The Cartoon Introduction to Climate Change

This is an excellent book that gives a light-hearted but too-real overview of the scientific, historical, political, and social aspects of the controversies surrounding climate change. The cartoons are skillfully drawn and emphasize the points in a memorable way, far better than technical jargon and equations.Sure, you don't get a scientific explanation of what and why climate change happens, but most people don't want that. Besides, there's a multitude of books that cover that - this book can be read in one enjoyable afternoon, giving you a summary of the issues.Climate change is a serious topic and this book treats it as such. It has plenty of opportunity to be cynical, such as when explaining the Tragedy of the Commons. But fortunately, the authors are hopeful that we can tackle the problem.

Excellent -- both in concept and execution. Who says understanding climate science has to be boring...or depressing?As a climate communication specialist (climatebites.org) I am always on the lookout for clear, accurate, readable explanations of climate change for general audiences. This is the simply best -- and certainly the most fun --- climate change primer to date. It's surprisingly comprehensive covering the basic science, economics and policy issues.I would give it 6 stars if I could.

But the science has radically changed the official story since the book was published in 2014.The writers make a big effort to be fair and present both sides -- those who believe that current pollution levels threaten to adversely change the world's climate, and those who believe it's (a) part of a long-term trends and (b) threatens people's jobs.In summary, the book has clear presentations and useful information, and it's a useful place to start. However, it ignores the impact of atmospheric warming on causing change to the oceans. Again, all systems impact each other to varying degrees. Melting glaciers don't just cause flooding; at a certain point, it can change or even shut down ocean currents. This book ignores that.For those who are interested, a more in-depth analysis follows.While the topics are clearly presented, I found it disturbing that only airborne pollution and its effects were seriously considered. Western science tends to do that a lot. Mainstream press bears its own share of responsibility for that, snatching up sound bites to sell something. Many scientists who work for the government also suffer from whatever political party happens to be in power, and those at the top are not afraid to suppress, distort, and lie when reports that threaten those in power, and their pocketbooks can hold as much of their allegiance as voting blocs.Instead of dealing with pollution, we invent Carbon Caps, and then rich countries buy the shares from poorer nations, while doing our best to continue business as usual albeit with more of those pesky and costly regulations. Meanwhile first and third-world nations continue to mine and hunt and fish for the world's exploding population. These issues are easy to solve, but by ignoring the science and holding to the status quo, nature will enforce it's own changes. It is both disturbing and laughable that many scientists warning about global warning talk about rising oceans; worse, they advise the largest cities about flooding and so cities like New York and London and other places plan for huge dikes to keep back the oceans.Of important note is the US government has had to adjust the official projections on melting glaciers. According to Climate.gov, "The pace of glacier loss has accelerated from -228 millimeters (9 inches) per year in the 1980s, to -443 millimeters (17 inches) per year in the 1990s, to -676 millimeters (2.2 feet) per year in the 2000s, to -921 millimeters (3 feet) per year for 2010-2018." More important, the rate of impact is that in 2020, those who monitor the melting of glaciers have discovered that Greenland's ice sheets have been melting three times faster than previously estimated. The Alfred Wegener Institute reports, "Satellite data shows ice sheets of Greenland and Antarctica are declining at record speed. The annual loss of ice has doubled in the case of Greenland and tripled in the West Antarctic compared to figures from 2009."But these are disingenuous. Already, global monsoons for the tropics have begun to shift, and the annual rains across the Sahara have begun moving northward, leaving some areas barely any rainfall, if there is any rainfall at all. Many of these scientists say if these trends continue, in a hundred years, our coastlines will rise by a hundred feet or more.Like this book, many who espouse global warning and those who deny humans believe we still have time to act.While tornadoes, hurricanes, and El Nino and El Nina events grow stronger every year, other places have weakening or absent monsoons, and oceans slowly rise; these all depend on the Atlantic Conveyor continuing as it has been. Even if humans stopped all industrial production across the world, it would take years for the climate to stabilize. More, it would not stop the melting of the glaciers. And of course, with 7 billion hungry humans, getting the human race to agree to such an onerous task when hungry bellies need to be fed would be nothing short of a miracle. When the Atlantic Conveyor stops, we will begin entering a new Ice Age while more immediately devastating North Atlantic fish populations.Will the disruption of the Atlantic Conveyor affect us? Certainly. The Conveyor brings not only warm waters, but also nutrients in the form of plankton, krill, and other important bedrock populations to support ocean life. When you alter the bottom of the food chain, everything else above it takes notice. When it vanishes, entire species die out.In northwest Scotland, at 57.8 degrees, there is a famous horticulture garden that has thriving semi-tropical plants from around the world, including eucalyptus and plants from the scrub of southern Africa. The very same latitude in Canada is just north of the city of Churchill in Manitoba along the Hudson Bay; it is filled with cold, the Bay itself has a lot of ice, and hungry polar bears are still king. This current affects the western shores of the US and Canada, and all of Europe as far east as the Ural Mountains. A very useful video, entitled "The Gulf Stream and the next Ice Age" by Grand Angle films (2006) provides a lot of supporting evidence.This has happened before. The last time the Atlantic Conveyor was disrupted, the world experienced the Younger Dryas Ice Age (12,800 years ago), and it lasted for about 1500 years; when the current is disrupted, it takes from 1000 to 1500 years for enough freshwater to be extracted as snow and ice to allow the current to restart. What started it? Well, it wasn't pollution; it was a multiple meteor strike that hit North America, documented and aired by the PBS series NOVA on 3/31/2009 as "The Last Extinction" but has since been renamed as "Megabeasts, Sudden Death." The NOVA episode only notes one strike, possibly centered in the Lake Winnipeg region, but subsequently more evidence has come forth. Geologist Dr Antonio Zamora has YouTube reports that provide evidence of another strike hitting the southern shoreline of Saginaw Bay, wiping out all life in a 1200 kilometer radius of the impact site. Harvard says they have evidence of yet another strike hitting western Pennsylvania. The sudden melting of billions of gallons of ice flooded the Gulf Stream and shut down the Atlantic Conveyor.The difference this time is it's an incremental process caused by human pollution. Fast or slow, the Atlantic Conveyor remains an important yet often ignored part of the problem of global warming. Look at a map of the Younger Dryas as it was in North America, and then look at similar Ice Age map of Europe. Then imagine all those places forcing people to evacuate and migrate south due to advancing ice. If you need a happy thought, on the plus side, the last Ice Age turned the boiling sands of the Sahara into grasslands teeming with wildlife.

I've read a lot of books about climate change and this is one of the best! Do not discount this because it has pictures; it covers a lot of important material. Beginning and ending with free enterprise is important. There are a lot of features that should make this acceptable to a diverse group of readers. There are solutions, hope, and encouragement to think your own thoughts and choose your own way.

We are in love with the Cartoon Introduction series in my house - my nine and ten year old are very well versed in climate change, micro and macro economics. I have heard them speak very intelligently to adults (often climate change naysayers) using content they learned here. A couple more years of math and they have the excitement and base understanding to take college level courses thanks to these introductions! Unlike other books that are a one-off read, my kids re-read them then go look up concepts online so they can know more - they are dog-eared. Score!I love these too as an adult and I knew Yoram way back, but I am so delighted to share this and the rest of the Cartoon Introduction books with everyone I know.

The book arrived quickly and was in perfect condition. Thank you! It's a very interesting read and gives enough information in a concise, simple, humorous, and well-written way to be able to understand all the important aspects of our environmental crisis. Should be required reading for everyone on this planet!

This book is very informative in an accessible format. It is very comprehensive- it's really everything you wanted to know about climate change but didn't know the questions to ask- the science, the social and economic factors, impacts and options to respond. I would say it is more than just an introduction! The art work is not my to my taste. Also, there are no references/sources listed in the book. There is a website for sources and page notes listed on the front table of contents page, but it is easy to overlook and I would prefer that it all be contained within the book. I would rather not have to read the book with my laptop by my side to refer to the page notes and sources.

Wonderful book! It explains the sciences involved in the changes in the Earth's climate in every-day, clear language. And I loved the cartoon drawings and comments. Since every human being, as well as all wildlife will be, and are being, affected by climate change, everyone should read this book and start or increase doing the suggested helpful things, such as recycling, composting, take public transit, plant a tree, etc.

A must read for all. Goes hand-in-hand with Leonardo's speech.

Excellent Book in terms of presentation and content

Very Good , delivery is on time and quality is very nice. From my side very nice recommend for this seller.

Peut-on parler de science et d'économie du changement climatique à des non-spécialistes de manière à la fois sérieuse et amusante ? C'est l’objectif visé par cette bande dessinée introductive pleine de gags et on peut dire que c'est réussi, notamment parce qu'elle incite le lecteur à approfondir tel ou tel thème abordé. La bande dessinée se divise en trois parties, toutes instructives et passionnantes. En gros, les deux premières (observations et prédictions) parlent principalement de science du changement climatique alors que la troisième partie parle essentiellement d'économie (actions). Les deux premières parties abordent ainsi l'histoire du climat terrestre, le dioxyde de carbone, les énergies entrante et sortante, le rôle de l’eau, l'effet de serre, le réchauffement climatique, l'acidification des océans et l'incertitude -- et vous avez l'impression de comprendre ces sujets techniques ! De même pour la partie économique avec des sujets techniques comme la tragédie des communaux, les réglementations directes, les taxes carbone et les systèmes de plafonnement et d'échanges de droits ou permis d'émission de dioxyde de carbone ("cap and trade"). Seul petit regret : que cette partie économique apparaisse courte en n'abordant pas des questions comme l'analyse coûts-bénéfices, les taux d'actualisation, la couverture et les coûts assurantiels ou l'effet mondial de réglementations nationales (sur ce point, lire justement l'échange en ligne de mai-juin 2014 entre le blogueur Bryan Caplan et l'un des deux auteurs de la bande dessinée, Yoram Bauman). Bien sûr, traiter ces questions aurait alourdi un ouvrage qui fait déjà 205 pages ; il a fallu faire des compromis.

in fact intersting and valuable combination of information and comics