Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Just what it says on the tin, 16 Sep 2008
This is a wonderful book. As the title suggests, it is cool, reasonable, and patient, looking carefully at all the evidence and coming to conclusions which it is hard to disagree with.

Like other reviewers, I find it hard to take excerpts from the book because I would have to quote the whole thing! However, perhaps I may try to help anyone who is wondering whether to read it. One way to look at the global warming/climate change debate is to ask oneself three questions.

First, is the world getting warmer?
Second, is human activity, and specifically CO2, a major cause?
And third, does it matter? Will there be harmful consequences? And if so, what should we do about them?

Much of the angry debate between believers and sceptics rages round the first two points. Lawson surveys the evidence on both, and comes to a conclusion. But what makes this book so powerful is its focus on the third question: whether a warmer world is one that will harm people, animals, plants, and our descendants. The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) argues that it will. Lawson disagrees. He takes us through the IPCC scenarios, and their range of predictions relating to five potential impacts of a warmer world: on water, ecosystems, food, coasts, and health. In each case he demonstrates, with evidence, that a warmer world will either be neutral or even beneficial. What makes this evidence particularly persuasive is that much of it is drawn from the IPCC's own 4th report (2007)!.

It would be wrong to think of this book as complacent, a kind of 'I'm all right, Jack, pull up the ladder'. As Lawson points out, the single major cause of ill-health and death in the world is poverty, and if we take the standpoint of human welfare, the surest way to benefit humans is to lift them out of poverty. Lawson sees many serious problems facing the world, and many things that urgently need putting right. The view of this compelling and convincing book is that global warming isn't one of them.


A call for solid science to replace the hype and hysteria, 14 Sep 2008
A well written and thought provoking book that attempts to speak above the hysterical din that dominates the subject.

The author calls for a considered approach and appeals to organisations to address the issues we face in a sensible and practical way.



Lawson knows best apparently, 23 Aug 2008
The combined wisdom of the world's leading climate change scientists is clearly no match for Nigel Lawson. He alone is clear sighted enough to see these clever people are all wrong. Stop worrying you people on coastlands and islands as you watch the tide rising. Stop fussing about those droughts Africa and Australia! Trust Nigel, everything will be well because...er because he says so.

Thought-provoking contribution, 19 Aug 2008
In this thought-provoking book, Nigel Lawson asks key questions about global warming. Is the world warming and if so, why? How much warmer will it get? What will be the consequences? What can and should we do about it? What is the most cost-effective way to tackle it?

He looks at the temperature record. Surprisingly, temperatures have not risen since 2001, even though global CO2 emissions have been rising faster than ever. There was a 0.7oC rise over the last century while the CO2 in the atmosphere rose by 30%, largely caused by industrialisation driven by the rapid worldwide growth of carbon-based energy consumption (burning coal, oil and gas). Some, possibly most, of the warming is due to this growth of CO2 emissions and so of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 report predicted a sea-level rise of between 18 and 59 centimetres by 2100. (Its 1990 report predicted a 3.67 metre rise.) The IPCC predicted a 1.8o-4oC temperature rise by 2100, a mean of less than 3oC. (At 3oC, it says, "Globally, the potential for food production is projected to increase.") 3oC is 0.03oC a year, compared to 1975-2000's 0.02oC a year.

The IPCC says the one `virtually certain' impact of global warming is `reduced human mortality from decreased cold exposure'. A 2003 Department of Health study confirmed this, predicting a decrease in cold-related mortality of 20,000 and an increase in heat-related mortality of 2,000 by the 2050s.

On the IPCC's worst case scenario, of 1% growth a year in the developed countries and 2.3% in the developing countries, global warming could cost us 5% of world GDP by 2100. This would make developed countries' GDP 2.6 times today's rather than 2.7 and developing countries' GDP 8.5 times today's rather than 9.5.

Lawson argues that we should drop the precautionary principle because it is wrong to take decisions on the basis of worst-case possibilities: probabilities, not possibilities, should be our guide.

He looks at the prospects of some specific disasters. He notes that Antarctic ice-sheets are growing, that the IPCC's 2007 report said that an `abrupt transition' of the Gulf Stream is `very unlikely' and that the World Meteorological Organization said of climate change's effects on hurricanes, "no firm conclusion can be made on this point."

The EU's Emissions Trading Scheme has increased profits for selected emitters and not cut emissions. Kyoto's Clean Development Mechanism has done no better. The EU promotes growing biofuels, yet the Chinese government has suspended the production of the biofuel ethanol because it has raised food prices.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform said that meeting the EU's agreed target of 20% of energy from renewables by 2020 would raise our electricity costs by £18-22 billion a year.

In June 2007 Merkel and Blair tried to get the G8 to agree to cut emissions by 50% by 2050. The rest rejected the idea. Six months later, Britain and Germany lost again when they proposed a mandatory global emissions cut of 25-40% by 2020.

We could control the world's temperature by severely limiting carbon dioxide emissions through raising prices of carbon-based energy, to make non-carbon-based energy more competitive. But this would force our energy-intensive industries out to China and other countries. (Although China's, and India's, emissions per head are still far less than the West's.) 1990s Russia showed that the only way to meet the Kyoto targets is to destroy your industries.

Lawson argues for an across-the-board carbon tax, even if it forces our remaining energy-intensive industries abroad, and for ending subsidies to all carbon-based energy. Instead, we need to keep our industries, se we need new carbon-based power stations and new gas storage facilities, which the market has not provided and will not provide.




Deluded amateur challenges the science, 12 Aug 2008
Lawson flies in the face of scientific consensus with no solid basis for his position. An unhelpful book.

Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Just what it says on the tin, 16 Sep 2008
This is a wonderful book. As the title suggests, it is cool, reasonable, and patient, looking carefully at all the evidence and coming to conclusions which it is hard to disagree with.

Like other reviewers, I find it hard to take excerpts from the book because I would have to quote the whole thing! However, perhaps I may try to help anyone who is wondering whether to read it. One way to look at the global warming/climate change debate is to ask oneself three questions.

First, is the world getting warmer?
Second, is human activity, and specifically CO2, a major cause?
And third, does it matter? Will there be harmful consequences? And if so, what should we do about them?

Much of the angry debate between believers and sceptics rages round the first two points. Lawson surveys the evidence on both, and comes to a conclusion. But what makes this book so powerful is its focus on the third question: whether a warmer world is one that will harm people, animals, plants, and our descendants. The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) argues that it will. Lawson disagrees. He takes us through the IPCC scenarios, and their range of predictions relating to five potential impacts of a warmer world: on water, ecosystems, food, coasts, and health. In each case he demonstrates, with evidence, that a warmer world will either be neutral or even beneficial. What makes this evidence particularly persuasive is that much of it is drawn from the IPCC's own 4th report (2007)!.

It would be wrong to think of this book as complacent, a kind of 'I'm all right, Jack, pull up the ladder'. As Lawson points out, the single major cause of ill-health and death in the world is poverty, and if we take the standpoint of human welfare, the surest way to benefit humans is to lift them out of poverty. Lawson sees many serious problems facing the world, and many things that urgently need putting right. The view of this compelling and convincing book is that global warming isn't one of them.


A call for solid science to replace the hype and hysteria, 14 Sep 2008
A well written and thought provoking book that attempts to speak above the hysterical din that dominates the subject.

The author calls for a considered approach and appeals to organisations to address the issues we face in a sensible and practical way.



Lawson knows best apparently, 23 Aug 2008
The combined wisdom of the world's leading climate change scientists is clearly no match for Nigel Lawson. He alone is clear sighted enough to see these clever people are all wrong. Stop worrying you people on coastlands and islands as you watch the tide rising. Stop fussing about those droughts Africa and Australia! Trust Nigel, everything will be well because...er because he says so.

Thought-provoking contribution, 19 Aug 2008
In this thought-provoking book, Nigel Lawson asks key questions about global warming. Is the world warming and if so, why? How much warmer will it get? What will be the consequences? What can and should we do about it? What is the most cost-effective way to tackle it?

He looks at the temperature record. Surprisingly, temperatures have not risen since 2001, even though global CO2 emissions have been rising faster than ever. There was a 0.7oC rise over the last century while the CO2 in the atmosphere rose by 30%, largely caused by industrialisation driven by the rapid worldwide growth of carbon-based energy consumption (burning coal, oil and gas). Some, possibly most, of the warming is due to this growth of CO2 emissions and so of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 report predicted a sea-level rise of between 18 and 59 centimetres by 2100. (Its 1990 report predicted a 3.67 metre rise.) The IPCC predicted a 1.8o-4oC temperature rise by 2100, a mean of less than 3oC. (At 3oC, it says, "Globally, the potential for food production is projected to increase.") 3oC is 0.03oC a year, compared to 1975-2000's 0.02oC a year.

The IPCC says the one `virtually certain' impact of global warming is `reduced human mortality from decreased cold exposure'. A 2003 Department of Health study confirmed this, predicting a decrease in cold-related mortality of 20,000 and an increase in heat-related mortality of 2,000 by the 2050s.

On the IPCC's worst case scenario, of 1% growth a year in the developed countries and 2.3% in the developing countries, global warming could cost us 5% of world GDP by 2100. This would make developed countries' GDP 2.6 times today's rather than 2.7 and developing countries' GDP 8.5 times today's rather than 9.5.

Lawson argues that we should drop the precautionary principle because it is wrong to take decisions on the basis of worst-case possibilities: probabilities, not possibilities, should be our guide.

He looks at the prospects of some specific disasters. He notes that Antarctic ice-sheets are growing, that the IPCC's 2007 report said that an `abrupt transition' of the Gulf Stream is `very unlikely' and that the World Meteorological Organization said of climate change's effects on hurricanes, "no firm conclusion can be made on this point."

The EU's Emissions Trading Scheme has increased profits for selected emitters and not cut emissions. Kyoto's Clean Development Mechanism has done no better. The EU promotes growing biofuels, yet the Chinese government has suspended the production of the biofuel ethanol because it has raised food prices.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform said that meeting the EU's agreed target of 20% of energy from renewables by 2020 would raise our electricity costs by £18-22 billion a year.

In June 2007 Merkel and Blair tried to get the G8 to agree to cut emissions by 50% by 2050. The rest rejected the idea. Six months later, Britain and Germany lost again when they proposed a mandatory global emissions cut of 25-40% by 2020.

We could control the world's temperature by severely limiting carbon dioxide emissions through raising prices of carbon-based energy, to make non-carbon-based energy more competitive. But this would force our energy-intensive industries out to China and other countries. (Although China's, and India's, emissions per head are still far less than the West's.) 1990s Russia showed that the only way to meet the Kyoto targets is to destroy your industries.

Lawson argues for an across-the-board carbon tax, even if it forces our remaining energy-intensive industries abroad, and for ending subsidies to all carbon-based energy. Instead, we need to keep our industries, se we need new carbon-based power stations and new gas storage facilities, which the market has not provided and will not provide.




Deluded amateur challenges the science, 12 Aug 2008
Lawson flies in the face of scientific consensus with no solid basis for his position. An unhelpful book.

Come on..., 28 Oct 2008
For crying out loud, why don't we all open our mouths and swallow whatever rot the 'IPCC' feed us. There are so many flaws with this book that can only be seen as propoganda aimed at people who cannot think for themselves. Yes, global warming is almost certainly occurring but it has been blown out of all proportion and all to benefit propositions made by the government. (Carbon taxes to name but one, however that's a whole different kettle of fish.) Look at the End-Permian extinction. An approximated rise in temperature of 5 degrees Celcius is believed to have wiped out the vast majority of terrestrial and marine life. Do you really think this took a century?! Evidence pointing to the Permo-Triassic extinction has been locked away in stratigraphy - the thickness of which is substantianly more than could be deposited in a century! Think between 100,000 to 300,000 years worth.

So come on Mark Lynas, 6 degrees celcius in a century is hugely arrogant because we are so insignificant regarding global surface processes. If you were to look at recent scientific papers, you might be surprised to find that climatologists and geologists predict a 0.8 degree rise in temperature over the next century.

File this one under fantasy.

This book could save your life, 06 Oct 2008
This is the best book on the subject I have ever read and I feel it should be mandatory for all school children over 12 years old. I have been following the global warming debate for over 20 years now (both as an environmentalist and former journalist) from its early days when there were a few very worried scientists getting trashed by the politicians to protect big business, to now when we have thousands of very worried leading scientists and terrified experts of the highest calibre getting trashed by politicians to protect big business. This book is vital and I only wish it could have appeared ten years ago when we still had a chance of making a real difference. The science that Lynas reviews is the best available to us and he communicates difficult subject matter very clearly and with real skill. For such a dry subject (no pun intended) the book is actually quite gripping but it doesn't fall into the easy trap of trivialising or sensationalising the raw data. Let's face it, these are terrifying enough on their own. Read it, it could save your life.

Lynas paints a possible apocalyptic future for us all , 01 Oct 2008
Mark Lynas had spent months in libraries reading and taking notes about future global weather changes from scientific journals and from his studies he has put together this book.
The book explains to the reader what would happen to the planet if it were to get six degrees hotter over the next 100 years.
Each chapter explains what would happen to world as it got 1 degree hotter.
Chapter 1 explains what would happen if the planet got one degree hotter and chapter 6 finishes by explaining what would happen if the planet got six degrees hotter.
This book is not easy to digest as it paints a very apocalyptic future for us humans should climate change not be halted.
In the final chapter Mark explains how we can prevent this scenario ever happening.
A very different book from Al Gore's inconvient truth in a sense that this book looks at what could happen rather than what is happening now.
If the subject global warming interests you than this book is well worth a read and will give you a great insight in future life on earth if we fail to act now.


'business as usual' .... I don't think so., 22 Jul 2008
no politition could read this book and stay in office with 'business as usual' without being in total denial. not sensational in it's presentation, but leaves little to the imagination. Surely we've had it, haven't we? Don't leave too much money to your children - it will be of little use.

BAFFLED, 17 Jun 2008
One thing baffles me about this book by an evangelical warmista - and I wish Lynas would answer. He has not addressed one simple proven fact... that in the last 10 years the globe has been cooling quite markedly at a time when carbon emissions have never been higher. How does he square this with his alarmist views ? The fact is that a very great many reputable scientists the world over question whether anything we do has any effect on our climate - though clearly we pollute our environment and destroy the habitat for other creatures; but that is a different issue. The globe has warmed and cooled, warmed and cooled, for many billions of years and our climate has changed and will continue to change regardless of these tiny specks called humans.
Global warming was until around 2,000, since when the globe has been cooling. Will it warm up again ? Who knows ? There are only computer projections and we know those cannot not even get the long range weather forecast right for the British Isles

Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Just what it says on the tin, 16 Sep 2008
This is a wonderful book. As the title suggests, it is cool, reasonable, and patient, looking carefully at all the evidence and coming to conclusions which it is hard to disagree with.

Like other reviewers, I find it hard to take excerpts from the book because I would have to quote the whole thing! However, perhaps I may try to help anyone who is wondering whether to read it. One way to look at the global warming/climate change debate is to ask oneself three questions.

First, is the world getting warmer?
Second, is human activity, and specifically CO2, a major cause?
And third, does it matter? Will there be harmful consequences? And if so, what should we do about them?

Much of the angry debate between believers and sceptics rages round the first two points. Lawson surveys the evidence on both, and comes to a conclusion. But what makes this book so powerful is its focus on the third question: whether a warmer world is one that will harm people, animals, plants, and our descendants. The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) argues that it will. Lawson disagrees. He takes us through the IPCC scenarios, and their range of predictions relating to five potential impacts of a warmer world: on water, ecosystems, food, coasts, and health. In each case he demonstrates, with evidence, that a warmer world will either be neutral or even beneficial. What makes this evidence particularly persuasive is that much of it is drawn from the IPCC's own 4th report (2007)!.

It would be wrong to think of this book as complacent, a kind of 'I'm all right, Jack, pull up the ladder'. As Lawson points out, the single major cause of ill-health and death in the world is poverty, and if we take the standpoint of human welfare, the surest way to benefit humans is to lift them out of poverty. Lawson sees many serious problems facing the world, and many things that urgently need putting right. The view of this compelling and convincing book is that global warming isn't one of them.


A call for solid science to replace the hype and hysteria, 14 Sep 2008
A well written and thought provoking book that attempts to speak above the hysterical din that dominates the subject.

The author calls for a considered approach and appeals to organisations to address the issues we face in a sensible and practical way.



Lawson knows best apparently, 23 Aug 2008
The combined wisdom of the world's leading climate change scientists is clearly no match for Nigel Lawson. He alone is clear sighted enough to see these clever people are all wrong. Stop worrying you people on coastlands and islands as you watch the tide rising. Stop fussing about those droughts Africa and Australia! Trust Nigel, everything will be well because...er because he says so.

Thought-provoking contribution, 19 Aug 2008
In this thought-provoking book, Nigel Lawson asks key questions about global warming. Is the world warming and if so, why? How much warmer will it get? What will be the consequences? What can and should we do about it? What is the most cost-effective way to tackle it?

He looks at the temperature record. Surprisingly, temperatures have not risen since 2001, even though global CO2 emissions have been rising faster than ever. There was a 0.7oC rise over the last century while the CO2 in the atmosphere rose by 30%, largely caused by industrialisation driven by the rapid worldwide growth of carbon-based energy consumption (burning coal, oil and gas). Some, possibly most, of the warming is due to this growth of CO2 emissions and so of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 report predicted a sea-level rise of between 18 and 59 centimetres by 2100. (Its 1990 report predicted a 3.67 metre rise.) The IPCC predicted a 1.8o-4oC temperature rise by 2100, a mean of less than 3oC. (At 3oC, it says, "Globally, the potential for food production is projected to increase.") 3oC is 0.03oC a year, compared to 1975-2000's 0.02oC a year.

The IPCC says the one `virtually certain' impact of global warming is `reduced human mortality from decreased cold exposure'. A 2003 Department of Health study confirmed this, predicting a decrease in cold-related mortality of 20,000 and an increase in heat-related mortality of 2,000 by the 2050s.

On the IPCC's worst case scenario, of 1% growth a year in the developed countries and 2.3% in the developing countries, global warming could cost us 5% of world GDP by 2100. This would make developed countries' GDP 2.6 times today's rather than 2.7 and developing countries' GDP 8.5 times today's rather than 9.5.

Lawson argues that we should drop the precautionary principle because it is wrong to take decisions on the basis of worst-case possibilities: probabilities, not possibilities, should be our guide.

He looks at the prospects of some specific disasters. He notes that Antarctic ice-sheets are growing, that the IPCC's 2007 report said that an `abrupt transition' of the Gulf Stream is `very unlikely' and that the World Meteorological Organization said of climate change's effects on hurricanes, "no firm conclusion can be made on this point."

The EU's Emissions Trading Scheme has increased profits for selected emitters and not cut emissions. Kyoto's Clean Development Mechanism has done no better. The EU promotes growing biofuels, yet the Chinese government has suspended the production of the biofuel ethanol because it has raised food prices.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform said that meeting the EU's agreed target of 20% of energy from renewables by 2020 would raise our electricity costs by £18-22 billion a year.

In June 2007 Merkel and Blair tried to get the G8 to agree to cut emissions by 50% by 2050. The rest rejected the idea. Six months later, Britain and Germany lost again when they proposed a mandatory global emissions cut of 25-40% by 2020.

We could control the world's temperature by severely limiting carbon dioxide emissions through raising prices of carbon-based energy, to make non-carbon-based energy more competitive. But this would force our energy-intensive industries out to China and other countries. (Although China's, and India's, emissions per head are still far less than the West's.) 1990s Russia showed that the only way to meet the Kyoto targets is to destroy your industries.

Lawson argues for an across-the-board carbon tax, even if it forces our remaining energy-intensive industries abroad, and for ending subsidies to all carbon-based energy. Instead, we need to keep our industries, se we need new carbon-based power stations and new gas storage facilities, which the market has not provided and will not provide.




Deluded amateur challenges the science, 12 Aug 2008
Lawson flies in the face of scientific consensus with no solid basis for his position. An unhelpful book.

Come on..., 28 Oct 2008
For crying out loud, why don't we all open our mouths and swallow whatever rot the 'IPCC' feed us. There are so many flaws with this book that can only be seen as propoganda aimed at people who cannot think for themselves. Yes, global warming is almost certainly occurring but it has been blown out of all proportion and all to benefit propositions made by the government. (Carbon taxes to name but one, however that's a whole different kettle of fish.) Look at the End-Permian extinction. An approximated rise in temperature of 5 degrees Celcius is believed to have wiped out the vast majority of terrestrial and marine life. Do you really think this took a century?! Evidence pointing to the Permo-Triassic extinction has been locked away in stratigraphy - the thickness of which is substantianly more than could be deposited in a century! Think between 100,000 to 300,000 years worth.

So come on Mark Lynas, 6 degrees celcius in a century is hugely arrogant because we are so insignificant regarding global surface processes. If you were to look at recent scientific papers, you might be surprised to find that climatologists and geologists predict a 0.8 degree rise in temperature over the next century.

File this one under fantasy.

This book could save your life, 06 Oct 2008
This is the best book on the subject I have ever read and I feel it should be mandatory for all school children over 12 years old. I have been following the global warming debate for over 20 years now (both as an environmentalist and former journalist) from its early days when there were a few very worried scientists getting trashed by the politicians to protect big business, to now when we have thousands of very worried leading scientists and terrified experts of the highest calibre getting trashed by politicians to protect big business. This book is vital and I only wish it could have appeared ten years ago when we still had a chance of making a real difference. The science that Lynas reviews is the best available to us and he communicates difficult subject matter very clearly and with real skill. For such a dry subject (no pun intended) the book is actually quite gripping but it doesn't fall into the easy trap of trivialising or sensationalising the raw data. Let's face it, these are terrifying enough on their own. Read it, it could save your life.

Lynas paints a possible apocalyptic future for us all , 01 Oct 2008
Mark Lynas had spent months in libraries reading and taking notes about future global weather changes from scientific journals and from his studies he has put together this book.
The book explains to the reader what would happen to the planet if it were to get six degrees hotter over the next 100 years.
Each chapter explains what would happen to world as it got 1 degree hotter.
Chapter 1 explains what would happen if the planet got one degree hotter and chapter 6 finishes by explaining what would happen if the planet got six degrees hotter.
This book is not easy to digest as it paints a very apocalyptic future for us humans should climate change not be halted.
In the final chapter Mark explains how we can prevent this scenario ever happening.
A very different book from Al Gore's inconvient truth in a sense that this book looks at what could happen rather than what is happening now.
If the subject global warming interests you than this book is well worth a read and will give you a great insight in future life on earth if we fail to act now.


'business as usual' .... I don't think so., 22 Jul 2008
no politition could read this book and stay in office with 'business as usual' without being in total denial. not sensational in it's presentation, but leaves little to the imagination. Surely we've had it, haven't we? Don't leave too much money to your children - it will be of little use.

BAFFLED, 17 Jun 2008
One thing baffles me about this book by an evangelical warmista - and I wish Lynas would answer. He has not addressed one simple proven fact... that in the last 10 years the globe has been cooling quite markedly at a time when carbon emissions have never been higher. How does he square this with his alarmist views ? The fact is that a very great many reputable scientists the world over question whether anything we do has any effect on our climate - though clearly we pollute our environment and destroy the habitat for other creatures; but that is a different issue. The globe has warmed and cooled, warmed and cooled, for many billions of years and our climate has changed and will continue to change regardless of these tiny specks called humans.
Global warming was until around 2,000, since when the globe has been cooling. Will it warm up again ? Who knows ? There are only computer projections and we know those cannot not even get the long range weather forecast right for the British Isles

Still relevant in a chemical dominated age, 13 Oct 2008
Silent Spring (Penguin Modern Classics)
Some people may think this book is no longer relevant in a world where DDT is mainly consigned to history, but, unless we learn from history we will make the mistakes over again.
This classic from the early 1960s explains how the various parts of nature are all affected when man tries to eliminate a pest with what is effectively a universal poison. Despite all of the evidence of the reducing efficacy of these poisons and the damage caused to the rest of the ecosystem, the spraying continued for years. The author provides numerous examples of the destruction caused by the use of these chemicals despite following the manufacturer's guidelines.
Whilst this book can be heavy going and occasionally a little disjointed in places it is worth reading if only to remind you that not all official advice is correct or impartial. We still have the potential to make similar mistakes today, only perhaps the threat is more concealed by the large variety of man made substances in use or added to our food and its packaging every day.

Hard Work, 28 Oct 2007
One can only applaud Carson's work and marvel at her determination to be heard and the research she did. This must have been a very shocking book at the time it was published, even now it is horrifying to look back and see what wholesale garbage the American public was being sold by those supposed to be looking after their health and welfare. It is however, a dated book which I found hard to read and difficult to sustain. I believe it was first written as a series of articles for journals and magazines, which makes sense, as each chapter is very much isolated from the others in terms of style and content, so there is little sense of flow or continuity, other than the continuation of the bad news Carson imparts. It tends to jerk from quite florid poetic writing with lyrically drawn pictures of nature which give way to horrific apocalyptic style visions into bunches of data and facts which are so dry they sit hard up against the narrative and make for difficult reading. It's still a book to recommend, particularly in today's climate and with the emphasis on green issues, but you really have to want to read it rather than just having an idle interest.

The book they tried to dismiss, 02 Sep 2006
In "Any Questions" on BBC Radio 4 a panel of politicians were quizzed in turn as to one person they thought would be regarded as an important person in the future from the 20th century who improved the lot of us humans. Of about four panelists one said Nelson Mandela. Important though Mandela is, none of the other panelists had anyone else to suggest so they also ended up saying Nelson Mandela. I would have mentioned Rachel Carson representing as yet an unsung heroine - the pioneer of the "Deep Ecology" movement.

Unfortunately a lot of what she had to say is still ignored by mainstream politicians though enough has trickled through to create a stream of people who think in the context of concern for all life on Earth rather than how best one group of us can dominate and manipulate our human and environmental resources at irreplaceable cost to life as we know it.

This is the book that started it all - showing us that science and technology unrestrained were not the solution to all our problems. The EPA at least owes its very existence to Carson.

I salute Carson and her book as a lighthouse that guided our thinking from the cliffs of short sighted destructiveness. Long may the beacon prevail.

This is an important book. Perhaps dated, Carson's voice is not shrill but reasoned and strident. A classic worth sharing and upgrading.


Mighty oaks from small acorns grow, 06 Aug 2006
Reading some of the reviews here I can't help but feel they are reading 'Silent Spring' out of context. Being written in 1962 in will never be a current and up to date account of our pesticide use today. However I recommend it as a pioneering piece of literature, and a period piece that will stand the test of time.

Now that our bookshelves are stacked with Ecological titles, it is all the more important to re-read 'Silent Spring' and to judge for ourselves a book that actually did make a difference. For instance, this book greatly influenced my parents into becoming founder members of 'Friends of the Earth'.

What stands is an inspirational and at times poetic cry for ecological common sense. What has aged and dated stands to keep our contemporary rhetoric in check. Rachel Carson has a searching and inquisitive mind. Let this book be the document that she would want it to be - A step towards understanding our continued place in the world.

Mighty oaks from small acorns grow, 14 Jul 2006
This book helped inspire the movement that had DDT banned worldwide including Africa. As a result millions of Africans died of mosquito-transmitted malaria. Yay, Environmentalism...

Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Just what it says on the tin, 16 Sep 2008
This is a wonderful book. As the title suggests, it is cool, reasonable, and patient, looking carefully at all the evidence and coming to conclusions which it is hard to disagree with.

Like other reviewers, I find it hard to take excerpts from the book because I would have to quote the whole thing! However, perhaps I may try to help anyone who is wondering whether to read it. One way to look at the global warming/climate change debate is to ask oneself three questions.

First, is the world getting warmer?
Second, is human activity, and specifically CO2, a major cause?
And third, does it matter? Will there be harmful consequences? And if so, what should we do about them?

Much of the angry debate between believers and sceptics rages round the first two points. Lawson surveys the evidence on both, and comes to a conclusion. But what makes this book so powerful is its focus on the third question: whether a warmer world is one that will harm people, animals, plants, and our descendants. The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) argues that it will. Lawson disagrees. He takes us through the IPCC scenarios, and their range of predictions relating to five potential impacts of a warmer world: on water, ecosystems, food, coasts, and health. In each case he demonstrates, with evidence, that a warmer world will either be neutral or even beneficial. What makes this evidence particularly persuasive is that much of it is drawn from the IPCC's own 4th report (2007)!.

It would be wrong to think of this book as complacent, a kind of 'I'm all right, Jack, pull up the ladder'. As Lawson points out, the single major cause of ill-health and death in the world is poverty, and if we take the standpoint of human welfare, the surest way to benefit humans is to lift them out of poverty. Lawson sees many serious problems facing the world, and many things that urgently need putting right. The view of this compelling and convincing book is that global warming isn't one of them.


A call for solid science to replace the hype and hysteria, 14 Sep 2008
A well written and thought provoking book that attempts to speak above the hysterical din that dominates the subject.

The author calls for a considered approach and appeals to organisations to address the issues we face in a sensible and practical way.



Lawson knows best apparently, 23 Aug 2008
The combined wisdom of the world's leading climate change scientists is clearly no match for Nigel Lawson. He alone is clear sighted enough to see these clever people are all wrong. Stop worrying you people on coastlands and islands as you watch the tide rising. Stop fussing about those droughts Africa and Australia! Trust Nigel, everything will be well because...er because he says so.

Thought-provoking contribution, 19 Aug 2008
In this thought-provoking book, Nigel Lawson asks key questions about global warming. Is the world warming and if so, why? How much warmer will it get? What will be the consequences? What can and should we do about it? What is the most cost-effective way to tackle it?

He looks at the temperature record. Surprisingly, temperatures have not risen since 2001, even though global CO2 emissions have been rising faster than ever. There was a 0.7oC rise over the last century while the CO2 in the atmosphere rose by 30%, largely caused by industrialisation driven by the rapid worldwide growth of carbon-based energy consumption (burning coal, oil and gas). Some, possibly most, of the warming is due to this growth of CO2 emissions and so of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 report predicted a sea-level rise of between 18 and 59 centimetres by 2100. (Its 1990 report predicted a 3.67 metre rise.) The IPCC predicted a 1.8o-4oC temperature rise by 2100, a mean of less than 3oC. (At 3oC, it says, "Globally, the potential for food production is projected to increase.") 3oC is 0.03oC a year, compared to 1975-2000's 0.02oC a year.

The IPCC says the one `virtually certain' impact of global warming is `reduced human mortality from decreased cold exposure'. A 2003 Department of Health study confirmed this, predicting a decrease in cold-related mortality of 20,000 and an increase in heat-related mortality of 2,000 by the 2050s.

On the IPCC's worst case scenario, of 1% growth a year in the developed countries and 2.3% in the developing countries, global warming could cost us 5% of world GDP by 2100. This would make developed countries' GDP 2.6 times today's rather than 2.7 and developing countries' GDP 8.5 times today's rather than 9.5.

Lawson argues that we should drop the precautionary principle because it is wrong to take decisions on the basis of worst-case possibilities: probabilities, not possibilities, should be our guide.

He looks at the prospects of some specific disasters. He notes that Antarctic ice-sheets are growing, that the IPCC's 2007 report said that an `abrupt transition' of the Gulf Stream is `very unlikely' and that the World Meteorological Organization said of climate change's effects on hurricanes, "no firm conclusion can be made on this point."

The EU's Emissions Trading Scheme has increased profits for selected emitters and not cut emissions. Kyoto's Clean Development Mechanism has done no better. The EU promotes growing biofuels, yet the Chinese government has suspended the production of the biofuel ethanol because it has raised food prices.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform said that meeting the EU's agreed target of 20% of energy from renewables by 2020 would raise our electricity costs by £18-22 billion a year.

In June 2007 Merkel and Blair tried to get the G8 to agree to cut emissions by 50% by 2050. The rest rejected the idea. Six months later, Britain and Germany lost again when they proposed a mandatory global emissions cut of 25-40% by 2020.

We could control the world's temperature by severely limiting carbon dioxide emissions through raising prices of carbon-based energy, to make non-carbon-based energy more competitive. But this would force our energy-intensive industries out to China and other countries. (Although China's, and India's, emissions per head are still far less than the West's.) 1990s Russia showed that the only way to meet the Kyoto targets is to destroy your industries.

Lawson argues for an across-the-board carbon tax, even if it forces our remaining energy-intensive industries abroad, and for ending subsidies to all carbon-based energy. Instead, we need to keep our industries, se we need new carbon-based power stations and new gas storage facilities, which the market has not provided and will not provide.




Deluded amateur challenges the science, 12 Aug 2008
Lawson flies in the face of scientific consensus with no solid basis for his position. An unhelpful book.

Come on..., 28 Oct 2008
For crying out loud, why don't we all open our mouths and swallow whatever rot the 'IPCC' feed us. There are so many flaws with this book that can only be seen as propoganda aimed at people who cannot think for themselves. Yes, global warming is almost certainly occurring but it has been blown out of all proportion and all to benefit propositions made by the government. (Carbon taxes to name but one, however that's a whole different kettle of fish.) Look at the End-Permian extinction. An approximated rise in temperature of 5 degrees Celcius is believed to have wiped out the vast majority of terrestrial and marine life. Do you really think this took a century?! Evidence pointing to the Permo-Triassic extinction has been locked away in stratigraphy - the thickness of which is substantianly more than could be deposited in a century! Think between 100,000 to 300,000 years worth.

So come on Mark Lynas, 6 degrees celcius in a century is hugely arrogant because we are so insignificant regarding global surface processes. If you were to look at recent scientific papers, you might be surprised to find that climatologists and geologists predict a 0.8 degree rise in temperature over the next century.

File this one under fantasy.

This book could save your life, 06 Oct 2008
This is the best book on the subject I have ever read and I feel it should be mandatory for all school children over 12 years old. I have been following the global warming debate for over 20 years now (both as an environmentalist and former journalist) from its early days when there were a few very worried scientists getting trashed by the politicians to protect big business, to now when we have thousands of very worried leading scientists and terrified experts of the highest calibre getting trashed by politicians to protect big business. This book is vital and I only wish it could have appeared ten years ago when we still had a chance of making a real difference. The science that Lynas reviews is the best available to us and he communicates difficult subject matter very clearly and with real skill. For such a dry subject (no pun intended) the book is actually quite gripping but it doesn't fall into the easy trap of trivialising or sensationalising the raw data. Let's face it, these are terrifying enough on their own. Read it, it could save your life.

Lynas paints a possible apocalyptic future for us all , 01 Oct 2008
Mark Lynas had spent months in libraries reading and taking notes about future global weather changes from scientific journals and from his studies he has put together this book.
The book explains to the reader what would happen to the planet if it were to get six degrees hotter over the next 100 years.
Each chapter explains what would happen to world as it got 1 degree hotter.
Chapter 1 explains what would happen if the planet got one degree hotter and chapter 6 finishes by explaining what would happen if the planet got six degrees hotter.
This book is not easy to digest as it paints a very apocalyptic future for us humans should climate change not be halted.
In the final chapter Mark explains how we can prevent this scenario ever happening.
A very different book from Al Gore's inconvient truth in a sense that this book looks at what could happen rather than what is happening now.
If the subject global warming interests you than this book is well worth a read and will give you a great insight in future life on earth if we fail to act now.


'business as usual' .... I don't think so., 22 Jul 2008
no politition could read this book and stay in office with 'business as usual' without being in total denial. not sensational in it's presentation, but leaves little to the imagination. Surely we've had it, haven't we? Don't leave too much money to your children - it will be of little use.

BAFFLED, 17 Jun 2008
One thing baffles me about this book by an evangelical warmista - and I wish Lynas would answer. He has not addressed one simple proven fact... that in the last 10 years the globe has been cooling quite markedly at a time when carbon emissions have never been higher. How does he square this with his alarmist views ? The fact is that a very great many reputable scientists the world over question whether anything we do has any effect on our climate - though clearly we pollute our environment and destroy the habitat for other creatures; but that is a different issue. The globe has warmed and cooled, warmed and cooled, for many billions of years and our climate has changed and will continue to change regardless of these tiny specks called humans.
Global warming was until around 2,000, since when the globe has been cooling. Will it warm up again ? Who knows ? There are only computer projections and we know those cannot not even get the long range weather forecast right for the British Isles

Still relevant in a chemical dominated age, 13 Oct 2008
Silent Spring (Penguin Modern Classics)
Some people may think this book is no longer relevant in a world where DDT is mainly consigned to history, but, unless we learn from history we will make the mistakes over again.
This classic from the early 1960s explains how the various parts of nature are all affected when man tries to eliminate a pest with what is effectively a universal poison. Despite all of the evidence of the reducing efficacy of these poisons and the damage caused to the rest of the ecosystem, the spraying continued for years. The author provides numerous examples of the destruction caused by the use of these chemicals despite following the manufacturer's guidelines.
Whilst this book can be heavy going and occasionally a little disjointed in places it is worth reading if only to remind you that not all official advice is correct or impartial. We still have the potential to make similar mistakes today, only perhaps the threat is more concealed by the large variety of man made substances in use or added to our food and its packaging every day.

Hard Work, 28 Oct 2007
One can only applaud Carson's work and marvel at her determination to be heard and the research she did. This must have been a very shocking book at the time it was published, even now it is horrifying to look back and see what wholesale garbage the American public was being sold by those supposed to be looking after their health and welfare. It is however, a dated book which I found hard to read and difficult to sustain. I believe it was first written as a series of articles for journals and magazines, which makes sense, as each chapter is very much isolated from the others in terms of style and content, so there is little sense of flow or continuity, other than the continuation of the bad news Carson imparts. It tends to jerk from quite florid poetic writing with lyrically drawn pictures of nature which give way to horrific apocalyptic style visions into bunches of data and facts which are so dry they sit hard up against the narrative and make for difficult reading. It's still a book to recommend, particularly in today's climate and with the emphasis on green issues, but you really have to want to read it rather than just having an idle interest.

The book they tried to dismiss, 02 Sep 2006
In "Any Questions" on BBC Radio 4 a panel of politicians were quizzed in turn as to one person they thought would be regarded as an important person in the future from the 20th century who improved the lot of us humans. Of about four panelists one said Nelson Mandela. Important though Mandela is, none of the other panelists had anyone else to suggest so they also ended up saying Nelson Mandela. I would have mentioned Rachel Carson representing as yet an unsung heroine - the pioneer of the "Deep Ecology" movement.

Unfortunately a lot of what she had to say is still ignored by mainstream politicians though enough has trickled through to create a stream of people who think in the context of concern for all life on Earth rather than how best one group of us can dominate and manipulate our human and environmental resources at irreplaceable cost to life as we know it.

This is the book that started it all - showing us that science and technology unrestrained were not the solution to all our problems. The EPA at least owes its very existence to Carson.

I salute Carson and her book as a lighthouse that guided our thinking from the cliffs of short sighted destructiveness. Long may the beacon prevail.

This is an important book. Perhaps dated, Carson's voice is not shrill but reasoned and strident. A classic worth sharing and upgrading.


Mighty oaks from small acorns grow, 06 Aug 2006
Reading some of the reviews here I can't help but feel they are reading 'Silent Spring' out of context. Being written in 1962 in will never be a current and up to date account of our pesticide use today. However I recommend it as a pioneering piece of literature, and a period piece that will stand the test of time.

Now that our bookshelves are stacked with Ecological titles, it is all the more important to re-read 'Silent Spring' and to judge for ourselves a book that actually did make a difference. For instance, this book greatly influenced my parents into becoming founder members of 'Friends of the Earth'.

What stands is an inspirational and at times poetic cry for ecological common sense. What has aged and dated stands to keep our contemporary rhetoric in check. Rachel Carson has a searching and inquisitive mind. Let this book be the document that she would want it to be - A step towards understanding our continued place in the world.

Mighty oaks from small acorns grow, 14 Jul 2006
This book helped inspire the movement that had DDT banned worldwide including Africa. As a result millions of Africans died of mosquito-transmitted malaria. Yay, Environmentalism...

Global warming - without the spin, 14 Aug 2008
Everything you need to know about the challenges of climate change without the spin.

There is a veritable overload of information on the topic of global warming that makes it difficult to get to grips with what to do and how to deal with it on a personal level.

This highly informative book sets out to inform the reader of the issues, how to prepare for the inevitable changes and then follows up with solutions in these areas: technological, political, personal and local.

The subject is a serious one but as Walker writes - don't despair, although it's a hard one it's not intractable. She suggests that we look inside our circle of influence, start small and soon your circle will expand... but at no point become "greener than thou".

It's a jungle of a topic but this book makes the big issues that bit clearer.

Calm, balanced, and reasonable., 30 Jul 2008
With impeccable scientific credentials, the authors calmly and carefully explain the agreements and disagreements among climate scientists and the international politics that surrounds the issue. Emphasising technological adaptation, they argue that we can meet the challenge of climate change without making and drastic lifestyle changes and with only very minor financial cost: we just need to change the way we generate energy, and consume it more efficiently. They also make recommendations for personal action, ranging from buying the right light-bulbs to pressurising politicians and businessmen into adopting the right policies.

Among the current crop of climate change books, this is a refreshingly reasonable and responsible read.


The ideal introduction, 21 Apr 2008
I've never read as much about global warming as I felt I should, put off by the obvious partisanship - pro or con - of almost everything in the press and recoiling from the green bandwagon that has become a fashion accessory. And then there was the problem of where to start... that same partisanship problem once again.
Now I have the answer: this book. As a clear, intelligent and, above all, measured introduction to global warning I doubt it can be bettered. It runs through the science, looks at the politics, discusses the technology and tries to be contructive about the way forward. My only criticism is that at times I was left wanting to know more - but that is to praise the authors's restraint knowing they were writing an introductory guide.
I picked up this book wanting something clear and unbiased that would help me organise my thoughts on global warming. That's exactly what I got.

Excellent introduction to a complex field, 31 Mar 2008
I considered myself moderately well informed on the global warming (GW), having browsed websites, new scientist and wikipedia. I learnt a lot from this book, partly about the science, but mostly from the fascinating coverage of the political issues around GW.

It is also useful in knowing how to respond to the sceptic's points.

Overall it is a highly readable and nicely detailed (not too much to get bogged down in) account of all the surrounding issues. It is not a scare story... and does not over indulge in lurid alarmist doomsaying.



A lucid account of climate change science and politics, 10 Mar 2008
Generally excellent. The only real criticism I'd make of this book is that the authors are sometimes too blunt in their opinions. They say that "human activity is to blame for the rise in temperature over recent decades", and anyone who denies this is essentially a fool or an oil shill. This is unfair: lots of perfectly bright people have been misinformed, and believe there's more uncertainty than there is - you don't need to be a fool to be duped.

Overall, 'A Rough Guide to Climate Change' gives a clearer (and more thorough) overview of the science, but Hot Topic is more up-to-date and has greater detail about the potential solutions and political obstacles. (I'd also highly recommend Andrew Dessler's more technical 'The Science and Politics of Global Climate Change'.)

Finally, it's worth noting what a tireless job David King has done in promoting awareness of climate change. History is likely to regard him very highly.

Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Just what it says on the tin, 16 Sep 2008
This is a wonderful book. As the title suggests, it is cool, reasonable, and patient, looking carefully at all the evidence and coming to conclusions which it is hard to disagree with.

Like other reviewers, I find it hard to take excerpts from the book because I would have to quote the whole thing! However, perhaps I may try to help anyone who is wondering whether to read it. One way to look at the global warming/climate change debate is to ask oneself three questions.

First, is the world getting warmer?
Second, is human activity, and specifically CO2, a major cause?
And third, does it matter? Will there be harmful consequences? And if so, what should we do about them?

Much of the angry debate between believers and sceptics rages round the first two points. Lawson surveys the evidence on both, and comes to a conclusion. But what makes this book so powerful is its focus on the third question: whether a warmer world is one that will harm people, animals, plants, and our descendants. The Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change (IPCC) argues that it will. Lawson disagrees. He takes us through the IPCC scenarios, and their range of predictions relating to five potential impacts of a warmer world: on water, ecosystems, food, coasts, and health. In each case he demonstrates, with evidence, that a warmer world will either be neutral or even beneficial. What makes this evidence particularly persuasive is that much of it is drawn from the IPCC's own 4th report (2007)!.

It would be wrong to think of this book as complacent, a kind of 'I'm all right, Jack, pull up the ladder'. As Lawson points out, the single major cause of ill-health and death in the world is poverty, and if we take the standpoint of human welfare, the surest way to benefit humans is to lift them out of poverty. Lawson sees many serious problems facing the world, and many things that urgently need putting right. The view of this compelling and convincing book is that global warming isn't one of them.


A call for solid science to replace the hype and hysteria, 14 Sep 2008
A well written and thought provoking book that attempts to speak above the hysterical din that dominates the subject.

The author calls for a considered approach and appeals to organisations to address the issues we face in a sensible and practical way.



Lawson knows best apparently, 23 Aug 2008
The combined wisdom of the world's leading climate change scientists is clearly no match for Nigel Lawson. He alone is clear sighted enough to see these clever people are all wrong. Stop worrying you people on coastlands and islands as you watch the tide rising. Stop fussing about those droughts Africa and Australia! Trust Nigel, everything will be well because...er because he says so.

Thought-provoking contribution, 19 Aug 2008
In this thought-provoking book, Nigel Lawson asks key questions about global warming. Is the world warming and if so, why? How much warmer will it get? What will be the consequences? What can and should we do about it? What is the most cost-effective way to tackle it?

He looks at the temperature record. Surprisingly, temperatures have not risen since 2001, even though global CO2 emissions have been rising faster than ever. There was a 0.7oC rise over the last century while the CO2 in the atmosphere rose by 30%, largely caused by industrialisation driven by the rapid worldwide growth of carbon-based energy consumption (burning coal, oil and gas). Some, possibly most, of the warming is due to this growth of CO2 emissions and so of CO2 concentrations in the atmosphere.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's 2007 report predicted a sea-level rise of between 18 and 59 centimetres by 2100. (Its 1990 report predicted a 3.67 metre rise.) The IPCC predicted a 1.8o-4oC temperature rise by 2100, a mean of less than 3oC. (At 3oC, it says, "Globally, the potential for food production is projected to increase.") 3oC is 0.03oC a year, compared to 1975-2000's 0.02oC a year.

The IPCC says the one `virtually certain' impact of global warming is `reduced human mortality from decreased cold exposure'. A 2003 Department of Health study confirmed this, predicting a decrease in cold-related mortality of 20,000 and an increase in heat-related mortality of 2,000 by the 2050s.

On the IPCC's worst case scenario, of 1% growth a year in the developed countries and 2.3% in the developing countries, global warming could cost us 5% of world GDP by 2100. This would make developed countries' GDP 2.6 times today's rather than 2.7 and developing countries' GDP 8.5 times today's rather than 9.5.

Lawson argues that we should drop the precautionary principle because it is wrong to take decisions on the basis of worst-case possibilities: probabilities, not possibilities, should be our guide.

He looks at the prospects of some specific disasters. He notes that Antarctic ice-sheets are growing, that the IPCC's 2007 report said that an `abrupt transition' of the Gulf Stream is `very unlikely' and that the World Meteorological Organization said of climate change's effects on hurricanes, "no firm conclusion can be made on this point."

The EU's Emissions Trading Scheme has increased profits for selected emitters and not cut emissions. Kyoto's Clean Development Mechanism has done no better. The EU promotes growing biofuels, yet the Chinese government has suspended the production of the biofuel ethanol because it has raised food prices.

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform said that meeting the EU's agreed target of 20% of energy from renewables by 2020 would raise our electricity costs by £18-22 billion a year.

In June 2007 Merkel and Blair tried to get the G8 to agree to cut emissions by 50% by 2050. The rest rejected the idea. Six months later, Britain and Germany lost again when they proposed a mandatory global emissions cut of 25-40% by 2020.

We could control the world's temperature by severely limiting carbon dioxide emissions through raising prices of carbon-based energy, to make non-carbon-based energy more competitive. But this would force our energy-intensive industries out to China and other countries. (Although China's, and India's, emissions per head are still far less than the West's.) 1990s Russia showed that the only way to meet the Kyoto targets is to destroy your industries.

Lawson argues for an across-the-board carbon tax, even if it forces our remaining energy-intensive industries abroad, and for ending subsidies to all carbon-based energy. Instead, we need to keep our industries, se we need new carbon-based power stations and new gas storage facilities, which the market has not provided and will not provide.




Deluded amateur challenges the science, 12 Aug 2008
Lawson flies in the face of scientific consensus with no solid basis for his position. An unhelpful book.

Come on..., 28 Oct 2008
For crying out loud, why don't we all open our mouths and swallow whatever rot the 'IPCC' feed us. There are so many flaws with this book that can only be seen as propoganda aimed at people who cannot think for themselves. Yes, global warming is almost certainly occurring but it has been blown out of all proportion and all to benefit propositions made by the government. (Carbon taxes to name but one, however that's a whole different kettle of fish.) Look at the End-Permian extinction. An approximated rise in temperature of 5 degrees Celcius is believed to have wiped out the vast majority of terrestrial and marine life. Do you really think this took a century?! Evidence pointing to the Permo-Triassic extinction has been locked away in stratigraphy - the thickness of which is substantianly more than could be deposited in a century! Think between 100,000 to 300,000 years worth.

So come on Mark Lynas, 6 degrees celcius in a century is hugely arrogant because we are so insignificant regarding global surface processes. If you were to look at recent scientific papers, you might be surprised to find that climatologists and geologists predict a 0.8 degree rise in temperature over the next century.

File this one under fantasy.

This book could save your life, 06 Oct 2008
This is the best book on the subject I have ever read and I feel it should be mandatory for all school children over 12 years old. I have been following the global warming debate for over 20 years now (both as an environmentalist and former journalist) from its early days when there were a few very worried scientists getting trashed by the politicians to protect big business, to now when we have thousands of very worried leading scientists and terrified experts of the highest calibre getting trashed by politicians to protect big business. This book is vital and I only wish it could have appeared ten years ago when we still had a chance of making a real difference. The science that Lynas reviews is the best available to us and he communicates difficult subject matter very clearly and with real skill. For such a dry subject (no pun intended) the book is actually quite gripping but it doesn't fall into the easy trap of trivialising or sensationalising the raw data. Let's face it, these are terrifying enough on their own. Read it, it could save your life.

Lynas paints a possible apocalyptic future for us all , 01 Oct 2008
Mark Lynas had spent months in libraries reading and taking notes about future global weather changes from scientific journals and from his studies he has put together this book.
The book explains to the reader what would happen to the planet if it were to get six degrees hotter over the next 100 years.
Each chapter explains what would happen to world as it got 1 degree hotter.
Chapter 1 explains what would happen if the planet got one degree hotter and chapter 6 finishes by explaining what would happen if the planet got six degrees hotter.
This book is not easy to digest as it paints a very apocalyptic future for us humans should climate change not be halted.
In the final chapter Mark explains how we can prevent this scenario ever happening.
A very different book from Al Gore's inconvient truth in a sense that this book looks at what could happen rather than what is happening now.
If the subject global warming interests you than this book is well worth a read and will give you a great insight in future life on earth if we fail to act now.


'business as usual' .... I don't think so., 22 Jul 2008
no politition could read this book and stay in office with 'business as usual' without being in total denial. not sensational in it's presentation, but leaves little to the imagination. Surely we've had it, haven't we? Don't leave too much money to your children - it will be of little use.

BAFFLED, 17 Jun 2008
One thing baffles me about this book by an evangelical warmista - and I wish Lynas would answer. He has not addressed one simple proven fact... that in the last 10 years the globe has been cooling quite markedly at a time when carbon emissions have never been higher. How does he square this with his alarmist views ? The fact is that a very great many reputable scientists the world over question whether anything we do has any effect on our climate - though clearly we pollute our environment and destroy the habitat for other creatures; but that is a different issue. The globe has warmed and cooled, warmed and cooled, for many billions of years and our climate has changed and will continue to change regardless of these tiny specks called humans.
Global warming was until around 2,000, since when the globe has been cooling. Will it warm up again ? Who knows ? There are only computer projections and we know those cannot not even get the long range weather forecast right for the British Isles

Still relevant in a chemical dominated age, 13 Oct 2008
Silent Spring (Penguin Modern Classics)
Some people may think this book is no longer relevant in a world where DDT is mainly consigned to history, but, unless we learn from history we will make the mistakes over again.
This classic from the early 1960s explains how the various parts of nature are all affected when man tries to eliminate a pest with what is effectively a universal poison. Despite all of the evidence of the reducing efficacy of these poisons and the damage caused to the rest of the ecosystem, the spraying continued for years. The author provides numerous examples of the destruction caused by the use of these chemicals despite following the manufacturer's guidelines.
Whilst this book can be heavy going and occasionally a little disjointed in places it is worth reading if only to remind you that not all official advice is correct or impartial. We still have the potential to make similar mistakes today, only perhaps the threat is more concealed by the large variety of man made substances in use or added to our food and its packaging every day.

Hard Work, 28 Oct 2007
One can only applaud Carson's work and marvel at her determination to be heard and the research she did. This must have been a very shocking book at the time it was published, even now it is horrifying to look back and see what wholesale garbage the American public was being sold by those supposed to be looking after their health and welfare. It is however, a dated book which I found hard to read and difficult to sustain. I believe it was first written as a series of articles for journals and magazines, which makes sense, as each chapter is very much isolated from the others in terms of style and content, so there is little sense of flow or continuity, other than the continuation of the bad news Carson imparts. It tends to jerk from quite florid poetic writing with lyrically drawn pictures of nature which give way to horrific apocalyptic style visions into bunches of data and facts which are so dry they sit hard up against the narrative and make for difficult reading. It's still a book to recommend, particularly in today's climate and with the emphasis on green issues, but you really have to want to read it rather than just having an idle interest.

The book they tried to dismiss, 02 Sep 2006
In "Any Questions" on BBC Radio 4 a panel of politicians were quizzed in turn as to one person they thought would be regarded as an important person in the future from the 20th century who improved the lot of us humans. Of about four panelists one said Nelson Mandela. Important though Mandela is, none of the other panelists had anyone else to suggest so they also ended up saying Nelson Mandela. I would have mentioned Rachel Carson representing as yet an unsung heroine - the pioneer of the "Deep Ecology" movement.

Unfortunately a lot of what she had to say is still ignored by mainstream politicians though enough has trickled through to create a stream of people who think in the context of concern for all life on Earth rather than how best one group of us can dominate and manipulate our human and environmental resources at irreplaceable cost to life as we know it.

This is the book that started it all - showing us that science and technology unrestrained were not the solution to all our problems. The EPA at least owes its very existence to Carson.

I salute Carson and her book as a lighthouse that guided our thinking from the cliffs of short sighted destructiveness. Long may the beacon prevail.

This is an important book. Perhaps dated, Carson's voice is not shrill but reasoned and strident. A classic worth sharing and upgrading.


Mighty oaks from small acorns grow, 06 Aug 2006
Reading some of the reviews here I can't help but feel they are reading 'Silent Spring' out of context. Being written in 1962 in will never be a current and up to date account of our pesticide use today. However I recommend it as a pioneering piece of literature, and a period piece that will stand the test of time.

Now that our bookshelves are stacked with Ecological titles, it is all the more important to re-read 'Silent Spring' and to judge for ourselves a book that actually did make a difference. For instance, this book greatly influenced my parents into becoming founder members of 'Friends of the Earth'.

What stands is an inspirational and at times poetic cry for ecological common sense. What has aged and dated stands to keep our contemporary rhetoric in check. Rachel Carson has a searching and inquisitive mind. Let this book be the document that she would want it to be - A step towards understanding our continued place in the world.

Mighty oaks from small acorns grow, 14 Jul 2006
This book helped inspire the movement that had DDT banned worldwide including Africa. As a result millions of Africans died of mosquito-transmitted malaria. Yay, Environmentalism...

Global warming - without the spin, 14 Aug 2008
Everything you need to know about the challenges of climate change without the spin.

There is a veritable overload of information on the topic of global warming that makes it difficult to get to grips with what to do and how to deal with it on a personal level.

This highly informative book sets out to inform the reader of the issues, how to prepare for the inevitable changes and then follows up with solutions in these areas: technological, political, personal and local.

The subject is a serious one but as Walker writes - don't despair, although it's a hard one it's not intractable. She suggests that we look inside our circle of influence, start small and soon your circle will expand... but at no point become "greener than thou".

It's a jungle of a topic but this book makes the big issues that bit clearer.

Calm, balanced, and reasonable., 30 Jul 2008
With impeccable scientific credentials, the authors calmly and carefully explain the agreements and disagreements among climate scientists and the international politics that surrounds the issue. Emphasising technological adaptation, they argue that we can meet the challenge of climate change without making and drastic lifestyle changes and with only very minor financial cost: we just need to change the way we generate energy, and consume it more efficiently. They also make recommendations for personal action, ranging from buying the right light-bulbs to pressurising politicians and businessmen into adopting the right policies.

Among the current crop of climate change books, this is a refreshingly reasonable and responsible read.


The ideal introduction, 21 Apr 2008
I've never read as much about global warming as I felt I should, put off by the obvious partisanship - pro or con - of almost everything in the press and recoiling from the green bandwagon that has become a fashion accessory. And then there was the problem of where to start... that same partisanship problem once again.
Now I have the answer: this book. As a clear, intelligent and, above all, measured introduction to global warning I doubt it can be bettered. It runs through the science, looks at the politics, discusses the technology and tries to be contructive about the way forward. My only criticism is that at times I was left wanting to know more - but that is to praise the authors's restraint knowing they were writing an introductory guide.
I picked up this book wanting something clear and unbiased that would help me organise my thoughts on global warming. That's exactly what I got.

Excellent introduction to a complex field, 31 Mar 2008
I considered myself moderately well informed on the global warming (GW), having browsed websites, new scientist and wikipedia. I learnt a lot from this book, partly about the science, but mostly from the fascinating coverage of the political issues around GW.

It is also useful in knowing how to respond to the sceptic's points.

Overall it is a highly readable and nicely detailed (not too much to get bogged down in) account of all the surrounding issues. It is not a scare story... and does not over indulge in lurid alarmist doomsaying.



A lucid account of climate change science and politics, 10 Mar 2008
Generally excellent. The only real criticism I'd make of this book is that the authors are sometimes too blunt in their opinions. They say that "human activity is to blame for the rise in temperature over recent decades", and anyone who denies this is essentially a fool or an oil shill. This is unfair: lots of perfectly bright people have been misinformed, and believe there's more uncertainty than there is - you don't need to be a fool to be duped.

Overall, 'A Rough Guide to Climate Change' gives a clearer (and more thorough) overview of the science, but Hot Topic is more up-to-date and has greater detail about the potential solutions and political obstacles. (I'd also highly recommend Andrew Dessler's more technical 'The Science and Politics of Global Climate Change'.)

Finally, it's worth noting what a tireless job David King has done in promoting awareness of climate change. History is likely to regard him very highly.

Very informative book, 08 Aug 2007
This book is used as a study material at the Open University in Energy for a sustainable future course (T206).

The boook won't tell you how to fit a solar panel or a wind turbine on your roof nor how to connect your panels to the battery but it will tell you about various renewable energy sources and its pros and cons. The book looks at the energy needs on local, national and international scale, not on individuals scale. Each chapter also has a large list of references for further information.

There is a lot of calculations present so, you'll be able for example to calculate the area of solar panels required for your needs or prove that off shore wind turbines generate more electricity than on shore ones.

I really enjoyed this book and I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in renewable energy.

Great!, 31 Oct 2008
Brought this for alot more than for sale here, from high street store. Grrrr! Anyway got to say Bruce is a legend and its a perfect crimbo present!

Bravo Bruce, 29 Oct 2008
I dont usually buy books that accompany a TV series or film, thinking of them as quite frivolous marketing ploys, however I was given this as a gift and have definitely reassessed my opinion.

The book is an insightful accompaniment to the show, delving deeper into the characters that we meet only briefly on screen.The photography provides candid shots of both Bruce,the landscape and the indigenous tribes he meets.

I would highly reccomend this book for anyone who has an interest in the enviroment and what is happening in the Amazon. It is also a great Christmas present for any fans of the charming Mr Parry!

Food for thought, 24 Oct 2008
This, perhaps unsurprisingly for followers of the series is an intelligent and thought provoking counterpart to the BBC series and another addition to the canon of admirable work Parry is undertaking. This is beautifully produced full of sumptuous photos but it does not shirk the harder issues tackled in the show. He has a knack of managing to raise awareness of all important issues without patronising or preaching. Buy. And buy Bruce's wonderful charity album too as well - might go some way to helping the human casualties of amazon exploitation - tribes.

Bruce rocks!, 10 Oct 2008
In his inimitable style Bruce is bringing attention to one of the biggest scandals in the modern world, no less than the destruction of the most important habitat on our planet. It's something our generation will go down in history for and nobody is doing anything to stop it. More power to Bruce for showing how even some of the people destroying the forest are just trying to survive. We won't begin to tackle this issue until we appreciate that there are no easy answers (if you want a good summary of why the Amazon and other environments are so precious I'm a big fan of Bruce's other book Serious Survival as well).

Just what it says on the tin, 16 Sep 2008
This is a wonderful book. As the title suggests, it is cool, reasonable, and patient, looking carefully at all the evidence and coming to conclusions which it is hard to disagree with.

Like other reviewers, I find it hard to take excerpts from the book because I would have to quote the whole thing! However, perhaps I may try to help anyone who is wondering whether to read it. One way to look at the global warming/climate change debate is to ask oneself three questions.

First, is the world getting warmer?
Second, is human activity, and specifically CO2, a major cause?
And third, does it matter? Will there be harmful consequences? And if so, what should we do about them?

Much of the angry debate between believers and sceptics rages round the first two points