Hotly debated in the political arena and splashed across the media almost 24/7, global warming has become the topic of the moment. Whatever one's views on its cause, there is no denying that the earth's climate is changing, and people everywhere are worried. Global Warming For Dummies sorts out fact from fiction, explaining the science behind climate change and examining the possible long-term effects of a warmer planet. This no-nonsense yet friendly guide helps you explore solutions to this challenging problem, from what governments and industry can do to what you can do at home and how to get involved.
In this book Simon Dalby provides an accessible and engaging account of the challenges we face in responding to security and environmental change. He traces the historical roots of current thinking about security and climate change to show the roots of the contemporary concern and goes on to outline modern thinking about securitization which uses the politics of invoking threats as a central part of the analysis. He argues that to understand climate change and the dislocations of global ecology, it is necessary to look back at how ecological change is tied to the expansion of the world economic system over the last few centuries. As the global urban system changes on a local and global scale, the world’s population becomes vulnerable in new ways. In a clear and careful analysis, Dalby shows that theories of human security now require a much more nuanced geopolitical imagination if they are to grapple with these new vulnerabilities and influence how we build more resilient societies to cope with the coming disruptions.
This book will appeal to level students and scholars of geography, environmental studies, security studies and international politics, as well as to anyone concerned with contemporary globalization and its transformation of the biosphere.
Political action and intervention, on local, national and international levels, is going to have a decisive effect on whether or not we can limit global warming, as well as how we adapt to that already occurring. At the moment, however, Anthony Giddens argues controversially, we do not have a systematic politics of climate change. Politics as usual won't allow us to deal with the problems we face, while the recipes of the main challenger to orthodox politics, the green movement, are flawed at source. Giddens introduces a range of new concepts and proposals to fill in the gap, and examines in depth the connections between climate change and energy security.
This book is likely to become a classic in the field. It will be of appeal to everyone concerned about how we can cope with what amounts to a crisis for our civilisation.
In this major new book Wolfgang Behringer introduces us to the latest historical research on the development of the earth's climate. He focuses above all on the cultural reactions to climate change through the ages, showing how even minor changes in the climate sometimes resulted in major social, political and religious upheavals. By examining how our predecessors responded to climate changes, Behringer provides us with a fresh basis for thinking about how we might address the serious climatic challenges we face today.
"The top of the world is profoundly different than ever before in human history. Climate change is already influencing the lives of the locals, from Inuit to polar bears. But it's poised to make life hard for the rest of us, too. Ed Struzik gives a canny and compelling tour of a world in dangerous and rapid flux." - Bill McKibben, author of Deep Economy
"An irresistible mix of lyrical writing, adventurous feet-on-the-ground travel, solid reporting and acute observation of the dire things that are happening in the Arctic. We should lock every politician and corporate executive into a room and keep them there until they have read and understood the message Struzik is brining us. It is that important." - Marq De Villiers, author of The End: Natural Disasters, Manmade Castastrophes, and the Future of Human Survival
"All-embracing, luminous and provocative, The Big Thaw is a fascinating chronicle of an infinite, threatened Canadian Arctic. Struzik expertly melds past and present into a thought-provoking story about what the current global warming means to Canada and the world. He combines the human and scientific narratives into a wonderful synthesis amplified by his won extensive travels through the North. Everyone interested in the implications of a warming planet should read this remarkable book." - Brian Fagan, archeologist, historian and author of The Great Warming and The Little Ice Age
"Ed Struzik, one of those rare journalists who can paddle a canoe and enjoy a meal of whale blubber, has written an important and shocking book that reads like some new genre of adventure and horror story. As the Arctic melts and unravels faster than the global banking system, The Big Thaw raises some stark questions: just what will Canada be without ice and snow? And what is a nation without its dreams?" - Andrew Nikiforuk, author of Tar Sands: Dirty Oil and the Future of the Continent
"An important book. Urgent, timely, heartfelt." - Will Ferguson, author of Beauty Tips Moose Jaw: Travels in Search of Canada
