4 ms·

Ask HN: What is the best book on the climate problem and solutions?

32 points by greatatuin 5y ago

Hey HN! Asking here as I trust your judgement. What's the best and objective book for understanding climate change, the main sources of carbon and feasibility of potential solutions? Thanks!

aosaigh 5y ago
Bill Gate's "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster" is a good layperson introduction on the topic (I include myself in this): https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Avoid-Climate-Disaster-Breakthroughs/dp/059321577X https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Avoid-Climate-Disaster-Breakthr...
DamonHD 5y ago
This is still a good one: https://withouthotair.com/ https://withouthotair.com/
- shoo 5y ago
  this is a great book, but the author structured it to focus on sustainable energy. it would be necessary to complement this book with others focusing on global warming, greenhouse gases, sources, sinks, geoengineering.
WaxedChewbacca 5y ago
shoo 5y ago
I found the 2014 paper by Friedlingstein et al "Persistent growth of CO2 emissions and implications for reaching climate targets" [1] helpful in framing the situation in terms of a cumulative emissions budget. In terms of feasibility for potential solutions, there are different facets: is it supported by scientific evidence? is it feasible from an engineering perspective? then the trickier one: is it feasible politically (at a national level or internationally)? if not currently politically feasible, what is a pathway for the solution to become politically feasible in future? I'm not well read enough to suggest a good book that digs into this. An anecdote: in last month's economist/yougov poll of 1500 US adult citizens who respond to lengthy surveys [2], people were asked "How important are the following issues to you?" -- there's data for 14 issues, ranging from "health care" to "foreign policy", including "climate change & the environment". If issues are ranked by the percentage of respondents who say the issue is "very important", "climate change and the environment" is ranked 12th out of 14, with 44% of respondents saying it is very important -- placing ahead of abortion (43%) and trailing immigration (46%). The three issues deemed "very important" by the most respondents were healthcare (68%), jobs and the economy (67%) and national security (62%). When people are asked to rank what their single most important issue is out of the 14 considered, climate change & the environment ranks 3rd (12%) behind jobs & the economy (17%) and healthcare (16%). It'd be much more feasible for politicians to do something about climate change if there was broad, bipartisan public support for prioritising solutions ahead of other competing priorities, but at the moment that doesn't seem to be the case, at least in the US. [1] arbitrary pdf link https://www.lakeheadu.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/53/outlines/2014-15/GEOG4411/Friedlingstein%20et%20al.pdf https://www.lakeheadu.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/53/outl... [2] Refer to data summarised in 112 and 113 of https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/vtm70v61hq/econToplines.pdf https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/vtm70v61hq/econToplines.pdf
jsmith99 5y ago
The Climate Casino by William Nordhaus, the Nobel Prize winner. He argues that climate change will be costly but probably not uniquely catastrophic (hence the word 'casino').
xupybd 5y ago
The Scientist as Rebel Not directly on topic but interesting thoughts from someone with a controversially optimistic view of climate change.
DougMellon 5y ago
Related from five days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30611900 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30611900
lm28469 5y ago
Not a book but you could start here: https://www.ipcc.ch/reports/ https://www.ipcc.ch/reports/
technobabbler 5y ago
Read the IPCC reports for the scientific context. The on the ground situation changes all the time (keeps getting worse) and the reports are updated every few years. The IPCC is a UN panel of scientists studying climate change over decades and publishing their findings in a pretty easy to understand format. It's all open and free and the methodologies are documented. Proposed solutions are pretty much nonexistent/irrelevant because it's not a scientific question anymore but a matter of political will, and the pendulum keeps going back and forth between the reds and the blues with essentially nothing getting done over the years. Various authors range from optimistic to doom and gloom but in the end they are just speculating on things that will not get implemented.
- cl42 5y ago
  IPCC Working Group III has the sole purpose of documenting mitigation strategies[1]. Their next big report is due sometime before the end of March 2022[2]. I'm sure there will be lots of interesting ideas presented there, though it's unclear how feasible they'll be. [1] https://www.ipcc.ch/working-group/wg3/ https://www.ipcc.ch/working-group/wg3/ [2] https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-group-3/ https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-g...
usednet 5y ago
Once you finish some of the other good recommendations in this thread, I recommend How to Blow Up a Pipeline by Andreas Malm. The title is not really representative of the content. I thought it was a very thoughtfully written, nuanced perspective on the challenges facing those trying to prevent climate change.
giraffe_lady 5y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Blow_Up_a_Pipeline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Blow_Up_a_Pipeline
tonyedgecombe 5y ago
Don't Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change by George Marshall. It's not the most cheerful book I've read though.
cpach 5y ago
I like this one: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Earth_Discipline https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Earth_Discipline
ZeroGravitas 5y ago
The Logic of Collective Action by Mancur Olson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Logic_of_Collective_Action https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Logic_of_Collective_Action > ... published in 1965. It develops a theory of political science and economics of concentrated benefits versus diffuse costs. Its central argument is that concentrated minor interests will be overrepresented and diffuse majority interests trumped, due to a free-rider problem that is stronger when a group becomes larger.
gadders 5y ago
I'll get downvoted for saying it, but as a counterpoint read some Bjorn Lomborg. He doesn't deny global warming is happening, just the practicality and cost-effectiveness of proposed solutions, and whether spending the same money elsewhere would do more to improve the lot of the world's poorest.
g8oz 5y ago
A very very good book is "Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming" Description: "The 100 most substantive solutions to reverse global warming, based on meticulous research by leading scientists and policymakers around the world " After it was released in 2017 it got enough buzz that a non-profit called Project Drawdown was created to continue the effort. https://drawdown.org/ https://drawdown.org/
Blackstrat 5y ago
Unsettled by Dr Steven Koonin, Obama’s undersecretary for science. Of course, it’s not popular with climate alarmists.
dt12345 5y ago
How Bad are Bananas: The Carbon Footprint of Everything by Mike Berners-Lee

32 points by greatatuin 5y ago

Hey HN! Asking here as I trust your judgement. What's the best and objective book for understanding climate change, the main sources of carbon and feasibility of potential solutions? Thanks!

aosaigh 5y ago

Bill Gate's "How to Avoid a Climate Disaster" is a good layperson introduction on the topic (I include myself in this): https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Avoid-Climate-Disaster-Breakthroughs/dp/059321577X https://www.amazon.co.uk/How-Avoid-Climate-Disaster-Breakthr...

DamonHD 5y ago

This is still a good one: https://withouthotair.com/ https://withouthotair.com/

shoo 5y ago
this is a great book, but the author structured it to focus on sustainable energy. it would be necessary to complement this book with others focusing on global warming, greenhouse gases, sources, sinks, geoengineering.

WaxedChewbacca 5y ago

shoo 5y ago

I found the 2014 paper by Friedlingstein et al "Persistent growth of CO2 emissions and implications for reaching climate targets" [1] helpful in framing the situation in terms of a cumulative emissions budget. In terms of feasibility for potential solutions, there are different facets: is it supported by scientific evidence? is it feasible from an engineering perspective? then the trickier one: is it feasible politically (at a national level or internationally)? if not currently politically feasible, what is a pathway for the solution to become politically feasible in future? I'm not well read enough to suggest a good book that digs into this. An anecdote: in last month's economist/yougov poll of 1500 US adult citizens who respond to lengthy surveys [2], people were asked "How important are the following issues to you?" -- there's data for 14 issues, ranging from "health care" to "foreign policy", including "climate change & the environment". If issues are ranked by the percentage of respondents who say the issue is "very important", "climate change and the environment" is ranked 12th out of 14, with 44% of respondents saying it is very important -- placing ahead of abortion (43%) and trailing immigration (46%). The three issues deemed "very important" by the most respondents were healthcare (68%), jobs and the economy (67%) and national security (62%). When people are asked to rank what their single most important issue is out of the 14 considered, climate change & the environment ranks 3rd (12%) behind jobs & the economy (17%) and healthcare (16%). It'd be much more feasible for politicians to do something about climate change if there was broad, bipartisan public support for prioritising solutions ahead of other competing priorities, but at the moment that doesn't seem to be the case, at least in the US. [1] arbitrary pdf link https://www.lakeheadu.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/53/outlines/2014-15/GEOG4411/Friedlingstein%20et%20al.pdf https://www.lakeheadu.ca/sites/default/files/uploads/53/outl... [2] Refer to data summarised in 112 and 113 of https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/vtm70v61hq/econToplines.pdf https://docs.cdn.yougov.com/vtm70v61hq/econToplines.pdf

jsmith99 5y ago

The Climate Casino by William Nordhaus, the Nobel Prize winner. He argues that climate change will be costly but probably not uniquely catastrophic (hence the word 'casino').

xupybd 5y ago

The Scientist as Rebel Not directly on topic but interesting thoughts from someone with a controversially optimistic view of climate change.

DougMellon 5y ago

Related from five days ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30611900 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30611900

lm28469 5y ago

Not a book but you could start here: https://www.ipcc.ch/reports/ https://www.ipcc.ch/reports/

technobabbler 5y ago

Read the IPCC reports for the scientific context. The on the ground situation changes all the time (keeps getting worse) and the reports are updated every few years. The IPCC is a UN panel of scientists studying climate change over decades and publishing their findings in a pretty easy to understand format. It's all open and free and the methodologies are documented. Proposed solutions are pretty much nonexistent/irrelevant because it's not a scientific question anymore but a matter of political will, and the pendulum keeps going back and forth between the reds and the blues with essentially nothing getting done over the years. Various authors range from optimistic to doom and gloom but in the end they are just speculating on things that will not get implemented.

cl42 5y ago
IPCC Working Group III has the sole purpose of documenting mitigation strategies[1]. Their next big report is due sometime before the end of March 2022[2]. I'm sure there will be lots of interesting ideas presented there, though it's unclear how feasible they'll be. [1] https://www.ipcc.ch/working-group/wg3/ https://www.ipcc.ch/working-group/wg3/ [2] https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-group-3/ https://www.ipcc.ch/report/sixth-assessment-report-working-g...

usednet 5y ago

Once you finish some of the other good recommendations in this thread, I recommend How to Blow Up a Pipeline by Andreas Malm. The title is not really representative of the content. I thought it was a very thoughtfully written, nuanced perspective on the challenges facing those trying to prevent climate change.

giraffe_lady 5y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Blow_Up_a_Pipeline https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/How_to_Blow_Up_a_Pipeline

tonyedgecombe 5y ago

Don't Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change by George Marshall. It's not the most cheerful book I've read though.

cpach 5y ago

I like this one: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Earth_Discipline https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whole_Earth_Discipline

ZeroGravitas 5y ago

The Logic of Collective Action by Mancur Olson https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Logic_of_Collective_Action https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Logic_of_Collective_Action > ... published in 1965. It develops a theory of political science and economics of concentrated benefits versus diffuse costs. Its central argument is that concentrated minor interests will be overrepresented and diffuse majority interests trumped, due to a free-rider problem that is stronger when a group becomes larger.

gadders 5y ago

I'll get downvoted for saying it, but as a counterpoint read some Bjorn Lomborg. He doesn't deny global warming is happening, just the practicality and cost-effectiveness of proposed solutions, and whether spending the same money elsewhere would do more to improve the lot of the world's poorest.

g8oz 5y ago

A very very good book is "Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming" Description: "The 100 most substantive solutions to reverse global warming, based on meticulous research by leading scientists and policymakers around the world " After it was released in 2017 it got enough buzz that a non-profit called Project Drawdown was created to continue the effort. https://drawdown.org/ https://drawdown.org/

Blackstrat 5y ago

Unsettled by Dr Steven Koonin, Obama’s undersecretary for science. Of course, it’s not popular with climate alarmists.

dt12345 5y ago

How Bad are Bananas: The Carbon Footprint of Everything by Mike Berners-Lee