“What we are now doing to the world… by adding greenhouse gases to the air at an unprecedented rate… is new in the experience of the Earth. It is mankind and his activities which are changing the environment of our planet in damaging and dangerous ways.”
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher
“We all know that human activities are changing the atmosphere in unexpected and in unprecedented ways.”
President George H.W. Bush
“A uniquely powerful resource [that] presents the science of climate change clearly, in a way that will be understandable to readers without scientific training… a joy to read.”
— Physics Today
Our climate future may often seem a choice between bleak and bleaker, but it doesn’t have to be that way. This primer, written largely in Q&A format, teaches the science, consequences, and solutions of climate change “with inspiration, not (only) fear.” The approach emphasizes that if we act rapidly and wisely, we still have a pathway to a future in which we may someday talk about global warming as a problem of the past. Ideal for high school and college classes that cover climate change and anyone wanting to learn more about the topic.
Continue to PrimerRead the written version of the primer here.
You may also wish to watch this video of a recent talk on this topic by author Jeffrey Bennett.