knowledge on the history of the climate crisis. I learnt many new things in this book and will certainly keep it for reference. At the moment I am unsure how we can use this knowledge in current praxis, but my gut instinct is that this is useful information to know. I would recomment to climate activists and to climate deniers.
lucytaylor's review
informative
reflective
slow-paced
1.5
had high hopes for this book but it was very boring
aceamy6's review against another edition
5.0
Fascinating, infuriating, upsetting and morally thought-provoking. This book is an addictive page-turner about one of the most important issues in human history. It’s about a decade where almost all the countries of the world (though it is in particular USA’s story) were so close to uniting on how to tackle Climate Change.
Reading this book now is sad because it’s like watching current events on the news today, with similar denials, avoidances, broken promises, inefficient legislation, backpedaling, fake news and overall weak environmental responsibility being taken by major governments across the world. The science has been known since the 1950s. Predictions were being made in the 1970s and 1980s. And many of those predictions are coming to pass, the global temperature itself has already gone up by 1 degree Celsius, but we still have not cut our fossil fuel dependency.
This book perfectly captures us, flawed humans, and our inability to see past the short term. Climate Change is and will affect everyone. Left unchecked to develop into a worse case scenario it will cause rising sea levels, expanding deserts, droughts, famine, mass migration, conflict over resources and the collapse of civilisation. Our planet, more importantly our only home, is in terrifying danger. Nathaniel Rich makes it perfectly clear that if we repeat our past and continue with our current attitudes of inaction our planet will still spin around the sun but humans won’t be around to see it.
Pope Francis summarises this book eloquently with a quote from Bartholomew, saying “to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves”. I hope for future generations we take drastic action now to halt, or if possible to reverse, the events of Climate Change. In a world divided surely this global issue is something we can all agree on. If we did, unifying on Climate Change would mean tackling it together, essentially fighting for our survival as a species. Surely with that would come more respect and reverence for the nature all around us. Maybe from that endeavour we would love our fellow man or woman better. It’s all I hope.
Reading this book now is sad because it’s like watching current events on the news today, with similar denials, avoidances, broken promises, inefficient legislation, backpedaling, fake news and overall weak environmental responsibility being taken by major governments across the world. The science has been known since the 1950s. Predictions were being made in the 1970s and 1980s. And many of those predictions are coming to pass, the global temperature itself has already gone up by 1 degree Celsius, but we still have not cut our fossil fuel dependency.
This book perfectly captures us, flawed humans, and our inability to see past the short term. Climate Change is and will affect everyone. Left unchecked to develop into a worse case scenario it will cause rising sea levels, expanding deserts, droughts, famine, mass migration, conflict over resources and the collapse of civilisation. Our planet, more importantly our only home, is in terrifying danger. Nathaniel Rich makes it perfectly clear that if we repeat our past and continue with our current attitudes of inaction our planet will still spin around the sun but humans won’t be around to see it.
Pope Francis summarises this book eloquently with a quote from Bartholomew, saying “to commit a crime against the natural world is a sin against ourselves”. I hope for future generations we take drastic action now to halt, or if possible to reverse, the events of Climate Change. In a world divided surely this global issue is something we can all agree on. If we did, unifying on Climate Change would mean tackling it together, essentially fighting for our survival as a species. Surely with that would come more respect and reverence for the nature all around us. Maybe from that endeavour we would love our fellow man or woman better. It’s all I hope.
dinguini's review against another edition
4.0
I read this in the same week that I watched the Greta Thunberg documentary and the David Attenborough documentary and let me tell you something - I am STRESSED and ANXIOUS and DEVASTATED that our world's power is in the hands of people who continue to block efforts towards protecting our shared humanity.
jessie___m's review
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
3.0
Read this for my Climate Change Bookclub at citylitbooks.com, and oof, kind of a downer. My club announced while, yes, it was informative and yes, it was helpful, it lacked an answer. Isn't that the case? What is the answer? I told a friend at an Irish potluck this week about the 2 black holes that are colliding slowly but surely. Where in 20K years our solar system could be suctioned up, eating any remnants of an existence with it. Not sure what the answer is for that either. Hmm