James Hansen is a noted scientist and heads NASA's Goddard Institute. He has long been alarmed at the growing threat of global warming and of the government's censorship of the scientific community during the last half of the twentieth century and into the twenty-first century regarding this issue.
Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity (Bloomsbury, USA, 2009) is the story of Hansen's struggle to get the science behind global warming into the hands of both the public and the government officials with the power to alter the impending calamity.
A Careful Look at the Scientific Facts About Global Warming
The book, however, is much more than a plea for change. Hansen goes through the data behind climate change methodically, beginning with the Pleistocene Era and moving forward. He looks at glacial melting, ocean temperatures and acidity, reforestation and deforestation, ice cores, solar cycles, and emissions levels. He also examines the criticisms of global warming and refutes the claims of climate change doubters.
Censorship of Early Global Warming Scientists
Hansen was a victim of the early censorship of scientists alarmed at the impending climate catastrophe. He resolved to do whatever it took to warn the world about what he called "the storms of my grandchildren," saying he couldn't live with himself if he didn't. He details how he struggled to get his message to the public and the attempts to censor him by NASA, the federal government, and the Bush Administration. He struggled to make government officials believe his data and not that of the over 2,300 energy lobbies, such as Clean Coal, which are active in Washington, DC. When he realized the officials were indebted to the over 2,300 energy lobbies, he became convinced that campaign finance reform is one of the best ways to fight climate change.
Hansen's Fee and Dividend Plan
Storms of My Grandchildren also is an exploration of what Hansen feels will work and what won't in the fight against global warming. His proposed fee-and-dividend plan is an elegant, simple proposal to fight greenhouse gas emissions. He boldly states that all fossil fuels must be phased out and soon, including coal, tar sand oil, and other difficult to obtain carbon fuels.
Hansen's Fuel Alternatives
His alternatives to fossil fuels include the traditional alternative energies: solar, wind, and geothermal, but he also states the world needs to return to nuclear energy. He's not referring to the kind of nuclear plant that operates today, though. He reveals that there is a fourth generation nuclear energy which is safer and more efficient to operate than currently thought. It also wouldn't need uranium since it would burn nuclear waste from the currently operating nuclear power plants, solving both the energy crisis and the problem of nuclear waste disposal. According to Hansen, several countries are already developing these plants, and if the United States does not want to fall behind in nuclear technology (for fuel, not wars), it needs to act now to reopen the program the Bush Administration closed.
Storms of My Grandchildren is an excellent read on an important subject. Hansen does his best to make the science accessible to non-scientists, even warning readers that they may want to skip over sections if the math or physics causes their eyes to glaze over. The book received starred reviews by Booklist, Kirkus, and Publisher's Weekly.
Source
Hansen, James. Storms of My Grandchildren: The Truth About the Coming Climate Catastrophe and Our Last Chance to Save Humanity. Bloomsbury, USA, 2009.
Mary Beth Miller - Mary Beth Miller is the author of two Young Adult novels from Dutton Children's Books, Aimee (2002) and On the Head of a Pin (2006). Some ...
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