FEBRUARY 2023 - AudioFile
The young Swedish climate activist and symbol of the fight against global warming, Greta Thunberg, reads English surprisingly well at an effective pace. Her voice rings with passion, palpable emotion, and earnest commitment. She is joined by a talented trio of English narrators who bring skill and understanding to these often frightening essays. Climate experts and other scientists ranging from entomologists to hydrologists sound the alarm about the shocking state of our warming planet. The audiobook describes how we’ve arrived at this state, calls out the perpetrators—the media, politicos, corporate leaders—prescribes what governments on all levels must do, and asks everyone to do their part. This anthology of experts, artists, and, especially, the young woman influencing a generation is a clarion call. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
11/14/2022
Humanity must decarbonize or die, according to this impassioned anthology of writings on climate change. Climate activist Thunberg (No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference) gathers essays from scientists, journalists, and activists, starting with lucid and accessible explanations of the science of global warming and its possible effects. Other pieces include upbeat assessments of solar and wind energy by eco-pundit Bill McKibben and recommendations for vegetarianism and shifting from cars to bicycles and mass transit. Economists Lucas Chancel and Thomas Piketty call for redistributive taxes on carbon, while journalist Naomi Klein insists that “as we get clean, we must begin to redress the founding crimes of our nations. Land theft. Genocide. Slavery. Imperialism.” Thunberg’s own essays scold politicians for foot-dragging on decarbonization (“They read stock-market analysis to the waves of the ocean, like fools”) and call for “immediate, drastic, annual emission reductions on a scale unlike anything the world has ever seen.” While many authors sound an apocalyptic note, their doomsaying often relies on models with myriad variables, as when oceanographer Stefan Rahmstorf notes that “we have enough ice on Earth to raise sea levels by 65 metres,” a process that may unfold “over centuries and millennia to come.” Still, this is a comprehensive and articulate shock to the system. Illus. (Feb.)
From the Publisher
A remarkable contribution to climate literature—and an urgent must-read.” —Los Angeles Review of Books
“Having curated Yale Climate Connections’ monthly bookshelf collection since early 2015, I was acquainted with over 1,000 books and reports that address climate change in some way . . . The Climate Book is the most ambitious, wide-ranging, and hard-hitting collection I have ever encountered.” —Yale Climate Connections
"The urgency to act now, to kick the addiction to fossil fuels, practically jumps off the page to punch you in the gut. So while not a pleasant read—it’s quite stressful—it’s a book I can’t recommend enough.” —Science News
“Stuffed with charts and graphs and photos . . . the book is sure to educate. . . . Hopefully billions of people read The Climate Book and enough of them rise up to demand change.” —Associated Press
“Impressively, in The Climate Book, Thunberg and team—which includes well-known names like Margaret Atwood, George Monbiot, Bill McKibben and Robin Wall Kimmerer—explain and offer action items in 84 compelling, bite-size chapters . . . The cumulative impact on my understanding of the crisis through [the book’s] data, cross-cultural reflections, and paths for step-by-step change became mesmerizing.” —NPR.org
“Impassioned . . . Thunberg gathers essays from scientists, journalists, and activists, starting with lucid and accessible explanations of the science of global warming and its possible effects . . . A comprehensive and articulate shock to the system.” —Publishers Weekly
“An urgent collection of writing by leaders in the fields of science, engineering, history, philosophy, and activism . . . Brilliant and alarming . . . Vital reading for anyone who cares about the planet.” —Kirkus (starred review)
“[A] sweeping compendium of essays contributed by more than 100 academicians, authors, environmentalists, and journalists whose specific professional expertise or profound humanitarian concern amplifies the existing science surrounding this crisis of sustainability and ecology. Yet among this esteemed roster of recognized voices, it is Thunberg’s own eloquence that elevates the collection with introductory essays for each section that convey a sense of urgency that is genuine, grounded, and unimpeachable.” —Booklist (starred review)
FEBRUARY 2023 - AudioFile
The young Swedish climate activist and symbol of the fight against global warming, Greta Thunberg, reads English surprisingly well at an effective pace. Her voice rings with passion, palpable emotion, and earnest commitment. She is joined by a talented trio of English narrators who bring skill and understanding to these often frightening essays. Climate experts and other scientists ranging from entomologists to hydrologists sound the alarm about the shocking state of our warming planet. The audiobook describes how we’ve arrived at this state, calls out the perpetrators—the media, politicos, corporate leaders—prescribes what governments on all levels must do, and asks everyone to do their part. This anthology of experts, artists, and, especially, the young woman influencing a generation is a clarion call. A.D.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
★ 2022-11-12
The world’s most recognizable climate activist gathers crucial wisdom from prominent scientists and thinkers.
In this galvanizing follow-up to No One Is Too Small To Make a Difference, Thunberg presents an urgent collection of writing by leaders in the fields of science, engineering, history, philosophy, and activism. The brilliant and alarming narrative tells it like it is: Though politicians, fossil fuel stakeholders, and other relevant entities have known for decades that a warming climate will have devastating results for Earth, most have done little about it. “It is my genuine belief,” writes Thunberg, “that the only way we will be able to avoid the worst consequences of this emerging existential crisis is if we create a critical mass of people who demand the changes required.” Throughout the book, the contributors—among other luminaries, Elizabeth Kolbert, Michael Oppenheimer, Naomi Oreskes, Mike Berners-Lee, Robin Wall Kimmerer, and Margaret Atwood—clearly explain the tipping points that have already occurred, permanently altering the oceans, forests, fauna, and atmosphere and the fact that a concerted, global effort is required to effect positive change. The contributors also lay bare the fact that irresponsible, even pernicious, action by those who pushed for fossil fuel use but “greenwashed” information about the effects of greenhouse gas emissions has resulted in prolonged inertia, allowing the problem to get much worse. Yet most of the contributors remain optimistic that, with enough public outrage and demands for change, a solution is possible—only if we act immediately. In the last part of this book, Thunberg provides a guide to what needs to be done and how every single person on the planet can play a role. “We have the unfathomably great opportunity to be alive at the most decisive time in the history of humanity….Together, we can do the seemingly impossible. But make no mistake—no one else is going to do it for us.” The book includes numerous illustrative graphs and charts.
Vital reading for anyone who cares about the planet.