State of the World 2009: Into a Warming World (Revised)

by The Worldwatch Institute

Book Overview

The evidence continues to mount: melting ice caps, rising temperatures, increasingly frequent natural disasters. As the devastating effects of global warming come into sharper focus, societies must work to both mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and adapt to ongoing and inevitable climate change. The actions taken in the coming century will be critically important in determining whether or not we can salvage our environment. We cannot shrink from...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 039333418X
• ISBN13: 9780393334180
• Release Date: January 2009
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 290 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.0" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

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Best Overview of Climate Change: The Problem and the Possibilities

WorldWatch-org may be the top global environmental watchdog, and this another great annual report. It's focused entirely on climate change this time (except for the fascinating annual timeline at the beginning). If you're not sure if you want it, go to their website and look at one of its 6 chapters (in pdf): Chp 1: The Perfect Storm. The big picture view of climate policy history and policy considerations. Chp 2: A Safe Landing for the Climate. How to avoid climate tipping points. A little fuzzy on the science here, but basically sound. (They think cooling won't help once a tipping point is passed. It would. But a tipping point is when the warming is self-sustaining and cooling becomes impossible.) Chp 3: Farming and Land Use to Cool the Planet . Fairly detailed agricultural ideas. Chp 4: An Enduring Energy Future. Good overview of renewables. Also a bit about carbon pricing. Chp 5: Building Resilience. How to reduce the vulnerability of individuals, communities, and countries to the threats of climate change. Chp 6: Sealing the Deal to Save the Climate. "Humanity needs to cap and then start shrinking global emissions." Describes a complex and rather vague system for Greenhouse Development Rights. Read key facts at node/5988 of the WorldWatch website, or essays from the book at node/5983. Like most global warming books, this one is weakest on what to do about it. General principles don't get the job done. Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (Substantially Revised) is by a splinter group that is a bit smarter on policy, but it still does not say much. The one recent and accessible book dedicated to explaining real-world policy is Carbonomics: How to Fix the Climate and Charge It to OPEC. It advocates James Hansen's 100%-refunded carbon tax, but it also covers cap-and-trade, Kyoto II, and a lot of other policies being discussed by Congress and the World.

A wealth of information about our warming planet

This is a great book. It's full of useful information about the science, policy and economic implications of the climate change that's already beginning to unfold around us. It's extremely clear and well-documented about what we need to do to anticipate further change, preventing catastrophe and adapting to the further warming we've already set in motion. And Worldwatch Institute is one of the most respected voices in the field. The editors at the website Worldchanging (their excellent book Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century is a must read too) say about this book "State of the World 2009 is a research masterpiece, the single most important reference guide to climate change yet published." If you're looking to really dive in and understand the challenges climate change presents, you can't do better than this book. It may be a bit short on solutions, but understanding the problem is always the first step to solving it, and I understand climate change much more since reading this.