The Discovery of Global Warming
The award-winning book is now revised and expanded.\ In 2001 an international panel of distinguished climate scientists announced that the world was warming at a rate without precedent during at least the last ten millennia, and that warming was caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases from human activity. The story of how scientists reached that conclusion—by way of unexpected twists and turns—was the story Spencer Weart told in The Discovery of Global Warming. Now he brings his...
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THIS EDITION HAS BEEN REPLACED BY A NEWER EDITION..In 2001 a panel representing virtually all the world's governments and climate scientists announced that they had reached a consensus: the world was warming at a rate without precedent during at least the last ten millennia, and that warming was caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases from human activity. The consensus itself was at least a century in the making. The story of how scientists reached their conclusion—by way of unexpected twists and turns and in the face of formidable intellectual, financial, and political obstacles—is told for the first time in The Discovery of Global Warming. Spencer R. Weart lucidly explains the emerging science, introduces us to the major players, and shows us how the Earth's irreducibly complicated climate system was mirrored by the global scientific community that studied it. Unlike familiar tales of Science Triumphant, this book portrays scientists working on bits and pieces of a topic so complex that they could never achieve full certainty—yet so important to human survival that provisional answers were essential. Weart unsparingly depicts the conflicts and mistakes, and how they sometimes led to fruitful results. His book reminds us that scientists do not work in isolation, but interact in crucial ways with the political system and with the general public. The book not only reveals the history of global warming, but also analyzes the nature of modern scientific work as it confronts the most difficult questions about the Earth's future. The New York Times The Discovery of Global Warming describes the intellectual journey toward that conclusion, with all of its false starts, flawed hypotheses, inventiveness and persistent uncertainties. It reveals the effort as one of the great exercises in collective sleuthing, with pivotal insights provided by experts in fields as varied as glaciology, physics and even plankton paleontology. Charting the evolution and confirmation of the theory, Spencer R. Weart...dissects the interwoven threads of research and reveals the political and societal subtexts that colored scientists' views and the public reception their work received.—Andrew C. Revkin
1 How Could Climate Change? 12 Discovering a Possibility 193 A Delicate System 384 A Visible Threat 635 Public Warnings 866 The Erratic Beast 1147 Breaking into Politics 1388 Speaking Science to Power 1559 The Work Completed ... and Begun 177Reflections 197Milestones 205Notes 213Index 225
\ New York Times Book ReviewCharting the evolution and confirmation of the theory [of global warming], Weart dissects the interwoven threads of research and reveals the political and societal subtexts that colored scientists’ views and the public reception their work received.\ — Andrew C. Revkin\ \ \ \ \ \ The Washington PostHumankind is smarter than the frog caught unawares in a pot of water that slowly reaches its boiling point. Weart -- whose style is dry to the point of brittle -- shows that we, unlike the frog, at least will know we're getting cooked. — Tom Graham\ \ \ The New York TimesThe Discovery of Global Warming describes the intellectual journey toward that conclusion, with all of its false starts, flawed hypotheses, inventiveness and persistent uncertainties. It reveals the effort as one of the great exercises in collective sleuthing, with pivotal insights provided by experts in fields as varied as glaciology, physics and even plankton paleontology. Charting the evolution and confirmation of the theory, Spencer R. Weart...dissects the interwoven threads of research and reveals the political and societal subtexts that colored scientists' views and the public reception their work received.—Andrew C. Revkin\ \ \ \ \ USA TodayThis short, well-written book by a science historian at the American Institute of Physics adds a serious voice to the overheated debate about global warming and would serve as a great starting point for anyone who wants to better understand the issue. — Dan Veragno\ \
