How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need (Random House Large Print)

We need to get to zero emissions because every second we don’t, the situation gets worse. Greenhouse gases don’t vanish overnight. They stick around for tens of thousands of years. Think of it like a bathtub on the verge of overflowing. Even a small but steady drip will cause the water to start spilling over.

Getting to zero emissions will be difficult, but it can and must be done.

The term “greenhouse gases” does a pretty good job of describing the problem these gases cause. They let the sun’s energy in, but they don’t let the resulting heat escape once it’s bounced back off the earth’s surface. As a result, the heat is trapped, much like the heat inside a greenhouse. It’s the same process that makes the inside of your car h... See more

When Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded Microsoft in 1975, they were living in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Back then, the city was already pretty hot; temperatures climbed to over 90 degrees Fahrenheit an average of 36 days a year. But by 2050, that number of days is expected to double. And by the end of the century, it will triple. The health and econ... See more

The key message here is: To bring our planet back from the brink of disaster, we need to get our greenhouse gas emissions to zero.

You may know that cattle produce a lot of methane, one of the most harmful greenhouse gases in terms of contributing to warming temperatures. But did you know that throwing away food is also a significant contributor? When food rots, it also produces methane. And we throw away lots of food every year – the equivalent of 3.3 billion tons of carbon d... See more

What’s more, many areas of the world are just now getting more industrialized. Economies are booming. Overall, this is good news. It means more people are being lifted out of poverty and becoming wealthier. But as these countries begin to take steps toward improving their infrastructure and building thriving cities, they’re picking up the same tool... See more

The key message here is: We can reduce food industry emissions by living more consciously.

To bring our planet back from the brink of disaster, we need to get our greenhouse gas emissions to zero.