Four Degrees of Global Warming: Australia in a Hot World edited by Peter Christoff
My rating: 3 out of 5 stars
My review
After reading some publicity and reviews of this book, I was expecting something that really would give me a feel for what conditions would be like in a 4 degrees hotter world. In many ways the book did, but I felt it could have drilled down to scenarios that discussed everyday problems living would like. Not trying to single out any author, but just to illustrate the point, the cost of health following the Queensland floods is presented as being a small cost in comparison to to a 2 degrees world and petty cash in a 4 degrees scenario. It would have been useful to try to put a dollar value on this down to the $ per taxpayer. Insurance likewise could have been treated like this, because insurance companies have already made calculations so some of this information could have been used. To demonstrate the impacts.
The book is presented more as an academic book with all the cross references which doesn't make it easy for the general reader.
Book Publicity
At Copenhagen in December 2009, the international community agreed to limit global warming to below two degrees Celsius to avoid the worst impacts of human-induced climate change. However climate scientists agree that current national emissions targets collectively will still not achieve this goal. Instead, the 'ambition gap' between climate science and climate policy is likely to lead to average global warming of around four degrees Celsius by or before 2100. If a 'Four Degree World' is the "de facto "goal of policy, we urgently need to understand what this world might look like.
"Four Degrees of Global Warming: Australia in a Hot World "outlines the expected consequences of this world for Australia and its region. Its contributors include many of Australia's most eminent and internationally recognized climate scientists, climate policy makers and policy analysts. They provide an accessible, detailed, dramatic, and disturbing examination of the likely impacts of a Four Degree World on Australia's social, economic and ecological systems.
The book offers policy makers, politicians, students, and anyone interested climate change, access to the most recent research on potential Australian impacts of global warming, and possible responses.
