Why We Disagree About Climate Change
Encyclopedia
Why We Disagree About Climate Change: Understanding Controversy, Inaction and Opportunity was written by Mike Hulme
and was published by the Cambridge University Press
in 2009. As of May 2011 it has sold over 11,000 copies and was jointly awarded the 2010 Gerald L Young Prize for the best book in human ecology.
has taken such a dominant position in modern politics and why it is so contested. In the book, the author looks at the differing views from various disciplines, including natural science, economics, ethics, social psychology and politics, to try to explain why people disagree about climate change. Rather than being a problem to be solved, the book argues that climate change is an idea which reveals different individual and collective beliefs, values and attitudes about ways of living in the world.
said, "Overall, Hulme articulates quite complex arguments in a remarkably clear and effective manner. He not only covers a lot of ground, but by avoiding an overly compartmentalized approach he achieves a great deal of connectivity throughout the book. For those who are regularly immersed in the social sciences literature on climate change, the content itself may not hold many surprises. But Hulme's approach makes these arguments accessible and meaningful for a wider audience, and this tome could also serve as a great teaching text".
Steven Yearley
writing for The Times Higher Education
said, "This is a distinctive and courageous book. Mike Hulme is a geographer and climate modeller, a contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
(IPCC) and professor of climate change at the infamously hacked University of East Anglia. He must be acutely aware of the temptation not to give an inch. It would be entirely understandable if he presented to the world only assertions about the robustness and persuasiveness of the scientific understanding of climate change, and followed them up with strict warnings to take measures to limit further climate-damaging emissions".
Stuart Blackman writing for The Register
said, "In his new book, Why We Disagree About Climate Change, he explores how the issue of climate change has come to be such a dominant issue in modern politics. He treats climate change not as a problem that we need to solve – indeed, he believes that the complexity of the issue means that it cannot be solved, only lived with – and instead considers it as much of a cultural idea as a physical phenomenon."
Natasha Mitchell writing on her ABC
blog said, "It's a book that some may be surprised to see from a scientist who has been a central contributor to establishing the international scientific consensus on climate change. It's wide reaching...delving into the realms of faith, politics, sociology, risk, media, history, psychology and beyond, to dig beneath the often tediously polarised public discourse on climate change."
Duncan Green
, the head of research for Oxfam GB has said, "First what the book is not. It is not a polemic, nor an attempt to ‘settle’ the argument with climate change deniers. It’s much more interesting than that. Hulme stands back and looks at the broader significance of climate and climate change, from the viewpoint of science, economics, religion, psychology, media, development and governance. If you want an intelligent take on the IPCC, the Stern Report, the disagreements between North and South – it’s all here. His intent is to show that the disputes over climate change are not just (or even mainly) about the science, which is in any case hugely uncertain. Rather they are deeply rooted in all aspects of the human condition."
Richard D. North
writing on his personal website said, "Most of the books on global warming science and policy are pretty muddled, hysterical or dreamy by turns. Very few have real quality. Mike Hulme’s book, Why We Disagree About Climate Change seems to be in a different class".
Mike Hulme
Mike Hulme is a professor of Climate Change in the School of Environmental Sciences at the University of East Anglia . He was educated at Madras College, St.Andrews, and at the universities of Durham and Wales...
and was published by the Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press
Cambridge University Press is the publishing business of the University of Cambridge. Granted letters patent by Henry VIII in 1534, it is the world's oldest publishing house, and the second largest university press in the world...
in 2009. As of May 2011 it has sold over 11,000 copies and was jointly awarded the 2010 Gerald L Young Prize for the best book in human ecology.
Synopsis
Why We Disagree About Climate Change is an exploration on how the idea of climate changeClimate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
has taken such a dominant position in modern politics and why it is so contested. In the book, the author looks at the differing views from various disciplines, including natural science, economics, ethics, social psychology and politics, to try to explain why people disagree about climate change. Rather than being a problem to be solved, the book argues that climate change is an idea which reveals different individual and collective beliefs, values and attitudes about ways of living in the world.
Reception
Max Boykoff writing for Nature Reports Climate ChangeNature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
said, "Overall, Hulme articulates quite complex arguments in a remarkably clear and effective manner. He not only covers a lot of ground, but by avoiding an overly compartmentalized approach he achieves a great deal of connectivity throughout the book. For those who are regularly immersed in the social sciences literature on climate change, the content itself may not hold many surprises. But Hulme's approach makes these arguments accessible and meaningful for a wider audience, and this tome could also serve as a great teaching text".
Steven Yearley
Steven Yearley
Steve Yearley is a British sociologist, Professor of the Sociology of Scientific Knowledge at the University of Edinburgh, a post he has . He is currently seconded from the sociology unit to be Director of the ESRC Genomics Policy and Research Forum, more often known as the Genomics Forum...
writing for The Times Higher Education
The Times Higher Education Supplement
The Times Higher Education , formerly Times Higher Education Supplement , is a weekly British magazine based in London reporting specifically on news and other issues related to higher education...
said, "This is a distinctive and courageous book. Mike Hulme is a geographer and climate modeller, a contributor to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is a scientific intergovernmental body which provides comprehensive assessments of current scientific, technical and socio-economic information worldwide about the risk of climate change caused by human activity, its potential environmental and...
(IPCC) and professor of climate change at the infamously hacked University of East Anglia. He must be acutely aware of the temptation not to give an inch. It would be entirely understandable if he presented to the world only assertions about the robustness and persuasiveness of the scientific understanding of climate change, and followed them up with strict warnings to take measures to limit further climate-damaging emissions".
Stuart Blackman writing for The Register
The Register
The Register is a British technology news and opinion website. It was founded by John Lettice, Mike Magee and Ross Alderson in 1994 as a newsletter called "Chip Connection", initially as an email service...
said, "In his new book, Why We Disagree About Climate Change, he explores how the issue of climate change has come to be such a dominant issue in modern politics. He treats climate change not as a problem that we need to solve – indeed, he believes that the complexity of the issue means that it cannot be solved, only lived with – and instead considers it as much of a cultural idea as a physical phenomenon."
Natasha Mitchell writing on her ABC
Australian Broadcasting Corporation
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster...
blog said, "It's a book that some may be surprised to see from a scientist who has been a central contributor to establishing the international scientific consensus on climate change. It's wide reaching...delving into the realms of faith, politics, sociology, risk, media, history, psychology and beyond, to dig beneath the often tediously polarised public discourse on climate change."
Duncan Green
Duncan Green
- Previous Employment :Prior to working there he was employed as a Senior Policy Adviser on Trade and Development at the Department for International Development . He was responsible for looking at trade in goods. His post at DFID was originally a secondment from CAFOD. At CAFOD he had been their...
, the head of research for Oxfam GB has said, "First what the book is not. It is not a polemic, nor an attempt to ‘settle’ the argument with climate change deniers. It’s much more interesting than that. Hulme stands back and looks at the broader significance of climate and climate change, from the viewpoint of science, economics, religion, psychology, media, development and governance. If you want an intelligent take on the IPCC, the Stern Report, the disagreements between North and South – it’s all here. His intent is to show that the disputes over climate change are not just (or even mainly) about the science, which is in any case hugely uncertain. Rather they are deeply rooted in all aspects of the human condition."
Richard D. North
Richard D. North
Richard D. North, born 1946, is a UK conservative commentator. He worked for The Independent newspaper as its first environment correspondent and then as environmental columnist for The Sunday Times...
writing on his personal website said, "Most of the books on global warming science and policy are pretty muddled, hysterical or dreamy by turns. Very few have real quality. Mike Hulme’s book, Why We Disagree About Climate Change seems to be in a different class".
See also
- An Inconvenient TruthAn Inconvenient TruthAn Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...
- Storms of my GrandchildrenStorms of My GrandchildrenStorms of My Grandchildren is climate scientist James Hansen's first book, published by Bloomsbury Press in 2009. The book is about threats to people and habitability for life on earth from global warming.-Themes:...
- Requiem for a SpeciesRequiem for a SpeciesRequiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth about Climate Change is a 2010 book by Australian academic Clive Hamilton which explores climate change denial and its implications. It argues that climate change will bring about large-scale, harmful consequences for habitability for life on Earth...
- Merchants of DoubtMerchants of DoubtMerchants of Doubt is a 2010 book by the American science historians Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway. It identifies parallels between the climate change debate and earlier controversies over tobacco smoking, acid rain and the hole in the ozone layer...