Hothouse Earth An Inhabitant’s Guide

'It's a paradox but this was one of the most chilling books I've read this year. It's the definitive guide to where we're heading ...' ANTHONY HOROWITZ 'The Earth is already in a dangerous phase of heating. Many scientists admit privately to actually being "scared" by recent weather extremes. But the public doesn't like pessimism, so we environment journalists hint at future optimism. This book provides a more steely-eyed view on how we can cope with a hothouse world.' - ROGER HARRABIN, former BBC Environment Analyst 'A comprehensive tour of climate breakdown, the trouble we are heading for and the many forms it might take. This accessible and authoritative book is a must-read for anyone who still thinks it could be OK to carry on as we are for a little bit longer, or that climate chaos might not affect them or their kids too badly.' MIKE BERNERS-LEE is a professor at Lancaster University, founder of Small World Consultancy and author of There is No Planet B: A Handbook for the Make or Break Years 'Taut, calmly told and truly terrifying - and there's no arguing with the science. If you read just one book about the menace of climate breakdown, make it this one.' - TIM RADFORD, Climate News Network 'Convincing and passionate - an invaluable guide for those who are relatively new to the issue of climate breakdown and a useful revisor for those of us who have been reading the science for many years.' - BRENDAN MONTAGUE, editor of the Ecologist 'A compelling clarion call for a planet in peril. If the searing science of Hothouse Earth doesn't set alarm bells ringing, then it is difficult to see what else will.' - PROFESSOR IAIN STEWART, geologist and broadcaster 'It is rare indeed, for a top scientist to spell out with blunt honesty the hell that we are heading into. Bill McGuire is one of the very few.' - ROGER HALLAM, co-founder of Extinction Rebellion 'Hothouse Earth is an easy to understand and authoritative reference source for all things climate science. It is a very, very, sobering read. If our so-called leaders were to read it, they would adapt ... Why not buy them a copy?' - RUPERT READ, Associate Professor of Philosophy at the University of East Anglia and former spokesperson and strategist for Extinction Rebellion 'Ironically, it's never been harder telling the full truth about the climate emergency. Thanks to Bill McGuire for doing exactly that - and for still leaving us with plenty of reasons to be hopeful - just so long as we get our shit sorted without any further delay.' - JONATHON PORRITT, environmental campaigner and author of Hope in Hell: A Decade to Confront the Climate Emergency 'Every decision maker in government, business and wider society should read this book - and then act as fast as possible to reduce carbon pollution to zero.' DR STUART PARKINSON, executive director, Scientists for Global Responsibility We inhabit a planet in peril. Our once temperate world is locked on course to become a hothouse entirely of our own making. Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant's Guide provides a post-COP26 perspective on the climate emergency, acknowledging that it is now practically impossible to keep this side of the 1.5°C dangerous climate change guardrail. The upshot is that we can no longer dodge the arrival of disastrous, all-pervasive, climate breakdown that will come as a hammer blow to global society and economy. Bill McGuire, Professor of Geophysical and Climate Hazards, explains the science behind the climate crisis and for the first time presents a blunt but authentic picture of the sort of world our children will grow old in, and our grandchildren grow up in; a world that we catch only glimpses of in today's blistering heatwaves, calamitous wildfires and ruinous floods and droughts. Bleak though it is, the picture is one we must all face up to, if only to spur genuine action - even at this late stage - to stop a harrowing future becoming a truly cataclysmic one.