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“…should demolish any and all misinformation about global warming
… this optimistic book ought to convince even the most obstinate climate change denier.” – Publisher’s Weekly
“Each chapter’s short segments are punchy with well-researched information…. An engaging, energetic study of humans and how we use energy—and should use it in the future." – Kirkus Reviews
OFFICIAL COMPANION TO
THE PBS TELEVISION DOCUMENTARY
EARTH
The Operators’ Manual
Richard B. Alley
Most of us realize that human actions are turning up Earth’s thermostat in ways that can become dangerous. And most of us want to be part of the solution. But it can be difficult to understand how our planet’s complex systems of energy, climate, and resources actually work. In EARTH: THE OPERATORS’ MANUAL, distinguished climate scientist Richard Alley provides accessible explanations of how carbon dioxide causes global warming, and how to achieve the sustainable energy future that is within our grasp. The official companion book to the PBS television special of the same name, EARTH: THE OPERATORS’ MANUAL is a uniquely engaging resource.
In short, story-driven chapters, Alley—a member of both the National Academy of Sciences and the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize-winning U.N. climate change committee—gives us a fascinating history of the science behind global warming, including the contribution made by the US Air Force (by investigating the underlying physics) immediately after World War II.
Human beings have always used energy, and always will. Our mastery of it has allowed us to be the dominant species on the planet. But once we get good at using an energy source, we often come close to using it up—think of deforested Europe, or the whales that were nearly hunted to extinction for their energy-providing oil. Today, roughly 85 percent of our energy comes from unsustainable fossil fuels. So what’s next?
Alley patiently confronts politics-fueled objections to the science, and impractical energy solutions to the problem. He then highlights the wide variety of practical, alternative energy options that are available to exploit right now—energy sources that might well be the engines for economic growth in the twenty-first century.
A much-needed antidote to dry scientific accounts and sky-is-falling narratives, EARTH: THE OPERATORS’ MANUAL is a remarkably accessible guide to the systems that control our Earth, and an empowering guide to action for all of us who operate those systems.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Richard B. Alley is the Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences at Penn State University and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He is one of the world’s leading authorities on the science of global warming. Alley is a member of the United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. His “Two Mile Time Machine” is a landmark book focused on the Greenland ice cores and what they tell researchers about climates of the past. Alley is the featured scientist in the PBS documentary Earth: The Operators’ Manual which premieres nationally at 10pm on Sunday April 10th (check local listings.)
To order: please visit the W. W. Norton & Company website or Amazon.com.
