100 Best Global Warming Books of All Time (Updated for 2026)

1

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History

Elizabeth Kolbert

5.0

Over the last half-billion years, there have been five mass extinctions, when the diversity of life on earth suddenly and dramatically contracted. Scientists around the world are currently monitoring the sixth extinction, predicted to be the most devastating extinction event since the asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs. This time around, the cataclysm is us.

In prose that is at once fran

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and 6 others.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

The president also released a list of his summer favorites back in 2015: All That Is, James Salter The Sixth Extinction, Elizabeth Kolbert The Lowland, Jhumpa Lahiri Between the World and Me, Ta-Nehisi Coates Washington: A Life, Ron Chernow All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, by Elizabeth Kolbert. Climate change is a big problem—one of the biggest we’ll face this century—but it’s not the only environmental concern on the horizon. Humans are putting down massive amounts of pavement, moving species around the planet, over-fishing and acidifying the oceans, changing the chemical composition of rivers, and more. Natural scientists posit that there have been five extinction events in the Earth’s history (think of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs), and Kolbert makes a compelling case that human activity is leading to the sixth. Unlike a lot of people who write about the environment, Kolbert doesn’t resort to hype. She just lays out the facts and wraps them in memorable anecdotes. It’s a sobering but engaging and informative read. [source]

Jeff Bezos

Founder/Amazon

"In his autobiography, Walmart's founder expounds on the principles of discount retailing and discusses his core values of frugality and a bias for action — a willingness to try a lot of things and make many mistakes. Bezos included both in Amazon's corporate values," Brad Stone writes. [source]

2

SuperFreakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes And Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance

Steven D. Levitt

4.7

The New York Times best-selling Freakonomics was a worldwide sensation, selling over four million copies in thirty-five languages and changing the way we look at the world. Now, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner return with SuperFreakonomics, and fans and newcomers alike will find that the freakquel is even bolder, funnier, and more surprising than the first.

Four years in the making, SuperFre

Recommended by Bill Gates, Malcolm Gladwell, Daymond John, and 2 others.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

I recommend this book to anyone who reads nonfiction. It is very well written and full of great insights. [source]

Fabrice Grinda

I have lots of books to recommend, but they are not related to my career path. The only one that is remotely related is Peter Thiel’s Zero to One. That said here are books I would recommend. [source]

Keith Slotter

These two gentlemen wrote the first book several years ago and SuperFreakonomics just came out. The books are very interesting on crime theory. Their theories are controversial. For example, they link a decrease in crime to the legalisation of abortion. In a nutshell they say that abortion stopped a whole new generation of criminals from being born. And that is because they say abortion is most prominent among the lowest class people. That is, of course, not a politically correct statement to make, but when you go through their numbers and what they have done, sadly there rings a strong sound of truth in their argument. So, I would encourage anyone with an open mind to read these books and give it some thought. Read 4 The Cell by John Miller, Michael Stone, and Chris Mitchell Read [source]

3

The Uninhabitable Earth: Life After Warming

David Wallace-Wells

4.6

It is worse, much worse, than you think. If your anxiety about global warming is dominated by fears of sea-level rise, you are barely scratching the surface of what terrors are possible. In California, wildfires now rage year-round, destroying thousands of homes. Across the US, "500-year" storms pummel communities month after month, and floods displace tens of millions annually.

This is only a prev

Recommended by Elizabeth Kolbert, Gerald Butts, Jonathan Safran Foer, and 1 others.

Elizabeth Kolbert

Author

David Wallace-Wells argues that the impacts of climate change will be much graver than most people realize, and he's right. The Uninhabitable Earth is a timely and provocative work. [source]

Gerald Butts

This is a terrific book. Not as depressing as it may sound, even oddly hopeful in the end. Great read if you suddenly have time on your hands. https://t.co/2Bo5DeT3Aa [source]

Jonathan Safran Foer

Most of us know the gist, if not the details, of the climate change crisis. And yet it is almost impossible to sustain strong feelings about it. David Wallace-Wells has now provided the details, and with writing that is not only clear and forceful, but often imaginative and even funny, he has found a way to make the information deeply felt. [source]

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4

Flight Behaviour

Barbara Kingsolver

4.5

Flight Behavior is a brilliant and suspenseful novel set in present day Appalachia; a breathtaking parable of catastrophe and denial that explores how the complexities we inevitably encounter in life lead us to believe in our particular chosen truths.

Kingsolver's riveting story concerns a young wife and mother on a failing farm in rural Tennessee who experiences something she cannot explain, and h

Recommended by Dan Bloom and James Bradley.

Dan Bloom

The novel isn’t about global warming per se. It’s a fable, a poetic fable, with a strong cast of memorable characters. [source]

James Bradley

Flight Behaviour offers a counter-example to the argument social realism is not fit for purpose when it comes to climate change [source]

5

Drawdown: The Most Comprehensive Plan Ever Proposed to Reverse Global Warming

Paul Hawken

4.5

- New York Times bestseller -

The 100 most substantive solutions to reverse global warming, based on meticulous research by leading scientists and policymakers around the world

"At this point in time, the Drawdown book is exactly what is needed; a credible, conservative solution-by-solution narrative that we can do it. Reading it is an effective inoculation against the widespread perception of doom

Recommended by Andreas Kuhlmann, Jessica Rolph, John Elkington, and 1 others.

Andreas Kuhlmann

Drawdown is an exceptional example of cooperation between some of the sharpest thinkers on climate and energy matters, an atlas that has the potential to save the planet. [source]

Jessica Rolph

This book is a beautiful, inspiring, and deeply satisfying read. Most importantly it is no more doom and gloom. It is OPTIMISTIC and empowering. Paul Hawken is a true visionary and a brilliant voice for real solutions. [source]

John Elkington

I am blown away by Drawdown. Like hearing an advance copy of Sergeant Pepper, back in the day. [source]

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6

Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet

Mark Lynas

4.5

Recommended by Aleks Krotoski and Rosamund McDougall.

Aleks Krotoski

Watts has been looking at the small world phenomenon to identify whether the web itself has shrunk our world, and in fact it hasn’t. [source]

Rosamund McDougall

It’s a very fast-moving explicit scenario about what might happen on earth to all of us, with each degree of global warming temperature rise. [source]

7

Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming

Erik M Conway

4.5

Preview Summary

The U.S. scientific community has long led the world in research on such areas as public health, environmental science, and issues affecting quality of life. Our scientists have produced landmark studies on the dangers of DDT, tobacco smoke, acid rain, and global warming. But at the same time, a small yet potent subset of this community leads the world in vehement denial of these dangers.

Merchants

Recommended by Elon Musk.

Elon Musk

Founder/SpaceX

I recommend people read a book called Merchants of Doubt. All they need to do is create doubt. [source]

8

The Hunger Games (The Hunger Games, #1)

Suzanne Collins

4.5

WINNING MEANS FAME AND FORTUNE.
LOSING MEANS CERTAIN DEATH.
THE HUNGER GAMES HAVE BEGUN. . . .

In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol is harsh and cruel and keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and once girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in

Recommended by Bill Gates and Robert Muchamore.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2012. [source]

Robert Muchamore

A brutal, exciting, action-based sci-fi novel. Hugely popular and excellent fun. [source]

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9

Hot, Flat, and Crowded: Why We Need a Green Revolution – and How It Can Renew America

Thomas L. Friedman

4.5

In this brilliant, essential book, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Thomas L. Friedman speaks to America's urgent need for national renewal and explains how a green revolution can bring about both a sustainable environment and a sustainable America.

Friedman explains how global warming, rapidly growing populations, and the expansion of the world’s middle class through globalization have produced a da

Recommended by Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Jonathon Porritt.

Barack Obama

Former USA President

He may have the country’s finest experts at his fingertips, but it still doesn’t hurt to read up on environmental and economic issues. [source]

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2011. [source]

Jonathon Porritt

Thomas Friedman is an American commentator and a bit of a business guru. This book is lively, beautifully written, full of personal anecdotes. I should say that Friedman used to piss me off more than most other writers because he never talked about resources, climate change, population growth – these were invisible issues for him. Then, a few years ago, something changed and he started to address all this. [source]

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10

Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change

Elizabeth Kolbert

4.4

Elizabeth Kolbert's environmental classic Field Notes from a Catastrophe first developed out of a groundbreaking, National Magazine Award-winning three-part series in The New Yorker. She expanded it into a still-concise yet richly researched and damning book about climate change: a primer on the greatest challenge facing the world today.

But in the years since, the story has continued to develop; t

Recommended by Gaia Vince and Kate Marvel.

Gaia Vince

Field Notes was refreshing, a trailblazer. Kolbert actually went to communities affected, on the frontline of climate change. [source]

Kate Marvel

Kolbert gives glimpses into what climate change actually means. She shows the interconnectedness of climate and ecosystems and society. [source]

11

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. The Climate

Naomi Klein

4.4

Forget everything you think you know about global warming. It's not about carbon – it's about capitalism. The good news is that we can seize this crisis to transform our failed economic system and build something radically better.

In her most provocative book yet, Naomi Klein, author of the global bestsellers The Shock Doctrine and No Logo, exposes the myths that are clouding climate debate.

You ha

12

Underland

Robert Macfarlane

4.4

From the best-selling, award-winning author of Landmarks and The Old Ways, a haunting voyage into the planet’s past and future.

Hailed as "the great nature writer of this generation" (Wall Street Journal), Robert Macfarlane is the celebrated author of books about the intersections of the human and the natural realms. In Underland, he delivers his masterpiece: an epic exploration of the Earth’s unde

Recommended by Alastair Humphreys, Cal Flyn, and Jonathan Green.

Alastair Humphreys

The cleverest and nicest man in the world of travel writing has just published a brilliant new book which you should definitely buy. And so has @robgmacfarlane... 😂 https://t.co/7tWMRoB08W https://t.co/2UmUfDUqpt [source]

Cal Flyn

Having climbed the highest heights in his debut Mountains of the Mind, Macfarlane now dives down to the lowest of the lows. He goes caving in limestone caverns deep underground, rattles through salt mines under the sea in carts and stumbles across (literal) underground subcultures in the Paris catacombs, all interwoven with learned digressions into geological epochs and classical conceptions of the underworld. What can I say? Macfarlane is the most remarkable writer. [source]

Jonathan Green

@mmbrenn yes the best book i read last year without question. beautiful. harrowing. [source]

13

Oryx and Crake (MaddAddam, #1)

Margaret Atwood

4.3

Oryx and Crake is at once an unforgettable love story and a compelling vision of the future. Snowman, known as Jimmy before mankind was overwhelmed by a plague, is struggling to survive in a world where he may be the last human, and mourning the loss of his best friend, Crake, and the beautiful and elusive Oryx whom they both loved. In search of answers, Snowman embarks on a journey–with the help

Recommended by Matthew Taylor and Tim @Realscientists.

Matthew Taylor

Oryx and Crake is here because it’s about the logical conclusion of a whole set of processes that we could have called progress. In my lecture I talked about the logic of progress: the logic of science and technology, the logic of markets, the logic of bureaucracy. And if you want a wonderful dystopian vision of what happens if you take these forward without any recourse to ethical considerations – without asking what progress represents – then Oryx and Crake does that. This novel was recommended by Karen Buck MP and it has influenced me as a wonderful account of a world run by large biotech corporations, where society is deeply dysfunctional and on the verge of self-destruction because nobody has stopped to say, ‘Is this the right thing to do? Is this the human thing to do? What does it mean to be human and are we still human beings?’ The book is a scream of, ‘When do we ask the big questions about any of this?’ [source]

Tim @Realscientists

The theme of hopelessness was the most profound I thought, as the narrative rattles through the devastatingly self-conscious decay of the main character's mind, the echoes of his life writhing and senescing inside his withering brain. Please read this great book :) https://t.co/1XVpw92bbb [source]

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14

An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It

Al Gore

4.3

Book by Al Gore

Recommended by Richard Branson.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

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15

State of Fear

Michael Crichton, George Wilson, et al

4.3

In Paris, a physicist dies after performing a laboratory experiment for a beautiful visitor. In the jungles of Malaysia, a mysterious buyer purchases deadly cavitation technology, built to his specifications. In Vancouver, a small research submarine is leased for use in the waters off New Guinea. And in Tokyo, an intelligence agent tries to understand what it all means. Thus begins Michael Crichto

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16

Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity

James Hansen

4.3

In Storms of My Grandchildren, Dr. James Hansen—the nation’s leading scientist on climate issues—speaks out for the first time with the full truth about global warming: The planet is hurtling even more rapidly than previously acknowledged to a climatic point of no return.

Although the threat of human-caused climate change is now widely recognized, politicians have failed to connect policy with the

Recommended by Al Gore, Caspar Henderson, Mary Robinson, and 1 others.

Al Gore

Founder/Alliance for Climate Protection

When the history of the climate crisis is written, Hansen will be seen as the scientist with the most powerful and consistent voice calling for intelligent action to preserve our planet's environment. [source]

Caspar Henderson

James Hanson and I share a very real and personal concern: what future awaits our grandchildren if the world does not take appropriate action – now? [source]

Mary Robinson

I’ve chosen Storms of my Grandchildren by the leading climate scientist James Hanson. Some 20 years ago, testifying in front of the US Congress, Hanson brought global warming to the world’s attention. What is of particular interest to me now is that he and I share a very real and personal concern; what future awaits our grandchildren if the world does not take appropriate action – NOW. [source]

17

Inconvenient Facts: The Science That Al Gore Doesn't Want You to Know

Gregory Wrightstone

4.3

You have been inundated with reports from media, governments, think tanks and “experts” saying that our climate is changing for the worse and it is our fault. Increases in droughts, heat waves, tornadoes and poison ivy—to name a few—are all blamed on our “sins of emissions” from burning fossil fuels and increasing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Yet, you don’t quite buy into this human-caused cl

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18

The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial Is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy

Michael Mann, Tom Toles

4.3

The award-winning climate scientist Michael E. Mann and the Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist Tom Toles have been on the front lines of the fight against climate denialism for most of their careers. They have witnessed the manipulation of the media by business and political interests and the unconscionable play to partisanship on issues that affect the well-being of billions. The lessons

Recommended by Mario Picazo and Naomi Oreskes.

Mario Picazo

@MichaelEMann @TomTolesToons Thanks! love the book! [source]

Naomi Oreskes

I chose this book for a couple of reasons. As you said, the politics of climate change is a difficult and dark subject and none of the books I have chosen so far is exactly an upbeat read. So, it is helpful in all this to find a way to keep a sense of humour. It’s not always easy but Tom Toles does that. And, of course, satire can be one of the most effective means of communication. So, I thought it would be good to add something that – even though it’s a very serious book in some ways – is also not as hard and difficult as the other books. It also connects back to Amitav Ghosh’s point: that this whole situation is pretty much insane. One of the brilliant things about Tom Toles’ cartoons is that he shines a light on that and he makes people realise how really crazy some of the things that climate change deniers say are and how crazy some of the things they do are. I could go on for hours lecturing about some of these things but with Tom Toles’ cartoons you get it in an instant. [source]

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19

Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet

Bill McKibben

4.3

Our old familiar globe is suddenly melting, drying, acidifying, flooding, and burning in ways that no human has ever seen. We've created, in very short order, a new planet, still recognizable but fundamentally different. We may as well call it Eaarth.

That new planet is filled with new binds and traps. A changing world costs large sums to defend--think of the money that went to repair New Orleans,

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20

The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines

Michael Mann

4.3

The ongoing assault on climate science in the United States has never been more aggressive, more blatant, or more widely publicized than in the case of the Hockey Stick graph--a clear and compelling visual presentation of scientific data, put together by MichaelE. Mann and his colleagues, demonstrating that global temperatures have risen in conjunction with the increase in industrialization and th

Recommended by Bill McKibben, Bill Nye, and Leonardo DiCaprio.

Bill McKibben

Very few people have sounded more important alarms about our climate future, and very few people have paid a higher price for doing so. Michael Mann is a hero, and this book is a remarkable account of the science and politics of the defining issue of our time. [source]

Bill Nye

Changed the way most of us understood the natural history of Earth. Ours is only the second species known to be capable of changing the climate of an entire planet. [source]

Leonardo DiCaprio

Check out Michael Mann's book "The Hockey Stick & the Climate Wars" about his battle against climate denialism. [source]

21

On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal

Naomi Klein

4.2

#1 international and New York Times bestselling author Naomi Klein, author of The Shock Doctrine and This Changes Everything, makes the case for a Green New Deal—explaining how bold climate action can be a blueprint for a just and thriving society.

For more than twenty years, Naomi Klein has been the foremost chronicler of the economic war waged on both people and planet—and an unapologetic champio

Recommended by Daniel Bryan.

Daniel Bryan

Love @NaomiAKlein’s new book, On Fire: The (Burning) Case for a Green New Deal. It makes powerful, compelling arguments for how we can not only combat climate change, but create a more just society in the process. Quotes and ideas in the thread #GreenNewDeal [source]

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22

Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?

Bill McKibben

4.2

Thirty years ago Bill McKibben offered one of the earliest warnings about climate change. Now he broadens the warning: the entire human game, he suggests, has begun to play itself out.

Bill McKibben’s groundbreaking book The End of Nature -- issued in dozens of languages and long regarded as a classic -- was the first book to alert us to global warming. But the danger is broader than that: even as

Recommended by Al Gore and Ellen Page.

Al Gore

Founder/Alliance for Climate Protection

.@BillMcKibben’s new book “Falter” is a must-read for those grappling with hope and despair on the climate crisis. He paints a vivid portrait of the complex issues facing us as a species - and how we can move forward. I’m thankful to Bill for his leadership. [source]

Ellen Page

You need to read @billmckibben’s new book, Falter. Truly. A must. Thank you @billmckibben for your endlessly inspiring and vital work. https://t.co/nTOyU14F4j [source]

23

The Dog Stars

Peter Heller

4.2

Hig somehow survived the flu pandemic that killed everyone he knows. Now his wife is gone, his friends are dead, and he lives in the hangar of a small abandoned airport with his dog, Jasper, and a mercurial, gun-toting misanthrope named Bangley.

But when a random transmission beams through the radio of his 1956 Cessna, the voice ignites a hope deep inside him that a better life exists outside their

Recommended by Caroline Paul.

Caroline Paul

I really love this book. I picked it up because I love the stars, basically. [source]

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24

With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change

Fred Pearce

4.2

Fred Pearce has been writing about climate change for eighteen years, and the more he learns, the worse things look. Where once scientists were concerned about gradual climate change, now more and more of them fear we will soon be dealing with abrupt change resulting from triggering hidden tipping points. Even President Bush's top climate modeler, Jim Hansen, warned in 2005 that "we are on the pre

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25

Solar

Ian McEwan

4.2

Michael Beard is a Nobel prize–winning physicist whose best work is behind him, and whose fifth marriage is crumbling. However, an invitation to travel to New Mexico offers him a chance for him to extricate himself from his marital problems, reinvigorate his career, and save the world from environmental disaster. Can a man who has made a mess of his life clean up the messes of humanity?

Michael Bea

Recommended by Juliet Davenport.

Juliet Davenport

I met Ian McEwan as part of the Cape Farewell programme. That is an organisation set up by a lovely man called David Buckland, who is a photographer and an artist. He wanted to create a social response to climate change. In other words, he wanted to get people like Ian McEwan to mix with the scientists and find out more about what is going on. So he took a lot of people – including Ian McEwan, Philip Pullman and Jarvis Cocker – to the North Pole along with some scientists, so they could see what was going on for themselves. Ian took what he saw and put it in a novel. He wanted to put some big scientific ideas into everyday language. [source]

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26

First Light

Rebecca Stead

4.2

Peter is thrilled to join his parents on an expedition to Greenland, where his father studies global warming. Peter will get to skip school, drive a dogsled, and finally share in his dad's adventures. But on the ice cap, Peter struggles to understand a series of visions that both frighten and entice him.
Thea has never seen the sun. Her extraordinary people, suspected of witchcraft and nearly driv

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27

Greta and the Giants: inspired by Greta Thunberg's stand to save the world

Zoë Tucker, Zoe Persico

4.2

This picture book tells the story of Nobel Peace Prize nominee Greta Thunberg—the Swedish teenager who has led a global movement to raise awareness about the world’s climate crisis—using allegory to make this important topic accessible to young children.

Recommended by Seth Haber.

Seth Haber

Congrats to Greta Thunberg on being named Time's 'Person of the Year'! We recently added this inspiring book to our shop that retells of the story the Swedish teenager who is leading a global movement to raise awareness about the world’s climate crisis. https://t.co/yqJjOjPW3q https://t.co/SjxL7RE7sa [source]

28

The Final Warning (Maximum Ride, #4)

James Patterson

4.2

In this breathtaking new story from the astonishing imagination of James Patterson, a girl has to save herself from an army assembled just to capture her -- and maybe save the planet while she's at it.

Maximum Ride is a perfectly normal teenager who just happens to be able to fly, the result of an out-of-control government experiment.

Max and the other members of the Flock -- six kids who share her

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29

The Deplorables' Guide to Global Warming

Marc Morano

4.2

Less freedom. More regulation. Higher costs. Make no mistake: those are the surefire consequences of the modern global warming campaign waged by political and cultural elites, who have long ago abandoned fact-based science for dramatic fearmongering in order to push increased central planning. The Politically Incorrect Guide to Climate Change gives a voice -- backed by statistics, real-life storie

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30

Losing Earth: A Recent History

Nathaniel Rich

4.2

By 1979, we knew nearly everything we understand today about climate change--including how to stop it. Over the next decade, a handful of scientists, politicians, and strategists, led by two unlikely heroes, risked their careers in a desperate, escalating campaign to convince the world to act before it was too late. Losing Earth is their story, and ours.

The New York Times Magazine devoted an entir

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31

No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference

Greta Thunberg

4.2

The history-making, ground-breaking speeches of Greta Thunberg, the young activist who has become the voice of a generation

'Everything needs to change. And it has to start today'

In August 2018 a fifteen-year-old Swedish girl, Greta Thunberg, decided not to go to school one day. Her actions ended up sparking a global movement for action against the climate crisis, inspiring millions of pupils to

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32

The Great Derangement: Climate Change and the Unthinkable

Amitav Ghosh

4.2

Are we deranged? The acclaimed Indian novelist Amitav Ghosh argues that future generations may well think so. How else to explain our imaginative failure in the face of global warming? In his first major book of nonfiction since In an Antique Land, Ghosh examines our inability—at the level of literature, history, and politics—to grasp the scale and violence of climate change.

The extreme nature of

Recommended by Naomi Oreskes.

Naomi Oreskes

Quite a lot, as anyone who reads the book will see. It’s absolutely fascinating on a number of levels. First, we have a famous, articulate and politically astute novelist taking up the issue of climate change. I think that’s extremely important because one of the arguments that Amitav makes in this book, which I agree with one hundred percent, is that for too long this problem has been discussed as scientific question; it’s mostly been covered by science journalists and written up in the science pages of the newspapers. But it’s fundamentally no longer a scientific question. The science — the key scientific issues — have been resolved now for a long time, but it’s a political question because we have to do something about it. It’s an economic question because it has to do with how we run our economies based on fossil fuels, and it’s also a deeply historical question. [source]

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33

The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis

Christiana Figueres, Tom Rivett-Carnac

4.2

In this cautionary but optimistic book, Figueres and Rivett-Carnac--the architects of the 2015 Paris Climate Change Agreement--tackle arguably the most urgent and consequential challenge humankind has ever faced: the world's changing climate and the fate of humanity.

In The Future We Choose, the authors outline two possible scenarios for the planet. In one, they describe what life on Earth will be

Recommended by Fred Krupp.

Fred Krupp

I love this message of hope and empowerment from @CFigueres former UNFCCC executive secretary. This book is exactly what we need. Get your copy today: https://t.co/XwRo3oQw0i https://t.co/VKpoJsZbiE [source]

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34

Cool It: The Skeptical Environmentalist's Guide to Global Warming

Bjørn Lomborg

4.2

Bjørn Lomborg is the best-informed & most humane advocate for environmental change in the world today. In contrast to other figures that promote a single issue while ignoring others, he views the globe as a whole, studies all the problems, ranks them, & determines how best, & in what order, to address them. His 1st book, The Skeptical Environmentalist, established the importance of a fact-based approach. With later books, Global Crises, Global Solutions & How to Spend $50 Billion to Make the World a Better Place, this mild-mannered Danish statistician has steadily gained new converts. Not surprisingly, Time named him one of the 100 most influential people in the world. Cool It will further enhance his reputation for global analysis & thoughtful response. For anyone who wants an overview of the global warming debate from an objective source, this brief text is a good place to start. He's only interested in real problems. He's no patience with media fear-mongering. He begins by dispatching the myth of endangered polar bears, showing that this Disneyesque cartoon has no relevance to the real world where polar bear populations are in fact increasing. He considers the issue in detail, citing sources from Al Gore to the World Wildlife Fund, then demonstrating that polar bear populations have actually increased fivefold since the '60s. He then works his way thru the concerns we hear so much about: higher temperatures, heat deaths, species extinctions, the cost of cutting carbon, the technology to do it. He believes in climate change--despite his critics, he's no denier--but his fact-based approach, grounded in economic analyses, leads him to a different view. He reviews published estimates of the cost of climate change, & the cost of addressing it, & concludes that "we actually end up paying more for a partial solution than the cost of the entire problem. That is a bad deal." In some of the most disturbing chapters, he recounts what leading climate figures have said about anyone who questions the orthodoxy, thus demonstrating the illiberal, antidemocratic tone of the current debate. He himself takes the larger view, detailing why the tone of hysteria is inappropriate to addressing the problems. In the end, his concerns embrace the planet. He contrasts our concern for climate with other concerns such as HIV/AIDS, malnutrition & providing clean water. In the end, his ability to put climate in a global perspective is perhaps the book's greatest value. Lomborg & Cool It are our best guides to our shared environmental future.--Michael Crichton (edited)

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35

The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World

Jeff Goodell

4.2

What if Atlantis wasn't a myth, but an early precursor to a new age of great flooding? Across the globe, scientists and civilians alike are noticing rapidly rising sea levels, and higher and higher tides pushing more water directly into the places we live, from our most vibrant, historic cities to our last remaining traditional coastal villages. With each crack in the great ice sheets of the Arcti

Recommended by John Green and Elizabeth Kolbert.

John Green

Author

This harrowing, compulsively readable, and carefully researched book lays out in clear-eyed detail what Earth's changing climate means for us today, and what it will mean for future generations... It's a thriller in which the hero in peril is us [source]

Elizabeth Kolbert

Author

Jeff Goodell has taken on some of the most important issues of our time, from coal mining to geoengineering. In The Water Will Come, he explains the threat of sea level rise with characteristic rigor and intelligence. The result is at once deeply persuasive and deeply unsettling. [source]

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36

The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight: The Fate of the World and What We Can Do Before It's Too Late

Thom Hartmann, Neale Donald Walsch

4.2

While everything appears to be collapsing around us -- ecodamage, genetic engineering, virulent diseases, the end of cheap oil, water shortages, global famine, wars -- we can still do something about it and create a world that will work for us and for our children’s children. The inspiration for Leonardo DiCaprio’s web movie Global Warning, The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight details what is happen

Recommended by Leonardo DiCaprio.

Leonardo DiCaprio

Thom Hartmann seeks out interesting subjects from such disparate outposts of curiosity that you have to wonder whether or not he uncovered them or they selected him. [source]

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37

We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast

Jonathan Safran Foer

4.2

Some people reject the fact, overwhelmingly supported by scientists, that our planet is warming because of human activity. But do those of us who accept the reality of human-caused climate change truly believe it? If we did, surely we would be roused to act on what we know. Will future generations distinguish between those who didn’t believe in the science of global warming and those who said they

Recommended by Matt Haig and Matt Haig.

Matt Haig

A brilliant book. Advocates a world war scale emergency response to climate change. And reminds us how much human behaviour can change for the better when the chips are down and we understand and FEEL like the stakes are high. https://t.co/GekPX3xwN0 [source]

Matt Haig

A brilliant book. Advocates a world war scale emergency response to climate change. And reminds us how much human behaviour can change for the better when the chips are down and we understand and FEEL like the stakes are high. https://t.co/GekPX3xwN0 [source]

38

Don't Even Think About It: Why Our Brains Are Wired to Ignore Climate Change

George Marshall

4.2

A witty, insightful, and groundbreaking take on one of the most urgent questions of our time: Why, despite overwhelming scientific evidence, do we still ignore climate change?

Most of us recognize that climate change is real yet we do nothing to stop it. What is the psychological mechanism that allows us to know something is true but act as if it is not? George Marshall’s search for the answers bri

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39

Heat: How to Stop the Planet From Burning

George Monbiot

4.2

Heat: How to Stop the Planet From Burning marks an important moment in our civilization’s thinking about global warming. The question is no longer Is climate change actually happening? but What do we do about it? George Monbiot offers an ambitious and far-reaching program to cut our carbon dioxide emissions to the point where the environmental scales start tipping back—away from catastrophe.

Thoug

40

The World Without Us

Alan Weisman

4.2

Preview Summary

A penetrating, page-turning tour of a post-human Earth

In The World Without Us, Alan Weisman offers an utterly original approach to questions of humanity's impact on the planet: he asks us to envision our Earth, without us. In this far-reaching narrative, Weisman explains how our massive infrastructure would collapse and finally vanish without human presence; which everyday items may become immorta

Recommended by Richard Branson.

Richard Branson

Founder/Virgin Group

Today is World Book Day, a wonderful opportunity to address this #ChallengeRichard sent in by Mike Gonzalez of New Jersey: Make a list of your top 65 books to read in a lifetime. [source]

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41

Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore

Elizabeth Rush

4.2

WINNER OF THE NATIONAL OUTDOOR BOOK AWARD
A CHICAGO TRIBUNE TOP TEN BOOK OF 2018
A GUARDIAN, NPR's SCIENCE FRIDAY, PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, AND LIBRARY JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF 2018

Hailed as "deeply felt" (New York Times), "a revelation" (Pacific Standard), and "the book on climate change and sea levels that was missing" (Chicago Tribune), Rising is both a highly original work of lyric reportage and a haunt

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42

Arctic Drift (Dirk Pitt, #20)

Clive Cussler, Dirk Cussler

4.2

A potential breakthrough discovery to reverse global warming... a series of unexplained sudden deaths in British Columbia... a rash of international incidents between the United States and one of its closest allies that threatens to erupt into an actual shooting war... NUMA director Dirk Pitt and his children, Dirk Jr. and Summer, have reason to believe there's a connection here somewhere, but the

43

The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels

Alex Epstein

4.1

A sure-to-be-controversial defense of the fossil fuel industry

Conventional wisdom says fossil fuels are an unsustainable form of energy that is destroying our planet. But Alex Epstein shows that if we look at the big picture, the much-hated fossil fuel industry is dramatically improving our planet by making it a far safer and richer place.
The key difference between a healthy and unhealthy envi

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44

Global Warming: The Complete Briefing

John Houghton

4.1

John Houghton explores the scientific basis of global warming and the likely impacts of climate change on human society in this comprehensive guide to the subject. He then addresses the action that could be taken by governments, industry and individuals to mitigate the effects of global warming. Previous Edition Hb (1997): 0-521-62089-9 Previous Edition Pb (1997): 0-521-62932-2

Recommended by Bill Gates.

Bill Gates

CEO/Microsoft

On Bill Gates's reading list in 2011. [source]

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45

Ship Breaker (Ship Breaker, #1)

Paolo Bacigalupi

4.1

This thrilling bestseller and National Book Award Finalist is a gritty, high-stakes adventure of a teenage boy faced with conflicting loyalties, set in a dark future America devastated by the forces of climate change.

In America's flooded Gulf Coast region, oil is scarce, but loyalty is scarcer. Grounded oil tankers are being broken down for parts by crews of young people. Nailer, a teenage boy, wo

Recommended by Marvin Liao and Adam Minter.

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

My list would be (besides the ones I mentioned in answer to the previous question) both business & Fiction/Sci-Fi and ones I personally found helpful to myself. The business books explain just exactly how business, work & investing are in reality & how to think properly & differentiate yourself. On the non-business side, a mix of History & classic fiction to understand people, philosophy to make sense of life and Science fiction to picture what the future could be like (not always utopian). [source]

Adam Minter

I like the book not only for being a thriller, but also because of the descriptions of how dangerous this work is, while someone else is getting rich off it. [source]

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46

Learning to Die in the Anthropocene: Reflections on the End of a Civilization

Roy Scranton

4.1

"Roy Scranton lucidly articulates the depth of the climate crisis with an honesty that is all too rare, then calls for a reimagined humanism that will help us meet our stormy future with as much decency as we can muster. While I don't share his conclusions about the potential for social movements to drive ambitious mitigation, this is a wise and important challenge from an elegant writer and origi

Tim Flannery

4.1

An international best seller embraced and endorsed by policy makers, scientists, writers and energy industry executives from around the world, Tim Flannery's The Weather Makers contributed in bringing the topic of global warming to national prominence. For the first time, a scientist provided an accessible and comprehensive account of the history, current status, and future impact of climate chang

Recommended by Richard Branson.

Paolo Bacigalupi

4.1

Paolo Bacigalupi's debut collection demonstrates the power and reach of the science fiction short story. Social criticism, political parable, and environmental advocacy lie at the center of Paolo's work. Each of the stories herein is at once a warning, and a celebration of the tragic comedy of the human experience.

The eleven stories in Pump Six represent the best Paolo's work, including the Hugo n

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59

The Climate Chronicles: Inconvenient Revelations You Won't Hear from Al Gore--and Others

4.0

Anderson Lake is a company man, AgriGen's Calorie Man in Thailand. Under cover as a factory manager, Anderson combs Bangkok's street markets in search of foodstuffs thought to be extinct, hoping to reap the bounty of history's lost calories. There, he encounters Emiko...

Emiko is the Windup Girl, a strange and beautiful creature. One of the New People, Emiko is not human; instead, she is an engine

Recommended by Marvin Liao and Seth Godin.

Marvin Liao

Partner/500 Startups

My list would be (besides the ones I mentioned in answer to the previous question) both business & Fiction/Sci-Fi and ones I personally found helpful to myself. The business books explain just exactly how business, work & investing are in reality & how to think properly & differentiate yourself. On the non-business side, a mix of History & classic fiction to understand people, philosophy to make sense of life and Science fiction to picture what the future could be like (not always utopian). [source]

Seth Godin

Author, Marketer, Entrepreneur

Novels: The Windup Girl and Pattern Recognition are chock full of images and ideas that will stick with you for months. [source]

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80

What We Think about When We Try Not to Think about Global Warming: Toward a New Psychology of Climate Action

Per Espen Stoknes and Jorgen Randers

4.0

Why does knowing more mean believing--and doing--less? A prescription for change

The more facts that pile up about global warming, the greater the resistance to them grows, making it harder to enact measures to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prepare communities for the inevitable change ahead.

It is a catch-22 that starts, says psychologist and economist Per Espen Stoknes, from an inadequate un

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81

The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming and Environmentalism

Christopher C. Horner

4.0

Global warming":
the Left's last best chance to gain a stranglehold on our political system and economy

For decades, environmentalism has been the Left's best excuse for increasing government control over our actions in ways both large and small. It's for Mother Earth! It's for the children! It's for the whales! But until now, the doomsday-scenario environmental scares they've trumped up haven't bee

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82

Introduction to Modern Climate Change

Andrew Dessler

4.0

This is an invaluable textbook for any introductory survey course on the science and policy of climate change, for both non-science majors and introductory science students. The second edition has been thoroughly updated to reflect the most recent science from the latest IPCC reports, and many illustrations include new data. The new edition also reflects advances in the political debate over clima

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83

American War

Omar El Akkad, Dion Graham, et al

4.0

An audacious and powerful debut novel: a second American Civil War, a devastating plague, and one family caught deep in the middle a story that asks what might happen if America were to turn its most devastating policies and deadly weapons upon itself

Sarat Chestnut, born in Louisiana, is only six when the Second American Civil War breaks out in 2074. But even she knows that oil is outlawed, that L

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84

Why Scientists Disagree About Global Warming: The NIPCC Report on Scientific Consensus

Craig D. Idso, Robert M. Carter, et al.

4.0

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85

The Science of Climate Change: A Hands-On Course

Blair Lee and Alina Bachmann

4.0

The Science of Climate Change: A Hands-On Course uses text and eighteen hands-on activities to explain and teach the science of global warming and climate change, how humans are responsible, and what can be done to slow or stop the rate of global warming and climate change. This book is a complete, comprehensive guide to an essential environmental topic.

Subjects covered in this book include: how

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86

Jeff VanderMeer

4.0

A messianic blue fox who slips through warrens of time and space on a mysterious mission. A homeless woman haunted by a demon who finds the key to all things in a strange journal. A giant leviathan of a fish, centuries old, who hides a secret, remembering a past that may not be its own. Three ragtag rebels waging an endless war for the fate of the world against an all-powerful corporation. A ravin

David Archer

4.0

Archer's Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast 2nd Edition, is the first real text to present the science and policy surrounding climate change at the right level. Accompanying videos, simulations and instructional support makes it easier to build a syllabus to improve and create new material on climate change. Archer's polished writing style makes the text entertaining while the improved ped