Fire and Flood: A People's History of Climate Change, from 1979 to the Present
by Eugene Linden
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"From a writer and climate-change expert who has been at the center of the fight for more than thirty years, a brilliant big-picture reckoning with the reasons for our shocking failure to this point, focusing on the malign power of key business interests, and arguing that those same interests could flip this story very quickly, if a looming economic catastrophe doesn't happen first. Eugene Linden wrote his first big cover story on climate change, for Time magazine, in 1988. In the years show more since, he has written many more investigative pieces, for many outlets, as well as served as an advisor for nonprofits, insurance companies, and other businesses in the cross-hairs of the disastrous impact of global warming. Fire and Flood represents his definitive case for the prosecution as to how and why we have arrived at our current dire pass, closing with his argument that the same forces that have so confused the public's mind and slowed the policy response are poised to pivot with astonishing speed, as long-term risks have become present-day realities and the cliff's edge is now within view. Starting with the 1980's, Linden tells the story decade by decade by looking at four clocks within each span that move at different speeds: the reality of climate change itself; the scientific consensus about it, which always lags reality; public opinion and political will, which lag farther still; and finally, what he argues is the most important clock, business and finance. Reality marches on at its own pace, but the public will and even the science are downstream from the money, and Fire and Flood shows vividly how devilishly effective the monied climate-change deniers have been at slowing and even reversing the progress of our collective awakening. When a threat means certain disaster at an unknown future point, but addressing it means certain lost profit in the present, capitalism's response is sadly predictable. Now, however, the seasons of fire and flood have crossed the threshold into plain view. Linden focuses in on the insurance industry as one loud canary in the coal mine: fire and flood zones in Florida and California, among other regions, are seeing insurers flee the market, and others demand government back-stops-"climate redlining" as many call it. The whole system is teetering on the brink, and the odds that in the next few years we have another housing collapse, for starters, are much higher than most people understand. There is a path back from the cliff, but we must pick up the pace. Fire and Flood shows us why, and how"-- show lessTags
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I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
This book traces the current climate crisis through the last four decades of history. For each decade, the author looks closely into four areas - the FACTS of climate change, the SCIENCE of climate change, POPULAR OPINION towards climate change and the sometimes reactionary responses of BUSINESS and GOVERNMENT towards climate change.
By doing this, Linden makes it clear how many chances we have already passed up and how much harder our desire to ignore climate change has made our future.
The book isn't entirely without hope, but it's a very narrow hope.
Ultimately, this book is terrifying and disturbing. It's also important, since climate deniers still exist show more and companies all over the world are still trying to push forward on fossil fuels even though renewable fuels are just as easy and just as cheap.
I learned a lot from this book, and I recommend it to anyone who lives on this planet and cares about the future. show less
This book traces the current climate crisis through the last four decades of history. For each decade, the author looks closely into four areas - the FACTS of climate change, the SCIENCE of climate change, POPULAR OPINION towards climate change and the sometimes reactionary responses of BUSINESS and GOVERNMENT towards climate change.
By doing this, Linden makes it clear how many chances we have already passed up and how much harder our desire to ignore climate change has made our future.
The book isn't entirely without hope, but it's a very narrow hope.
Ultimately, this book is terrifying and disturbing. It's also important, since climate deniers still exist show more and companies all over the world are still trying to push forward on fossil fuels even though renewable fuels are just as easy and just as cheap.
I learned a lot from this book, and I recommend it to anyone who lives on this planet and cares about the future. show less
This excellent, disturbing audiobook discusses the history of climate change science and its denial.
For example, in the 70s, President Carter installed solar panels on the White House roof and began initiatives to jumpstart alternative energies. (This was a time of great interest in environmental issues, as I recall from my youth.) Then, in the 80s, the new President Reagan removed the solar panels and rolled back Carter's initiatives. During Reagan's eight years in office, the climate deniers gained traction and expertise in influencing the media and the public, as they are still doing today.
In the 90s, Bill Clinton wanted to do something on climate but he couldn't because the public no longer cared.
So we've lost 40 years of action show more and now it may be too late. The author still has some hope. He lists all the progress with clean energy lately and lays out his solutions at the end. We will see.
Highly recommended! show less
For example, in the 70s, President Carter installed solar panels on the White House roof and began initiatives to jumpstart alternative energies. (This was a time of great interest in environmental issues, as I recall from my youth.) Then, in the 80s, the new President Reagan removed the solar panels and rolled back Carter's initiatives. During Reagan's eight years in office, the climate deniers gained traction and expertise in influencing the media and the public, as they are still doing today.
In the 90s, Bill Clinton wanted to do something on climate but he couldn't because the public no longer cared.
So we've lost 40 years of action show more and now it may be too late. The author still has some hope. He lists all the progress with clean energy lately and lays out his solutions at the end. We will see.
Highly recommended! show less
I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.
This book traces the current climate crisis through the last four decades of history. For each decade, the author looks closely into four areas - the FACTS of climate change, the SCIENCE of climate change, POPULAR OPINION towards climate change and the sometimes reactionary responses of BUSINESS and GOVERNMENT towards climate change.
By doing this, Linden makes it clear how many chances we have already passed up and how much harder our desire to ignore climate change has made our future.
The book isn't entirely without hope, but it's a very narrow hope.
Ultimately, this book is terrifying and disturbing. It's also important, since climate deniers still exist show more and companies all over the world are still trying to push forward on fossil fuels even though renewable fuels are just as easy and just as cheap.
I learned a lot from this book, and I recommend it to anyone who lives on this planet and cares about the future. show less
This book traces the current climate crisis through the last four decades of history. For each decade, the author looks closely into four areas - the FACTS of climate change, the SCIENCE of climate change, POPULAR OPINION towards climate change and the sometimes reactionary responses of BUSINESS and GOVERNMENT towards climate change.
By doing this, Linden makes it clear how many chances we have already passed up and how much harder our desire to ignore climate change has made our future.
The book isn't entirely without hope, but it's a very narrow hope.
Ultimately, this book is terrifying and disturbing. It's also important, since climate deniers still exist show more and companies all over the world are still trying to push forward on fossil fuels even though renewable fuels are just as easy and just as cheap.
I learned a lot from this book, and I recommend it to anyone who lives on this planet and cares about the future. show less
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Award winning journalist Eugene Linden is the author of books, articles and essays about science, technology and the environment. He has written a thought provoking, insightful book, "The Future in Plain Sight: Nine Clues to the Coming Instability" (1998). In this book, Linden presents the thesis that rapid change is eminent and evident in climate show more conditions, the spread of infectious disease, volatile economic conditions, loss of biodiversity and other clues. The reader is then projected to 2050 as Linden presents the consequences of this instability. Somewhat of a doomsayer, the author's vision is not a pretty one: lethal plagues, deadly famine, catastrophic storms, economic collapse and more. But in the final analysis, some small hope is offered. "Over the millennia, humanity has proved to be an artful dodger of fate, a defier of limits, a surmounter of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, and a master escape artist from traps laid by nature. Only the very brave or fool hardy would assert flatly that our resourceful species has finally exhausted its bag of tricks. Still, it is very late in the game." Other books by Linden include "Apes, Men and Language" (1974), "The Alms Race: the Impact of American Voluntary Aid Abroad" (1976), "Affluence and Discontent: the Anatomy of Consumer Societies" (1979), and "Silent Partners: the Legacy of the Ape Language Experiments" (1986), a New York Times notable book. Linden has been writing for Time magazine since 1987. Some of his award winning cover stories are "Doomed" (1995) exploring endangered tigers, "Megacities" (1993), dealing with overpopulation and "The World's Last Eden" (1992) about rain forest destruction. The author is a frequent guest on radio and television shows from Firing Line to Good Morning America and a contributor to a wide range of periodicals from The Wall Street Journal to National Geographic. . (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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