Climate Change 101

With the 50^th anniversary of Earth Day on April 22, there have been some interesting news stories relating to climate change.  I probably read something about climate change every day but I appreciate that many people don’t.  People are busy with of lots of other things – important things – and while they might be interested in climate change, the topic may not have risen to the “I need to understand this now” category.

Well, here’s some help.  This post provides three sources of information – all of which are, in my opinion, excellent and worth considering.  The first is a short 20-minute video which explains climate change.  Next is a list of 7 questions that address the most basic things relative to climate change… pick the one(s) you’re interested in learning more about.  And last, is a list of books recommended by the N.Y Times – each of which explains or relates to climate change. 

The Video: 

This is a 20-minute interview with CBS’s Bob McDonald that was filmed a couple of years ago. He has been studying climate change for 40 years and knows the history and the science.  He addresses some complex questions in a down-to-earth manner and touches on many concepts that may not be widely understood but are important – such as the difference between climate change and global warming.  He also explains how the ocean currents are affected by the planet’s warming and how those changes are contributing to the weather and environmental changes we are all witnessing. Here’s the link.

Seven Questions:

The New York Times published a story recently entitled: A Crash Course on Climate Change, 50 Years After the 1^st Earth Day.  Here are the 7 questions.  You can click on any one of these questions or the “complete link” for all of them.  The answers are clear and relatively short and include additional links if you want more information. 

1.How bad is climate change now?

2. How do scientists know what they know?

3. Who is influencing key decisions?

4. How do we stop fossil fuel emissions?

5. Do environmental rules matter?

6. Can insurance protect us?

7. Is what I do important?

If you like, think of this as a quiz and consider how you might answer any one of these questions; see how you do.

The Books

Finally, here’s an article, again published by the Times entitled The Year You Finally Read a Book About Climate Change.  As I read through this list of 21 books, I expected to see some that I’ve read in the past 2 years which motivated me to become active in the climate change issue.  Wrong! While I am familiar with a couple of the writers, most were new to me.  One of the striking differences in this list of books, as compared to what I’ve been reading, is the number of fictional works.  So, for those of you who can’t get excited about a climate change book that is akin to a text book, there are many here I think you’ll find interesting.  I know I did.  And my “what to read” list just got longer, as did my “gift ideas for friends” list. 

1. What We Know About Climate Change by Kerry Emanuel
2. The End of Nature by Bill McKibben
3. The Sixth Extinction by Elizabeth Kolbert
4. The Drowned World by J.G. Ballard
5. The Wall by John Lanchester
6. Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward
7. The Water Will Come by Jeff Goodell
8. New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson
9. The Death and Life of the Great Lakes by Dan Egan
10. Losing Earth by Nathaniel Rich
11. Windfall by McKenzie Funk
12. Weather by Jenny Offill
13. The Madaddam Trilogy by Margaret Atwood
14. The Fifth Season by N.K. Jemisin
15. Merchants of Doubt by Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway
16. The Overstory by Richard Powers
17. Flight Behavior by Barbara Kingsolver
18. Parable of the Sower by Octavia Butler
19. Our House Is on Fire: Greta Thunberg’s Call to Save the Planet by Jeanette Winter
20. The Great Derangement by Amitav Ghosh
21. The Story of More by Hope Jahren

I hope this library of choices helps you to learn and be smart.