A Crisis like No Other: Understanding and Defeating Global Warming

Description

A Crisis Like No Other: Understanding and Defeating Global Warming couples engaging and creative storytelling with accurate details to explain global warming. It covers both the technical and human issues of global warming by addressing what's causing global warming, and why people don’t believe it exists. The book tells readers how to convince others that global warming is not only real, but life-threatening, and offers a clearly laid out path to solve it. The book is accurate and carefully researched, drawing on the author's thirty years studying the science of global warming, and the human psyche that surrounds it. The author breaks down the subject into four parts, which can be thought of as four mini-books in one. The first part covers the psychology of global warming denial, how to defend ourselves against its lies and fake news, and how to convince others of global warming’s grave harm. The second part describes exactly what global warming is. The third answers the question what makes us so sure? Finally, the last part provides a road map showing us how to defeat global warming. This book is comprehensive, fast paced, and easily accessible to readers from all walks of life. It provides an overview of everything one needs to know about global warming and, as such, is an excellent survey of global warming topics. In addition to being an easy and enjoyable read for the general public, A Crisis Like No Other: Understanding and Defeating Global Warming serves as a handy primer on climate change for environmental science classes. Cover Title Copyright Contents Part I. We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us––Pogo Why We Deny Global Warming [Quick Assessments are Critical for Our Survival] Quick Assessments are Critical for Our Survival But Quick Assessments Can Fool Us Our Metabeliefs Organize Everything we Know and Care About But Our Metabeliefs will Fool us as Well Equally Importantly, The Groups We Belong To Help Shape Our Metabeliefs Confirmational Bias Aids in the Subterfuge Why the Poor Remain Poor Aliens and Dogs How it all Hangs Together Connecting the Dots Afterthought: Kick the Earth in the Butt REFERENCES Only through their Beliefs and Emotions can we Reach their Minds [Friend or Foe?] Friend or Foe? To Fear or not to Fear? Always Take the High Road Compromising is A Powerful Tool––Use It Time is Against us Will It Take A Cataclysm? Don’T Underestimate the Enemy Convincing Stereotypes But Sometimes Facts Do Work Connecting The Dots Afterthought: Selling Refrigerators To Eskimos REFERENCES Finding the Truth Amidst a Sea of Lies A Balance of Facts Fact-checking To Trust Or Not To Trust Occam’s Razor To Demolish Deceptively Confusing Choices Flawed Reasoning Unmasked Where The Experts Are And How To Judge Them Just The Facts Ma’am, Just The Facts Unfortunately, We Are Built To Believe Lies Sowing Doubt The Professional Way Silver Bullets For Those Special Vampires In Our Lives The Face Of The Enemy Social Media Exploits Our Emotions And Beliefs Connecting The Dots Afterthought: Humpty Dumptyisms REFERENCES Part II. The What’s and How’s of Global Warming Energy Drives Global Warming [A Road Map to this Chapter] A Road Map to this Chapter Heat And Temperature––Similar But Different Just Like Diamonds, Energy Is Forever Radiation And Its Various Colors Are An Important Key How Earth Heats Up And Cools Down CO2 Reduces Earth’S Cool Down, Leading To Rising Global Temperatures Fossil Fuels Provide Our Energy and, Unwittingly, CO2 As Well CO2 Is The Visiting Uncle Who Never Seems To Leave Bad News––Earth’s Reflectivity Is Going Down More Bad News––Melting Permafrost Will Release Alarming Amounts Of Greenhouse Gases Just When You Thought It Couldn’T Get Any Worse But There Is Hope Connecting The Dots Afterthought: “This Is The Way The World Ends, Not With A Bang But With A Whimper”––T. S. Eliot REFERENCES Rising Temperatures are a Problem, but Not the Only Problem Air and Ocean Temperatures are Increasing Storms are Getting Bigger and Meaner Don’t Buy Beachfront Property Diseases will Get Worse Food will be Harder to Find Plants and Animals are Disappearing in Droves Changes are Occurring Quicker than any Time in Earth’s History Increased Violence is Inevitable But Living has Always been Hazardous to our Health Connecting the Dots Afterthought: can Global Warming cause Cold Weather? REFERENCES Where Heat Trapping Gases Come From [It Took a Revolution] It Took a Revolution Going on a Carbon Diet CO2 is the Greenhouse Gas King Methane The Bit Players For The People and by the People Connecting the Dots Afterthought: Cows on Mars? REFERENCES Part III. Why We Believe Global Warming Is Real and Significant Global Warming is Undeniable. Here’s Why [How Far Can Tom Brady Throw a Football On The Moon?] How Far Can Tom Brady Throw a Football On The Moon? “to Measure is to Know”––lord Kelvin Dead Men Do Tell Tales Putting it all Together Yes, Global Warming has its Uncertainties IPCC: The Go-to Guy Connecting the Dots Afterthought: Facts Need Not Apply REFERENCES Science doesn’t Work the Way You Think it Should [The Minimalist’S Guide To Science] The Minimalist’S Guide To Science But Science, Like Life, is Never that Simple And Journalists Don’t Always Get It The Limits of Science Connecting the Dots Afterthought: Resistance is Futile REFERENCES Nothing in Life Can Ever Be Certain. Nature Forbids It [Vanilla-flavored Uncertainty is all Around us] Vanilla-flavored Uncertainty is all Around us Beating the House Fundamentally, Certainty Doesn’t Exist and Never Will And So, The Science of Global Warming Must Also Be Uncertain. Nothing Else can be Expected Connecting the Dots Afterthought: Sherlock Holmes was Wrong REFERENCES If the Military is Concerned, We Should Be Too [Our National Security is at Risk] Our National Security is at Risk Military Bases are Under Threat Humanitarian Missions will be Compromised The Insurance Industry is Worried about Mounting Losses Even the Financial Folks are Hedging their Bets Connecting the Dots Afterthought: Long Shots aren’t what they used to Be REFERENCES Part IV. The Final Verdict So How Bad is It? [Tipping Points] Tipping Points Our Democracy In Peril Population Correction Extinction? The Perfect Storm It's Going To Be A Challenge And We are Dragging Our Feet But We are Making Progress Connecting the Dots Afterthought: God’s New Covenant REFERENCES Can Anything Be Done, or is It Game Over? [Technologies We Must Install] Technologies We Must Install Renewables Work and Should Be Expanded A Carbon Tax Adds to the Mix of Tools We Have Nuclear Energy––The Comeback Kid Is Fusion Energy the Holy Grail That May Never Be? Methane Leaks and Cow Belches: The Forgotten Greenhouse Gas Carbon Capture Has Now Become Essential. We Can’t Leave Home Without It Blocking the Sun––A Dangerous Game We May Be Forced to Play Decisions We Must Make Both Conservatives and Liberals Must Be Convinced or Nothing We Do Matters A Bridge Too Far? The Fossil Fuel Energy Industry is the 800-Pound Gorilla. Are They Friends or Foe? Fool’s Gold But Ultimately, It Is Up To Us Four Things You and I Must Do Connecting The Dots The First is to Deploy Equipment to Directly Reduce or Remove CO2 But what good are the above if we don’t have the leadership to back it up? Afterthought: On This Day in History, 124 Years Ago REFERENCES Beyond a Reasonable Doubt Epliogue Acknowledgements Subject Index End User License Agreement