79 pages • 2 hours read
Greta ThunbergThe Climate Book
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2022A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Themes
The Science of Climate Change
The book focuses heavily on the science of climate change, covering both the causes of and solutions for climate change. The process of climate change is primarily addressed in the earlier chapters, and the discussion centers on the carbon and water cycles, which are two of the main drivers of the climate. The carbon cycle impacts how much heat is retained by the atmosphere—higher levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere prevents heat from radiating into space, thus raising the temperature of the planet. Most of the heat and a significant amount of the carbon dioxide are absorbed by the ocean. This raises the acidity of the ocean, as CO2 is acidic, and raises the temperature. Warmer land, air, and water temperatures lead to increased rates of evaporation, which leads to the development of more clouds. Temperature variations also cause changes to atmospheric jet streams and ocean currents, which alters the distribution of weather events. Thus, some areas experience unseasonable drought, while others experience flooding or severe storms. Rising temperatures lead to melting ice and subsequent rising sea levels.
The book’s contributors also emphasize tipping points, feedback loops, and their uncertainty regarding The Science of Climate Change. Tipping points are thresholds that, once crossed, trigger feedback loops that perpetuate climate change. For instance, as ice melts, the Earth becomes less reflective and warms, which melts more ice. Many of these tipping points and their specific consequences are unknown. This uncertainty arises because the contributing factors are sufficiently complex as to be unpredictable. Climate is a chaotic system, which, in scientific discourse, refers to systems that are unpredictable but determined, or based on preceding circumstances. These ideas are implied rather than explicitly stated, so a full grasp of the science of climate change requires a general understanding of why some determined systems are unpredictable. While The Climate Book provides in-depth information on climate science, it does not address the underlying scientific principles that contribute to climate science.
The discussions on climate science complement the proposed strategies for mitigating climate change. For example, the authors describe how carbon dioxide accumulates over time, how it changes the weather, and how all the major extinction events are correlated with carbon cycle disruptions. The text then implies that present levels of carbon dioxide are dangerous. The argument follows that humans should stop adding to the atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and should promote carbon absorption or removal systems, thereby protecting the carbon cycle and preserving the climate. This scientific perspective prevents bias and is intended to spread accurate climate awareness and promote climate action.
Social and Environmental Impacts of Climate Change
The Climate Book addresses both the environmental and social impacts of climate change, which the text frames as intricately linked. Hayhoe refers to the environmental impacts of climate change as “global weirding” rather than global warming. The term “global warming,” which was popular in the 1990s, has been replaced by the terms “climate change” and “climate crisis,” which are used throughout the text. This is because the impacts of climate change, while driven by rising global temperature, are variable. Some areas may experience extreme or unseasonable coldness due to changes in the Arctic Jetstream; some may experience extreme storms and flooding, while other areas are vulnerable to extreme heatwaves and drought. Such weather changes become more persistent with climate change, meaning areas impacted by severe storms may be repeatedly hit by large systems, while those lacking rain may experience prolonged droughts that change the environmental landscape; for instance, some predict that declining rainfall will transform parts of the rainforest into degraded savannah lands. Environmental impacts also include decreased habitat for other species, leading to decreased biodiversity and further environmental degradation.
These environmental impacts are inseparable from the social impacts of climate change. One of the most prominent social impacts of climate change is increased global inequality: “Global weirding primarily affects those who’ve done the least to contribute to the problem, and that’s not fair” (52). The areas that are most vulnerable to climate change, like hot regions in the Global South, are generally populated by low-income individuals and by people who live off the land. Meanwhile, the wealthy Global North occupies cooler regions, many of which may temporarily benefit from climate change, such as in areas where the growing season will be extended. Left unchecked, these circumstances could exacerbate the already drastic income and standard-of-living disparities between the Global North and Global South.
Another social impact of climate change involves migration and resource access. Some vulnerable areas have or will become largely uninhabitable, meaning that many people will be forced to migrate to more suitable regions. However, those regions, as mentioned, are primarily located in the Global North, and most wealthy nations have strict immigration policies. So, the Global North, with its high rates of consumption and emissions, is driving climate change, and when low-income individuals who have contributed least to the problem attempt to move, they are prevented or punished. Similarly, both heat and competition from lack of resources may lead to increased rates of violence. The emergent concept is that the social and environmental impacts of climate change are life-threatening, which is why climate change must be mitigated.
The Role of Hope and Disinformation in Creating Climate Change Apathy
Disinformation and hope are cited as the two main causes of climate change apathy, or the social trend of people ignoring, downplaying, or denying climate change and its implications. The text identifies fossil fuel companies, political leaders, and the media as the main culprits of spreading disinformation. The authors assert that fossil fuel companies had been aware of the negative impact of fossil fuels on the environment and that, as early as the late 1800s, scientists have warned society of the consequences of fossil fuel emissions. Before climate change became visible, fossil fuel companies actively spread disinformation by denying climate change, which created social division between climate change deniers and activists. Once climate change became undeniable, corporations switched tactics and began emphasizing the role of individual lifestyle choices, thus holding consumers accountable for fossil fuel emissions and enabling such companies to not only operate but also thrive at the expense of the environment and humanity.
Similarly, political leaders and nations disseminate disinformation by obscuring actual emission numbers and by emphasizing the role of technology. This allows some nations to claim they have reduced their emissions when their actual emissions have risen. The media is guilty of helping spread both disinformation and hope, which has also delayed climate change. The authors imply that the media prioritizes profits over the truth, which leads them to underreport the negative consequences and to overreport controversially conflicting information. The main consequence of this disinformation and poor media coverage is that the public remains uninformed about the facts of climate change, and this lack of public education further prevents widespread climate action.
Throughout her essays, Thunberg focuses on the concept of hope. She argues that hope, primarily in the form of future technological solutions for climate change, has delayed climate action. She also questions what is meant by climate-related hope:
But hope for whom? The relatively few of us who might initially be able to adapt to a rapidly warming world? Or for the overwhelming majority who will not be so fortunate? What does hope even mean in this context? Is it the notion that we can maintain a system that is already doomed? That we do not have to change? (155)
Thunberg clarifies her stance on hope in the final essay; she states that while active hope, which is generated through positive actions, is beneficial to climate activism, passive and vague hope is detrimental, allowing people to maintain the status quo and, thus, continue emitting.
Strategies and Ethical Implications for Mitigating Climate Change
The contributing authors offer an array of strategies that can help mitigate climate change, but they stress the importance of applying those strategies equitably and with the goal of achieving global equality. As such, they assert that the highest emitters must make the most drastic cuts and must assist the lowest-emitters in raising their standards of living.
On an individual level, the authors recommend lifestyle changes. One strategy involved they voice repeatedly is eating a diet rich in locally grown plant-based foods rather than animal-based foods or foods that are distributed across long distances. The ethical caveat here is that many low-income individuals living in the developing world would benefit from access to more animal-based foods; however, overconsumption of such foods, as often occurs in wealthy nations, also leads to long-term health consequences. This can be mitigated by the highest consumers dropping their animal-based foods drastically, while the lowest consumers moderately raise their consumption of animal-based foods, which will simultaneously help both to lower emissions and to improve health conditions for both high and low consumers. Other individual actions include planting diverse native species on privately owned property, reducing overall consumption, walking or using public transportation, and spreading climate awareness. Such strategies are relatively easy to implement, making it more likely that people will take these actions.
On systemic levels, ethical climate mitigation requires accountability and reparations. Exploitative and colonizing behaviors have contributed to climate change and global inequality, but exploiters are rarely held accountable for their actions. To rectify this, the authors argue that high-emitting companies and nations must not only drastically reduce their own emissions but also assist developing nations in maintaining low emissions while still progressing their standards of living. Currently, the opposite is happening: Wealthy nations are outsourcing production and sending waste to developing nations, which provides the wealthy nations with a greenwashed façade while increasing their emissions and consumption.
To achieve the necessary changes, the authors call for a holistic and united approach that incorporates both systemic and individual changes while maintaining the underlying goal of global equality. Thunberg stresses that ethically mitigating climate change is possible through social cohesion: “We must all work together and we must do it in solidarity. When we humans come together for a common cause we can create just, sustainable and equal societies” (181). While the science and impacts of climate change are central themes of The Climate Book, the overall message that emerges is that humans have the ability to not only mitigate climate change but also to ensure equality.
