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Our biggest experiment, an epic history of the climate crisis, Alice Bell

The resource Our biggest experiment, an epic history of the climate crisis, Alice Bell represents a specific, individual, material embodiment of a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in Portland Public Library.

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Creator

Bell, Alice R

Author

Bell, Alice R

Summary

"It was Eunice Newton Foote, an American scientist and woman's rights campaigner living in Seneca Falls, New York, who first warned the world that an atmosphere heavy with carbon dioxide could send temperatures here on Earth soaring. This was back in 1856. At the time, no one paid much attention. 'Our biggest experiment' tells Foote's story, along with stories of the many other scientists who came before and after her, helping build our modern understanding of climate change. It also tells the story of our energy system, from whale oil to kerosene and beyond, the first steamships, wind turbines, electric cars, oil tankers and fridges. The story flows from the Enlightenment into World War Two and beyond, tracing the development of big science and our advancing realisation that global warming was a significant global problem, along with the growth of the environmental movement, climate scepticism and political systems like the UN climate talks. As citizens of the twenty-first century, it can feel like history's dealt us a rather bad hand with the climate crisis. In many ways, this is true. Our ancestors have left us an almighty mess. But they left us tools for survival too, and 'Our biggest experiment' tells both sides of the story."--, Provided by publisher
"Our understanding of the Earth's fluctuating environment is an extraordinary story of human perception and scientific endeavor. It also began much earlier than we might think. In 'Our biggest experiment', Alice Bell takes us back to climate change science's earliest steps in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, through the point when concern started to rise in the 1950s and right up to today, where the 'debate' is over and the world is finally starting to face up to the reality that things are going to get a lot hotter, a lot drier (in some places), and a lot wetter (in others), with catastrophic consequences for most of Earth's biomes. 'Our biggest experiment' recounts how the world became addicted to fossil fuels, how we discovered that electricity could be a savior, and how renewable energy is far from a twentieth-century discovery. Bell cuts through complicated jargon and jumbles of numbers to show how we're getting to grips with what is now the defining issue of our time. The message she relays is ultimately hopeful; harnessing the ingenuity and intelligence that has driven the history of climate change research can result in a more sustainable and bearable future for humanity."--, Dust jacket

Table of contents

Introduction: Experiments -- A steam-powered greenhouse -- Discovering our hothouse Earth -- From whale to shale -- The weather watchers -- Electric avenues -- Tree huggers -- The rise, fall, and rise of big oil -- Big science -- A carousel of progress -- Growing concern -- Crisis point -- Already happening now -- Conclusion: End point?

Language

Literary form