The Rough Guide to Climate Change 1 (Rough Guide Reference)
The Rough Guide to Climate Change 1 (Rough Guide Reference) – Review
It seems nearly extravagant to publish still another book on climate change. This one, however, bears the benefit of being almost extravagantly comprehensive. Henson has fully assembled a variety of data, presenting it in a superbly organised and open account. Although the term “Rough Guide” might imply a casual approach to the topic, this book is anything but that. In slightly over three hundred pages, the author includes the living conditions, the history starting up to those and what processes are in place to influence climate. He also deals with how the sciences thinking climate change work, and why we should pay attention to them. His study of policies addressing climate change, in particular his descripton of the Kyoto Protocols, is unsurpassed. He still includes how the arts, well and poorly, have officially adopted climate themes into their productions. Although he recognises the failings of such films as “The Day After Tomorrow”, he accepts their role in currently raising civic consciousness. This greatly enlarged awareness has been clearly manifested [...]which uses casual computers to assess data commonly used in modelling climate change. Henson’s description of computer modelling is on a par with the place of his presentation; clear and informative. The author repeatedly stresses that while climate change is a international phenomenon, it is individuals who will make a difference in its onset and impact. Accordingly, his strongly suggested solutions will bear close scrutiny. As well as Kyoto’s general view, Henson observes the alternatives or enhancements for their possible effectiveness. The new initiative by The Asia-Pacific Partnership, based on deliberate controls and widely shared technologies, is completely covered, as is the Contraction and Convergence model. Most importantly, the author’s treatment of individual changes in energy consumption and pollution reduction is very helpful. He makes clear that none of the steps involves radical change in lifestyle nor the amount of significant funds. To this end he closes with a inventory of valuable sources of information on all parts of the topic. If there is a shortcoming in this book, it is the process commonly used to save paper and money. The greatly reduced amount of the volume represents packing all that information into a tiny space. The typeface is miniscule and the simply reading can be excruciating. Energy-saving lightbulbs in your house may lead to visually impaired vision from carefully sifting through so much information. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]