Climate Change for Beginners: A Reading Guide
So, you finally want to read a book about climate change?
Here’s the good news — its easier than ever before. You don’t have to comb through endless scientific studies, fall into curious internet rabbit-holes, and waste time sorting useful journal articles from irrelevant ones. Of course, those options are still very much available to you if you’d like! For most of us though, learning about the climate crisis used to be a rather intimidating and frustrating experience because of how inaccessible much of the writing was.
Thankfully, more and more scientists, researchers, journalists, and authors are publishing new titles every year exploring the many facets of climate change through a range of diverse points-of-view. From works of dystopian fiction and fantastically wishful technological solutions to grimly realistic opinion pieces and compilations of scientific realities on the ground, climate change is slowly (but surely!) occupying larger volumes of space in bookstores and libraries across the world.
As somebody who has completed more climate change books than abandoned, I am happy to suggest the following list of books on the subject that I find interesting, informative, accessible, and yep — sometimes even a little entertaining!
“I know absolutely nothing about all this.”
Perfect. Start with The Great Warming by anthropologist and author Dr. Brian Fagan.
This book has pretty much nothing to do with the stuff you want to read about — it’s essentially a history book that takes you through the ‘Medieval Warm Period’ and gets you thinking about global warming, and how it affects the world in more ways than is imaginable. That is precisely why its a great place to start. There’s no climate denial, messy politics, or even any complex science in here — great book to really get your head around what warming means for humans.
“Okay. Give me the basics. Just the essentials”
In What We Know about Climate Change, MIT climate scientist and author Dr. Kerry Emanuel is refreshingly skeptical about his own subject of inquiry. This book is short, clear, yet incredibly thought-provoking and will leave you with questions. It cuts the fat, gets directly to the point, and gets the job done by the time you’ve fully sunk your teeth into it. Tip: this book is just as useful as a quick refresher as it is a first-time read. Probably one you’ll want for keeps.
“Alright. I get it. So, how bad is it?”
Its pretty bad.
Journalist David Wallace-Wells’ The Uninhabitable Earth opens with the sentences: “It is worse. Much worse than you think.” These words set up the tone of the book as well as any I’ve read on the subject. This one is not for the faint-hearted. However, I must also admit that I find its alarmist reputation a little unearned. It is packed with facts right through, and each chapter feels gloomier than the last, but I promise you there is some scope for optimism and solution-talk at the end if you stick with it.
“How on earth did we allow it to get so bad?”
Well, it may seem pretty antithetical to the entire concept of the scientific method of inquiry, but the truth is, interpretation makes a world of difference. There are entire industries between researchers and the general public — and many of them have direct interest in sowing seeds of doubt on scientific truths. They would rather prioritize the bottom line over financially and/or politically unfavorable information getting out there. In the riveting Merchants of Doubt, authors Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway dive deep into how special interest groups waged information blocking (or blurring) campaigns against the scientific community. Check out the documentary too!
“What about climate change in art and culture?”
Why don’t we talk about the climate crisis more? Why aren’t there more novels, movies, TV shows, and songs written about this existential threat?
In The Great Derangement, author Amitav Ghosh explores the role of climate change in our culture. He argues for the need to change current waves of narrative, by encouraging talented artists to spotlight the climate crisis across art forms.
Ghosh’s writing is exquisite, the stories woven into the narrative are vivid, his personal passion for the cause is clear, and his central theme of future generations looking back and wondering if we are completely deranged has stayed with me for years now. Can’t recommend this one enough.
“Are climate change effects equitably distributed though? Are some of us more in trouble than others?”
No and yes, respectively.
Climate Change isn’t a singularly existing phenomenon that has causes, effects, and solutions that exist in their own bubble. Its part of our world — the same world with countless ways in which groups of people are disproportionately positioned. Gender, race, caste, LGBTQI+ status, wealth, income, geography, opportunities, aspirations — all this stuff matters here, too. In fact, its even more complicated because historically marginalized groups are often most vulnerable to the effects of climate change even though they are least responsible for its causes.
The popular term ‘Climate Justice’ is often used to frame climate change as a socio-political and ethical issue, allowing for these sorts of social dimensions to enter the conversation. This is a huge topic in itself and tens of lists like this one could be written on this alone. So, I’m recommending two books here. Check out Philosopher James Garvey’s The Ethics of Climate Change and politician (and former President of Ireland) Mary Robinson’s Climate Justice.
“Alright. So, where do we go from here?”
Great question.
There are hundreds of books, documentaries, podcasts, essays, video essays, video essays repurposed into podcasts and whatnot discussing potential solutions to help us climb out of the climate crisis. Of course, one single thing is not going to get us out of this mess. Its going to require unprecedented international coordination, technological innovation, inclusive policymaking and a lot of individual & collective effort to get there.
There are a number of books here that do a good job in laying this out. I am going with Naomi Klein’s On Fire — an incredible collection of essays with ideas about how we can build a clean, green, carbon-free, just society.
Happy reading! :)
