Shaheen Tonse

“The Global Climate Crisis” is well organized, with broad coverage of the scientific, political and technological aspects of the problem. Explanations are clear, in several cases better than I have encountered before. Facts and data are well-attributed, numbers and units are clearly shown in tables, figures and appendices. In Part I: Ch. 1-4 give very clear explanations of the science behind the issue. Ch 5-7: evidence that it is happening, that greenhouse gases are the reason, and the future. Ch 8: time-line of efforts of the IPCC and the COP conferences, Dr James Hansen’s presentations to the US Congress in the late 1980s, and the Kyoto and Paris agreements. In Part II: Ch 9 covers current emissions and what-if scenarios. Ch 10 energy alternatives to fossil fuels. Ch 11 goes through social and political reasons for why this is so difficult to solve. Ch 12,13 present a few solutions for a path forward (were they to be adopted.) The En-Roads climate forecasting tool is introduced. (downloadable, can run on a desktop computer). Ch 14 “Can It Be Done” discusses the transition from fossil fuels to renewables. While one could conceivably gather this information through multiple visits to multiple sources on the internet and scratch one’s head interpreting it, it is wonderful to have it all in one place on one’s desk. My only gripe is that the effects of population growth could have been discussed with more than a passing mention, but from a practical viewpoint that topic is too taboo to discuss.