A Short, Hopeful Guide to Climate Change

Oisín Mcgann

Description

What is Climate Change? How can it be stopped? And what can young people do to help the fight? Author Oisín McGann explains Climate Change science, and encourages young people to be part of positive change by getting involved in the global movement to fight humanity’s biggest challenge. Published in collaboration with Friends of the Earth.

Sujets

• Ecosystems
• Environmental Science
• Juvenile Nonfiction
• Friends of the Earth
• Nature
• Science
• Greenpeace

Informations

• Publié par: Little Island Books
• Date de parution: 31 mai 2021
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781912417810
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 2 Mo

Extrait

A SHORT, HOPEFUL GUIDE TO CLIMATE CHANGE
First published in 2021 by
Little Island Books
7 Kenilworth Park
Dublin 6W
Ireland
Text and illustrations Ois n McGann 2021
The author has asserted his moral rights.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, transmitted or stored in a retrieval system in any form or by any means (including electronic/digital, mechanical, photocopying, scanning, recording or otherwise, by means now known or hereinafter invented) without prior permission in writing from the publisher.
A British Library Cataloguing in Publication record for this book is available from the British Library.
Cover and interior illustrations by Ois n McGann
Designed by James Tuomey
Proofread by Emma Dunne
Print ISBN: 978-1912417742
Ebook (Kindle) ISBN: 978-1912417803
Ebook (other platforms) ISBN: 978-1912417810
Little Island receives funding from the Arts Council of Ireland/An Chomhairle Eala on

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CONTENTS FOREWORD INTRODUCTION: WHY THIS MATTERS TO YOU 1 PURE LUCK Earth s Early History 2 THEN, ALONG CAME THE HUMANS Humans and Fire 3 OUR ANIMAL NEEDS Fossil Fuels 4 A PLANET-SIZED FUEL TANK Climate Crisis 5 UNDERSTANDING THE CHAOS Weather vs Climate 6 MAYBE IT S NOT JUST US? Other Causes of Climate Change 7 THE SKIN OF THE APPLE The Earth s Thin Skin 8 BENEATH THE SURFACE The Sea 9 THE ICE GIANTS Glaciers, Icebergs and Sea Ice 10 TURBO-CHARGING THE WEATHER Extreme Weather 11 SAVING LIVES Extinction and Biodiversity 12 THE NEED TO EAT Farming 13 CONTROL OF SUPPLY Water 14 POWER STRUGGLES Generating Power 15 THE LESSER OF TWO EVILS? Nuclear Power and Damage to Health 16 GETTING SOMEWHERE Transport 17 WASTED Waste and Cement 18 HURT FIRST, HURT WORST Climate Justice 19 TIPPING POINTS Climate Feedback Loops 20 WHY DO PEOPLE DENY THE SCIENCE? Climate Change Sceptics 21 THIS IS A WAR WE WIN BY DOING GOOD Solutions 22 REASONS FOR HOPE Global Co-operation ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS DONORS
FOREWORD
Climate change is a wicked problem, mostly because our civilisation is based on fossil fuels. If we fail to solve this problem, the impacts of global warming will be like something out of an apocalyptic science fiction movie. But if, instead, we choose to take action, we could have a much healthier society than we have today, with a cleaner environment and better quality of life. We are now at the tipping point of this decision: whether to venture into a civilisation beyond fossil fuels or to continue with business as usual.
As a parent, I try to protect my daughter from scary stories, but the story of climate change is one I cannot protect her from. Whether we tip towards climate action or climate chaos, the world she will experience as an adult will be very different from mine. Either way, I need to prepare her, and this Short, Hopeful Guide to Climate Change is one way to do so. As her generation - your generation - becomes more aware of environmental issues and the limits of our planet s resources, you need clear information so you can make good decisions. And that is what you will find in this book.
We are fortunate to live in a time when all the solutions to climate change are available to us. It is simply a matter of choosing which ones to implement. Each solution has its pros and cons, and understanding those nuances is critical to deciding what kind of world we want for our future. That is why Ois n McGann presents you with a wide range of options and paints a picture of what the world could look like if we take sensible climate action. Each solution discussed here benefits both people and the planet, and compassion for the millions of other species we share this world with is a central theme of this guide.
This book blends its author s passion for science with his curiosity about human behaviour in a light-hearted take on a topic we usually think of as very heavy, so you will enjoy reading it as well as learning a lot about how interconnected we are with this pale blue dot in the universe that we call home. Anxiety about climate change is a normal response to the challenge we face, as Ois n explains it here, but this book shows you how you can channel your concern into collective action.
Young people are already charting the path forward in this global climate movement. The stories of change presented in each chapter remind us that climate solutions are not just concepts for the future, but are actions that are happening all around the world today, demonstrating that humanity is already transitioning to a new civilisation. This short and hopeful guide helps us to realise that climate change may not be so wicked after all, because we have real cause to hope that a better world is now within our grasp.
Dr Cara Augustenborg
Environmental scientist and broadcaster
INTRODUCTION
WHY THIS MATTERS TO YOU
We live in a world where humans can land a spacecraft on a comet - which is like trying to land a speeding bullet on another speeding bullet, only many times harder. Though I am not a scientist, I am a fan of science. To me, it is magic, but in real life. And what I am most interested in is that contact point where science meets human nature. Because humans are ... well, you know weird .
And, while this book is about climate change, it s about our human story too - all the acts of brilliance and absurdity that got us here, and where we re off to next. I want to share my sense of wonder at our existence. We re the species that invented cheese and nuclear weapons. We created the internet and then used it to post cat videos. We re living on a planet that is a freak oddity in our galaxy - and you are completely woven into it all.
Your environment is everything beyond your flesh. It immerses you in its protective atmosphere and presses its air against your skin. It fills your lungs. Your body is built out of the air you breathe and the food and drink you consume. Planet Earth is your life-support system, and you are permanently plugged into it.
It may not surprise you to learn that there s some really bad news in this book. There s just no denying that humans have messed things up in a big way. And yet, within that mess lies hope for the future. Because a long time ago, we started outrunning evolution, racing ahead of the natural world, and it has led us to where we are now. Like a rocket leaving scorch marks and smoke behind it, we didn t pay enough attention to the damage we left in the wake of our progress. But we re paying attention now - now that we ve become aware of our power. And, to quote Spiderman (and lots of other people before him), with great power comes great responsibility.
I m not writing about climate change to inspire fear or guilt. No: I want to share my fascination with it. The changes that are happening around us are revealing how beautifully complex and interconnected our planet is. There is so much that is striking and strange and wild about it that, no matter what your interests and passions are, there is something that will light your fire.
Speaking of fire, we talk a lot about the negatives of fossil fuels and how they ve affected our atmosphere, but we also have to appreciate what they have given us: the energy to create our advanced civilisation. We wouldn t be where we are today without wood, peat, coal, gas and oil. We can carry a million pages of text on a USB drive that fits on a keyring, transplant a new heart into a living human being or film a giant squid at the bottom of the ocean - all of which is pretty good, and all of which we can do because of the way we have used the world s resources so far.
And it s not just our science that has progressed over this time. We ve developed as civilised beings too. As our world becomes more unified, more enlightened and better educated, we have established ideas like human rights, democracy and the value of empathy. We are taking better care of each other. Our world is more peaceful than it has ever been.
But we have burned our way to the top. Progress and pollution are twisted together in the story of the human race. Our development has come at a huge cost to the thin, living skin wrapped around this ball of rock we call Earth.
This is an issue that affects everyone, everywhere, but I live in Ireland, and I am conscious that there will be points in the book where I refer to things that we have; in other words, I m referring to a normality that I live in, but that not all other people around the globe will share. Our world is an extraordinarily varied place. Though I write from my own experience of life, it s only one point of view. There are countless others with very different lives and experience, and indeed, many of the countries that are being affected most by climate change have contributed the least to its advance. Industrial development has caused this problem, and the most developed nations, including mine, bear the greatest responsibility to do something about it.
The most important thing I want you to take away from this book is that we are already transforming our civilisation. Society is in a constant state of change, and the same progress that has left its scorch marks on our environment is steadily carrying us away from our fossil-fuelled past.
You cannot solve climate change all by yourself, and nobody is expecting you to. Billions of people created this crisis over centuries, through countless tiny actions, and so the sheer enormity of it can feel overwhelming. Throughout the book, I will describe the different changes taking place in our environment and, while it may feel as if the scale of these changes is beyond our power to overcome, you should always remember that humans caused them . And we did it by accident . Now, however, we are waking up to what we ve done, and in the greatest movement ever seen in human civilisation, people around the world are grasping the power that caused this. Through a myriad of small actions, they are redirecting that power.
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