New Scientist Essential Guide I8 2021_downmagaz.net.pdf

(23020 KB) Pobierz
ESSENTIAL
GUIDE№8
WHAT’S DRIVING IT
THE IMPACTS WE’RE SEEING
HOW BAD IT COULD GET
THE ACTION WE NEED
WHAT WE CAN ALL DO
AND MORE
CLIMATE
CHANGE
THE SCIENCE
THE CHALLENGE
THE SOLUTIONS
EDITED BY
RICHARD WEBB
NEW
SCIENTIST
ESSENTIAL
GUIDE
CLIMATE
CHANGE
C
LIMATE CHANGE is the greatest challenge
of our age – perhaps of any age, measured
by the size of societal change needed to
mitigate it and adapt to it.
We stand now at a critical juncture.
As this latest
New Scientist Essential Guide
is published,
an intense diplomatic effort is under way ahead of
the crucial UN-backed COP26 climate summit in
Glasgow, UK, in November 2021. At stake is a credible
plan to deliver the goal agreed in Paris in 2015, to
limit global warming to a nominally safe 1.5˚C by
reducing greenhouse gas emissions to “net zero”
by mid-century.
There is no better time to be informed about what’s
at stake – about the basic science of climate change, the
history of efforts to combat it, the effects of global
warming that we are already seeing, and the
technologies and innovations that will help us
bend the climate curve, now and in the future.
I hope you find it an informative and stimulating
read, one that will also perhaps help energise you
to play the part all of us can have in meeting the
climate challenge. Feedback is, as ever, welcome at
essentialguides@newscientist.com.
Richard Webb
NEW SCIENTIST ESSENTIAL GUIDES
NORTHCLIFFE HOUSE, 2 DERRY STREET,
LONDON W8 5TT
+44 (0)20 7611 1200
© 2021 NEW SCIENTIST LTD, ENGLAND
NEW SCIENTIST ESSENTIAL GUIDES
ARE PUBLISHED BY NEW SCIENTIST LTD
ISSN 2634-0151
PRINTED IN THE UK BY PRECISION COLOUR
PRINTING LTD AND DISTRIBUTED BY
MARKETFORCE UK LTD +44 (0)20 3148 3333
COVER/CONTENTS: ACILO/ISTOCK
ABOVE: INTERGALACTIC DESIGN
STUDIO/ISTOCK
EDITOR
Richard Webb
DESIGN
Craig Mackie
SUBEDITOR
Chris Simms
PRODUCTION AND APP
Joanne Keogh
TECHNICAL DEVELOPMENT (APP)
Amardeep Sian
PUBLISHER
Nina Wright
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Emily Wilson
DISPLAY ADVERTISING
+44 (0)20 7611 1291
displayads@newscientist.com
ABOUT THE EDITOR
Richard Webb is executive editor of
New Scientist
ADDITIONAL CONTRIBUTORS
Michael Brooks, Julia Brown, Peter Fairley, Linda Geddes,
Rowan Hooper, Graham Lawton, Michael Le Page, John Pickrell,
Kate Ravilious, Michael Slezak, Adam Vaughan
New Scientist Essential Guide | Climate Change |
1
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CLIMATE
BASICS
CLIMATE
POLITICS
CLIMATE
I M PACTS
There’s no great mystery as to why
our planet’s climate is changing.
Variations in greenhouse gases such
as carbon dioxide have caused
changes in Earth’s temperature in its
past. Now a new and uniquely
powerful force has intervened – us.
Left unchecked, the consequences of
global warming for a stable climate
and human well-being are frightening.
But it has proved a long slog to
achieve political agreement on
meaningful climate action.
p. 24
The long road to climate action
Increasing temperatures are one aspect
of climate change. From more extreme
storms and wildfires to melting ice and
changes to the world’s oceans,
significant changes are already baked
in, whatever action humanity takes
to curb climate change.
p. 6
What is causing climate
change?
p. 9
How much has the planet
warmed?
p. 11
How bad could it get?
p. 14
Climate models and uncertainty
p. 16
Earth’s climate past
p. 19
Climate cycles
p. 27
Why 1.5°C ?
p. 28
Net-zero emissions
p. 30
COP26 and covid-19
p. 32
INTERVIEW: Corinne Le Quéré
“There is no real obstacle other
than within ourselves”
p. 36
Deadly heat
p. 40
Polar peril
p. 42
Extreme weather
p. 45
Spreading like wildfires
p. 47
INTERVIEW: Friederike Otto
“Climate change is happening
right now”
p. 49
The changing oceans
p. 53
Climate change and biodiversity
p. 55
The human impact
2
| New Scientist Essential Guide | Climate Change
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CLIMATE
SOLUTIONS
CLIMATE
AND
POPULATION
CLIMATE
AND US
Avoiding the worst impacts of climate
change means taking consequential
action now. It won’t be easy to wean
ourselves off burning fossil fuels and
other activities that are putting
Earth’s systems out of balance,
but by and large the fixes do exist.
p. 58
Seven challenges to save
the climate
p. 63
The cost of carbon
p. 64
100 per cent renewables
p. 67
The hydrogen economy
p. 68
18 solutions to save the climate
p. 71
INTERVIEW: Mark Carney
“Businesses need a credible
track record”
p. 72
Climate finance and law
In the past century or so, human
population has boomed. That’s one
factor behind the climate crisis,
as more people consuming more
create more greenhouse gases.
Does that mean there are simply
too many of us?
p. 76
The great population debate
p. 82
INTERVIEW: Paul Ehrlich
“The problem is the people
who are super-consumers”
Many of the changes that will
help us avoid climate disaster are
the province of governments and
companies. But by adopting
climate-friendly behaviour – and
understanding why we and others
might be disinclined to – we can
all play our part.
p. 86
Seven things we can all do
p. 89
ESSAY: Robert Gifford
33 reasons why we can’t think
clearly about climate change
p. 94
INTERVIEW: Kimberly Nicholas
“What we do really, really,
really matters”
New Scientist Essential Guide | Climate Change |
3

Plik z chomika:

Inne pliki z tego folderu:

Inne foldery tego chomika:

Zgłoś jeśli naruszono regulamin