The Planet Remade: How Geoengineering Could Change the World

Description

The risks of global warming are pressing and potentially vast. The difficulty of doing without fossil fuels is daunting, possibly even insurmountable. So there is an urgent need to rethink our responses to the crisis. To meet that need, a small but increasingly influential group of scientists is exploring proposals for planned human intervention in the climate system: a stratospheric veil against the sun, the cultivation of photosynthetic plankton, fleets of unmanned ships seeding the clouds. These are the technologies of geoengineering--and as Oliver Morton argues in this visionary book, it would be as irresponsible to ignore them as it would be foolish to see them as a simple solution to the problem. The Planet Remade explores the history, politics, and cutting-edge science of geoengineering. Morton weighs both the promise and perils of these controversial strategies and puts them in the broadest possible context. The past century's changes to the planet--to the clouds and the soils, to the winds and the seas, to the great cycles of nitrogen and carbon--have been far more profound than most of us realize. Appreciating those changes clarifies not just the scale of what needs to be done about global warming, but also our relationship to nature. Climate change is not just one of the twenty-first century's defining political challenges. Morton untangles the implications of our failure to meet the challenge of climate change and reintroduces the hope that we might. He addresses the deep fear that comes with seeing humans as a force of nature, and asks what it might mean--and what it might require of us--to try and use that force for good.

Oliver Morton is briefings editor at the Economist, and his writing has appeared in the New Yorker and other publications. He is the author of Eating the Sun: How Plants Power the Planet.

One of The Independent's 6 Best Books in Nature 2015 One of Science Friday's Best Science Books of 2016 One of The Guardian's Best Books of 2015 One of The Guardian's Best Science Books of 2015 One of LinkedIn's Best Business Books of 2015 Shortlisted for the Royal Society Insight Investment Science Book Prize 2016 Longlisted for the 2015 Samuel Johnson Prize for Nonfiction "A vital book on geoengineering."--Andrew Revkin, Dot Earth, New York Times "Few science books are more important, timely, and beautifully written... [The Planet Remade] is a book that lays out all the facts, with great clarity and at some length, draws a conclusion, but leaves you to make up your mind."--Cory Doctorow, Boing Boing "[I]f you are going to read one book on climate engineering, it should be The Planet Remade... [The book] is as much an exploration of science and engineering as it is of people and attitudes."--Jane C.S. Long, Nature "Oliver Morton produced 2015's most important and insightful book about the environment inThe Planet Remade... Several people who should know better argued this year that humanity needs to adopt a more 'religious' view of climate change. It does not. What it needs is books by Oliver Morton."--Richard Benson, The Independent "Exhilarating."--New Scientist "Ambitious, enthralling."--Bryan Appleyard, Sunday Times "Morton offers a calm, rational discussion of deliberate technological interventions to cool the planet's climate system... An important account of cutting-edge research that will fascinate serious readers and demand the attention of policymakers."--Kirkus (Starred Review) "Morton accomplishes the difficult task of explaining high-level scientific concepts in pragmatic terms, with enough history, first-person reporting, anecdotes, and humor that The Planet Remade is as enjoyable to read as it is informative."--Foreword Reviews "Through pages of rigorous scientific groundwork wrapped in elegant prose, Morton provides a guided tour of why we need geoengineering... The Planet Remade is a delightful introduction to the seemingly absurd proposals that could be our fragile world's final hope."--Science News "Morton affords us a fascinating look at the perils and promise of geoengineering on a warming planet."--Wan Lixin, Shanghai Daily "[A] thoughtfully written and meticulously reported volume that explores the nascent and controversial field of deliberate technological interventions in the climate--interventions meant to cool the planet."--Pacific Standardz "Morton ... critically evaluates the ethical and scientific pros and cons of using geoengineering to mitigate global climate change. He uses real and theoretical case studies to support his views of past, current, and potential geoengineering options... A valuable resource for environmental science and environmental policy library collections."--Choice