Climate Change

Most of us are familiar with the terms climate change and global warming,
but not too many of us understand the science behind them. We don't really
understand how climate change will affect us, and for that reason we might not
consider it as pressing a concern as, say, housing prices or the quality of local
education. This book explains the scientific knowledge about global climate change
clearly and concisely in engaging, nontechnical language, describes how it will
affect all of us, and suggests how government, business, and citizens can take
action against it. If people don't quite understand the seriousness of climate
change, it is partly because politicians and the media have misrepresented the
scientific community's strong consensus on it--politicians by selectively parsing
the words of mainstream scientists, and the media by presenting "balanced"
accounts that give the views of a small number of contrarians equal weight with
empirically supported scientific findings. The science is complex, couched in the
technical language of sinks, forcing, and albedo, and invokes probabilities, risks,
ranges, and uncertainties. Policy discussions use such unfamiliar terms as no
regrets policy, clean development mechanism, and greenhouse-gas intensity. Climate
Change explains the nuts and bolts of climate and the greenhouse effect and
describes their interaction. It discusses the nature of consensus in science, and
the consensus on climate change in particular. It describes both public- and
private-sector responses, considers how to improve the way scientific findings are
communicated, and evaluates the real risks both to vulnerable developing countries
and to particular areas of the United States. We can better tackle climate change,
this book shows us, if we understand it. We can use this knowledge to guide our own
behavior and pressure governments and businesses to take action.Joseph F. C. DiMento
is Director of the Newkirk Center for Science and Society, Professor of Planning,
Policy, and Design, and Professor of Law and Society at the University of
California, Irvine. He is the author of The Global Environment and International Law
and other books. Pamela Doughman is Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies at
the University of Illinois at Springfield and an energy specialist at the California
Energy Commission.