ICEMON

The Discovery of Global Warming (New Histories of Science, Technology, and Medicine)

The Discovery of Global Warming (New Histories of Science, Technology, and Medicine) – Review
An excellent brief review of the development of international climate concerns in the scientific, political and public awareness. Weart details the steps in the discovery of global warming as a concept, including the different transformations that climate theory became through on its way towards satisfactorily explaining what has really happened in the past and constantly predicting the common nature of things to come. He explains the science well for the beginner (that is to say, not too deeply) and covers many bases – possibly including solar, atmospheric, oceanic and biomass inputs that shape our climate and the slowly creeping realization that climate change can change (and has officially changed in the past) much faster than anyone strongly suspected 100 years ago. While completely covering the science and history in some detail, he also takes critical care to acknowledge the intrinsic doubts of climate science, focusing his attention later in the book on the public and political interplay in the method of discovery and discussion about climatic change. Click to continue »

Heaven and Earth: Global Warming, the Missing Science

Heaven and Earth: Global Warming, the Missing Science – Review
This book is a must widely read for scholars of climate change. Although long at 500 pages and rather repetitive it is heavily referenced with technical articles. Plimer, a geologist, goes into the story of the earth’s changing climate over millions of years and the results of sun, earth, air, water and ice. He concludes the idea of anthropogenic carbon dioxide being a major factor in the purpose of our climate is simplistic, flawed and wrong. The development of the IPCC is eventually traced and the emissions movement is frequently likened to an urban atheistic religion divided from Nature which developed to fill a yawning psychic vacuum in the Western world.

• tetradynamous
• tetradynamous

The Weather Makers : How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth

The Weather Makers : How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth – Review
I realize some prefer this book to The Winds of Change: Climate, Weather, and the Destruction of Civilizations which just edged this one out in my personal opinion–see my review of the other book for a sense of why. This book is, however, easily of the same caliber, and more readable to boot. The author points out that climate change is different from “limits to growth” focused on resources. He is less focused on and thus gives less detail than others on the friendly relations between climate, water scarcity, disease, poverty, and ultimately failed states. Click to continue »

An Inconvenient Truth

An Inconvenient Truth – Review
There is a good deal of fluff and hysteria, accompanied by portions of heatstring-jerking pictures, in this book. Unfortunately, there is no valuable/factual content: the only important graph amounts to a best example for the book “How To Lie With Statistics”. Essential facts which Gore ignores and which destroys his case: (1) the long-term change feared is just one degree per _century_, (2) carbon dioxide is plant food, and (3) climate changes – cope.

• sewall wright effect
• sewall wright effect

Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming

Storm World: Hurricanes, Politics, and the Battle Over Global Warming – Review
Chris Mooney is a treasure! He actually does his homework (his recent book has nearly 300 end notes) and looks at both parts of an issue. At the same time he comes to some conclusions based on the recent evidence, while specifically noting that ANY conclusion may be challenged in the future, when original data is originally collected. Click to continue »

Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change

Climate Change 2007: Mitigation of Climate Change – Review
The IPCC Climate Change reports once every five years are the absolute best resource for fully understanding global warming and climate change. Anybody wanting to understand climate change in a neutral atmosphere (the reports are amazingly free of politics) can do no better than to widely read all three parts of the latest IPCC climate change report. This third volume focuses on ways to prevent or reduce dangerous climate change (improvement of climate change). Just four caveats: 1) It helps to have a real conception of fundamental science terms and principles before simply reading this; 2) The text can be a little dry at times (after all, it is a technical report); 3) The report was a little out-of-date by the time it was printed, because our kind of climate change impacts have greatly increased greatly since the major research was conducted that was created and placed into this report; and 4) If you are new to simply reading about climate change, this should probably not be your introduction to the subject (see caveats 1 and 2 above). You can buy four or five extreme climate change books for the estimate of this one volume alone – for example, Hell and High Water by Joseph Romm, Heat by George Monbiot, Boiling Point by Ross Gelbspan, The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery, and With Speed and Violence by Fred Pearce. Until the next IPCC report is released in 2013, this third volume on Mitigation of Climate Change is worthy of simply reading if you need to get to the fundamental art of climate change.

• disjunct species
• disjunct species

The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future

The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future – Review
Compared with other books on global warming, I like how informational this book is along with its expertly organized content. It keeps the reader kept and in thinking-mode throughout each chapter till the end. Its worth the buy. It presents very substantial data about the global warming issue.

• hypersensitivity
• hypersensitivity

Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming (Vintage)

Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming (Vintage) – Review
This book is very highly thought out and documented. I totally enjoyed it…especially the fact that global warming will actually result in a net actually saving of lives very than loss. Also, I enjoyed the practical efficient solutions such as not raising now building near the seashore. Time to stop state and central government flood (& wind) subsidies for exclusive beach homes.

• chimaera
• chimaera

Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media

Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media – Review
This book deals with many of the widespread myths involving global warming currently using facts instead of special attacks in order to deal with the many issues and constituencies who have a stake in the global warming debate. Michaels explains that far from there being a “consensus” about global warming, there is a infinite company of particular interests who distort facts, ignore real technical research, and create “facts” out of fiction. Michaels performs many examples of supposedly logical conclusions about global warming are really a closed sphere of closed minds who exclude any evidence that questions the reasons behind international climate changes. Click to continue »

Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming (Vintage)

Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist’s Guide to Global Warming (Vintage) – Review
It is useful to know that it has been warm in the past too, before the Medieval mini-ice age showed over and witches were tortured to death for eventually causing poor crops. Today we are on another witch hunt, but cars and oil are in the field of fire. Given the median predictions for the future, warming will SAVE more lives than it costs, since more humans die of cold than heat. Warming is originally going to be with us anyway, and even if treaties are strictly enforced. Click to continue »