Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth about the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity

by James Hansen

Overview

In his Q&A with Bill McKibben featured in the paperback edition of Storms of My Grandchildren, Dr. James Hansen, the world's leading climatologist, shows that exactly contrary to the impression the public has received, the science of climate change has become even clearer and sharper since the hardcover was released. In Storms of My Grandchildren, Hansen speaks out for the first time with the full truth about global warming: The planet is hurtling even more rapidly than previously acknowledged to a climatic point of no return. In explaining the science of climate change, Hansen paints a devastating but all-too-realistic picture of what will happen in our children's and grandchildren's lifetimes if we follow the course we're on. But he is also an optimist, showing that there is still time to take the urgent, strong action that is needed- just barely.

Praise for James Hansen and Storms of My Grandchildren:

"James Hansen gives us the opportunity to watch a scientist who is sick of silence and compromise ...offer up the fruits of four-plus decades of inquiry and ingenuity just in case he might change the course of history."-Los Angeles Times

"Dr. James Hansen is Paul Revere to the foreboding tyranny of climate chaos-a modern-day hero who has braved criticism and censure and put his career and fortune at stake to issue the call to arms against the apocalyptic forces of ignorance and greed."-Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

"When the history of the climate crisis is written, Hansen will be seen as the scientist with the most powerful and consistent voice calling for intelligent action to preserve our planet's environment."-Al Gore, Time magazine

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608195022
Publisher:	Bloomsbury USA
Publication date:	12/21/2010
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.20(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Perhaps best known for bringing global warming to the world's attention in the 1980s when he first testified before Congress, Dr. James Hansen is considered the world's leading climatologist. The head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, he served as Al Gore's science advisor for An Inconvenient Truth. He teaches at the Department of Earth &Environmental Sciences at Columbia University, lectures at universities and other institutions throughout the world and has been interviewed in the New York Times and other publications. This is his first book.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

1 The Vice President's Climate Task Force 1

2 The A-Team and the Secretary's Quandary 17

3 A Visit to the White House 28

4 Time Warp 59

5 Dangerous Reticence: A Slippery Slope 70

6 The Faustian Bargain: Humanity's Own Trap 90

7 Is There Still Time? A Tribute to Charles David Keeling 112

8 Target Carbon Dioxide: Where Should Humanity Aim? 140

9 An Honest, Effective Path 172

10 The Venus Syndrome 223

11 Storms of My Grandchildren 237

Afterword 271

Acknowledgments 278

Appendix 1 Key Differences with Contrarians 279

Appendix 2 Global Climate Forcings and Radiative Feedbacks 281

Q&A with Bill McKibben 282

Selected Sources 298

Index 303

Editorial Reviews

In Storms of My Grandchildren, James Hansen gives us the opportunity to watch a scientist who is sick of silence and compromise...offer up the fruits of four-plus decades of inquiry and ingenuity just in case he might change the course of history.... An urgent book.” —Los Angeles Times

“Hands down the best, most informative, brilliantly written book on general climate science I've ever read.” —DailyKos.com

“Rich in invaluable insights into the geopolitics as well as the geophysics of climate change, Hansen's guaranteed-to-be-controversial manifesto is the most comprehensible, realistic, and courageous call to prevent climate change yet.” —Booklist (starred)

“After sounding the climate alarm in papers and conferences for two decades, here Hansen takes off the gloves.... With urgency and authority, Hansen urges readers to speak out-taking to the streets if necessary-to protect the Earth from calamity for the sakes of their children and grandchildren.” —Kirkus (starred)

“When the history of the climate crisis is written, Hansen will be seen as the scientist with the most powerful and consistent voice calling for intelligent action to preserve our planelt's environment.” —Al Gore, Time Magazine

From the Publisher

Starred Review.

Hansen, director of the NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, lays all the cards on the table in this thorough, detailed analysis of the history, science and politics of climate change, a Silent Spring-style warning cry that predicts "a rough ride" for our grandchildren. Using numerous charts and graphs alongside accessible explanations, Hansen presents copious climate data for a broad audience. After discussing the recent history of global warming science, from the Climate Task Force of 2000 to his up-to-the-minute carbon dioxide limit of 350ppm, Hansen provides recommendations for achieving greenhouse gas reduction, as well as strategies for reducing or eliminating fossil fuel use: "For the sake of our children and grandchildren, we cannot allow our government to continue to connive with the coal industry in subterfuges that allow dirty-coal use to continue." The most significant step, he says, would be creating a cost structure that escalates cost as carbon emissions increase. With of-the-moment discussion of topics such as climate vs. weather (addressing in particular the cool U.S. summer of 2009), cap-and-trade vs. fee-and-dividend, and climate change politics as well as activism, this is certain to be as controversial as it is informative. Hansen's message is stirring as well as urgent, and should be required reading for anyone involved in public policy.
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Publishers Weekly

In his debut, a leading climatologist lambasts world governments for their ineffectual response to the dangers of global warming. After sounding the climate alarm in papers and conferences for two decades, here Hansen takes off the gloves, faulting "the undue influence of special interests and government greenwash" for the failure to take the actions necessary to stabilize Earth's climate. Much of the book is a heady crash course in the science of global warming, and the author makes readily apparent the nuances of human-caused and other factors involved in climate change. Offered within the context of Hansen's work of the past eight years-including his widely reported clashes with the Bush administration-the science sections are followed by his own prescriptions for action. Unlike politicians, he writes, nature does not compromise. He dismisses key aspects of legislation now before Congress as well as the Kyoto approach to international climate treaty-making, arguing that setting goals for a gradual slowing down of emissions will not solve the problem. "Ladies and gentlemen, your governments are lying through their teeth," he writes. Coal use must be prohibited unless ways can be found to capture and dispose of carbon dioxide emissions. Relying on renewables and increasing energy efficiency will not do the trick either. Dismissing the cap-and-trade approaches now being considered by lawmakers, Hansen proposes a fee-and-dividend approach as the best way to phase out fossil fuels. He considers nuclear power a possible safe-energy alternative and calls for the United States to build a test fast-reactor nuclear power plant. Hansen blames the Obama Administration for listening to the adviceof Environmental Defense and other well-meaning environmental groups, which are satisfied with gradual legislative progress. As the author writes, we're simply out of time. With urgency and authority, Hansen urges readers to speak out-taking to the streets if necessary-to protect the Earth from calamity for the sake of their children and grandchildren.

Kirkus Reviews

James Hansen is the most well-known and outspoken of the American scientists who are warning about the dangers of climate change. This book is his personal story of climate science and politics. Narrator John Nelson clearly conveys Hansen's vision and his frustration with Washington politics. Nelson does a workmanlike job presenting the necessary excursions into scientific analysis, only occasionally droning through Hansen’s discussions of black carbon or ice mass. Together, Hansen and Nelson do a good job articulating the urgency of the climate crisis without crushing the listener with doomsday prospects. The production refers to a PDF of charts and photos, which are included with the CD edition or available directly from the publisher's Web site. F.C. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine

MARCH 2010 - AudioFile