Field Notes from a Catastrophe

Elizabeth Kolbert compiled a series of New Yorker articles together with new material and published Field Notes from a Catastrophe, a work that intends to join the climate change conversation. I'm growing very weary of this conversation, because honestly, it shouldn't be a conversation. If you read this book, as with other related books, you'll understand why.

The climate change conversation currently exists over whether or not climate change is manmade. This is a waste of time, and the furthering of the conversation is necessitated by individuals who insist upon wallowing in ignorance. Let me sum it up in a sentence: Some climate change can occur by natural events, but our current changing climate stems largely from humankind's actions - primarily through the amount of carbon dioxide we send into the atmosphere. It's this precise fact that Kolbert sets out to prove. Listen, there's so much evidence for humans creating climate change that the conversation that we should be having is over how we can turn this around. There could possibly be a conversation over the extent to which humans are impacting the climate - whether its moderate or extreme - but our time is better spent figuring out solutions.

Kolbert walks us through a number of different case studies and historical inquiries surrounding climate change. Each chapter reads like a magazine article, which is because many of these chapters began in that form. They are fairly in-depth, somewhat engaging, and certainly filled with interesting information. As a whole, it's not as cohesive and complete as some books (such as The Inconvenient Truth, which I read for this challenge), but it's still a worthy entry into the genre. Kolbert lays out the facts that prove that humans are behind the current changes in our climate. I don't know that it's enough to convince the stubbornly ignorant, but it's a worthwhile read.

If you have your doubts about human impact on climate change, read this book. It's not as much of an emotional appeal as some of the more popular books on climate change and sticks mostly to the raw facts. If you leave this book unconvinced, then I'm sorry, but you are ignoring the facts. The scientific consensus on this issue is almost unparallelled, like that of the earth being a spherical orb that revolves around the sun. Except to deny the fact outlined in this book is potentially harmful to the water you drink, the air you breathe, the nature in your back yard, and human survival itself.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

(73/100)