Saturday 5 January 2008

Rough Guide to Climate Change

A good antidote to the often superficial and simplistic media coverage of global warming, this book methodically, calmly and clearly explains in detail what is happening to the temperature of the planet. After reading the chapters documenting the increasingly extreme weather patterns, the expanding oceans, the shrinking polar regions, the growing frequency of droughts and other painful symptoms, you are left with the overwhelming impression that Earth is convulsing with a fever. Author Robert Henson then treats you to a reasonably readable precis of the science behind climate change, before changing pace to outline the daunting political, economic and scientific obstacles to reversing the damage humanity is doing to its habitat. Still, the very existence of a Rough Guide to Climate Change leaves you with a sense that at least some of those obstacles can be overcome. 8/10