Finally, a book titled Says It All: Understanding Climate Change. Anyone who has read the colorful little book should understand why our earth is so sensitive, how easily its climate can get out of balance and what we urgently need and don’t do. There isn’t much new about this, as the physics behind Earth’s climate has been basically understood for a long time. What is new, however, is that each page of the explanations is accompanied by another page of diagrams (visual notes). These should support understanding and help remember.
Explaining climate change from the ground up – starting with astrophysics
The team that put together the book consists of astrophysicist and science presenter Harald Lesch, his wife, astrophysicist and science interviewer Cecilia Skorza, and physicist Katharina Theis-Bruhl. The latter had an idea of the concept and contributed planning notes. Given Lesch and Scorza’s professional background, it is not surprising that the book goes so far as to first use astrophysical correlates to show how many parameters would have to fit so that life on Earth would ever be possible. This works fine, although one might wish that one of the physical equations did not appear in the continuous text but perhaps in the info box. So isolated pages can put off a little bit of the average person – even if embedded explanations are easy to understand.
Well organized and always in small, easily digestible portions, Lech and Skorza explain how Earth’s atmosphere, material cycles, and ultimately global climate work. The two explain how humans influence climate and dispel myths such as the impact of solar activity. The book also deals with the effects of feedback and potential tipping points step-by-step. When you consider that the vast majority of people in Germany no longer have any doubts about climate change and human responsibility, you can ask yourself to whom this knowledge still matters. The answer is simple: for everyone who wants to understand for themselves instead of blindly trusting experts.
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