Climate science is a hot topic these days, and many books (like Bill Gates’ How to Avoid a Climate Disaster) provide introductions to the topic for a popular audience. Those books are written to be digested by the masses, but detailed academic work is often lacking in them. Enter Perona’s textbook. (He calls it a “handbook,” but it more resembles an interdisciplinary textbook.) He explains the nitty-gritty of the science and extends the reasoning from these findings into the social, economic, and political spheres.
Perona’s educational history is noteworthy. He holds a PhD in the biological sciences from Yale, but has also read for an environmental law degree. Exercising great erudition, he is able to cover a broad swath of how hard science should drive social policy and individual action.
Hardly any relevant topic remains untouched by this work. Having a scientific background, I enjoyed reading about the science and promising technologies in this field. However, I personally found the policy aspects less interesting. I suspect many who work in the governmental sphere might find the opposite to be true. Again, what is impressive is that Perona consistently links these two. As such, I hope policy wonks will find his suggestions to be especially illuminating. Science needs to drive policy, but these communities often speak different languages.
If popular introductions provide a Climate Science 101, this book offers a well-researched 201 that can lead to independent investigation into various aspects of research. The 201 course would be interdisciplinary as it seeks to educate about both the scientific and social realms. It is suitable for a college course (at the undergraduate or even graduate level) that draws on various faculty interests to provide a comprehensive picture.
Society needs to take action on the climate… deliberately and soon. Governments and international agencies need to coordinate massive human effort to restructure the economy. Something more than currency is at risk here: the human race’s very survival. This book gives a great way to see the landscape broadly before exploring individual topics in detail. Hopefully, it will serve the next generation of scientists and climate advocates as they lead us into a better future.
From Knowledge to Power: The Comprehensive Handbook for Climate Science and Advocacy
By John Perona
Copyright (c) 2021
Ooligan Press
ISBN13 9781947845299
Page Count: 306
Genre: Environmental Science
www.amazon.com