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Climate Change Begins at Home: Life on the Two-Way Street of Global Warming
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Product Description
Climate change is one of the greatest threats that humankind faces in the twenty-first century. But while government and industry fail to act, this book argues, we could all work to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60%, the level necessary to halt the current trend according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Packed with provocative case studies, calculations, and lifestyle comparisons, this entertaining and authoritative book makes the complexities of climatology tractable and challenges readers to rethink their notions of doing their part.
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #974501 in Books
- Published on: 2005-09-02
- Original language: English
- Binding: Hardcover
- 224 pages
Editorial Reviews
Popular Science Review, September 2005
'This is one of the most easily readable popular science books I've seen in several years. Wonderfully effective.'
Review
"Dave Reay has succeeded where so many scientists, academics and environmentalists have failed - in bringing climate change down to the level of the ordinary family. If you're not convinced about climate change, this book will change your mind. It may even change your life." -- Mike Lynas author of High Tide
"How can David Reay be this wise, and still so funny? If you want to get to grips with your own CO2 emissions - from air- freighted grapes to the family runaround - this Edinburgh boffin has written a brilliant, incredibly motivating book. Read it and see." -- Nicola Baird, Friends of the Earth
"Someday your grandchildren will ask why our generation lived as if fossil fuels were problem-free. Dave Reay's book might help you answer their question." --Northern Sky News
Nicola Baird, Friends of the Earth
'How can Reay be this wise, and still so funny? He has written a brilliant book. Read it and see.'
Customer Reviews
Keeping up with the Carbones
If anybody has packed more common sense into such a small space as David Reay has accomplished with this book, i've missed it. "Common sense" is the concept which supposedly governs our daily lives. However, somewhere along the way, there's been a slippage. Our lives, and that of our children, are under threat. Our common sense couldn't perceive the rapid rate of change occuring in the environment around us. Now, we must take back charge of the future. Reay isn't asking you to make drastic changes in your lifestyle to accomplish this. Instead, he demonstrates how small steps can improve our condition and make it sustainable for our children.
The author's method is well suited to the task. He invents a "typical" family of four, the Carbones, who could be your neighbours. There are John and Kate, with their two boys. Later, Kate will be discovered pregnant with Lucy. Lucy will become a guiding example for choices leading to alternative futures. Reay outlines the daily lives of the Carbones. There's getting the boys to school, John and Kate to work, and the various side trips for groceries and the like. Grandma Carbone visits from her house across town. What contribution to greenhouses gases does this lifestyle make every day? Every year? What changes can and should be made? Or can this daily round continue without modification?
Reay's answer to the last question is a resounding "No!". He provides numerous examples of visible and hidden costs that perhaps only a few of us recognise. Is your house one of the "uninsurable" residences? Insurance companies view climate change and sea level rise as inevitable and know the risks are too high for coverage. There are more direct considerations than insurance, however. What will your next automobile be? Reay suggests you review just what type of vehicle you really need. He favours the "dual-fuel" solution, since the overwhelming use of cars is local and urban. Can you resist the "upgrade" of your fridge to one that talks to you? If you need more space, is renovation more cost effective than shifting to a newer, larger residence? Finally, give thought to your workplace. How many lights, computers and other office appliances sitting there humming away drawing hydroelectric power for 24 hours per day, 365 days a year? What can you do about that?
Reay asks a good many questions of us all. He provides the reasons for the questions. One major factor behind many of them is the hidden "embodied" resource cost. That new fridge or upgraded personal computer arrived manufactured. The components, case and other parts required mining or other processing. While we're on the subject of hidden costs, what are you paying in "food-miles" - the shipping of foodstuffs from distant places that might just as readily be grown locally? Reay's approach isn't preachy nor does he want you to don a hair shirt of guilt over your climate impact. He does, however, urge immediate consideration of what you can do to reduce that effect. The choices are all yours, not his. However, for you, your children and for the rest of us, it's important that you confront the issue and make the decisions. The Carbones considered them carefully and implemented them without significant lifestyle adjustment. Can you keep up with the Carbones? [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
