Down-to-Earth Guide To Global Warming
- ISBN13: 9780439024945
- Condition: NEW
- Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
Product Description
Irreverent and entertaining, DOWN TO EARTH is filled with fact about global warming and its disastrous consequences, loads of photos and illustrations, as well as suggestions for how kids can help combat global warming in their homes, schools, and communities. Engagingly designed, DOWN TO EARTH will educate and empower, leaving readers with the knowledge they need to understand this problem and a sense of hope to inspire them into action…. More >>
I can’t help noticing that reviews of this book mirror the controversy surrounding this topic. And that’s a good thing. (I also can’t help noticing what feels like a coordinated attack based on a single technical error, as if that discredited the fundamental science behind this book’s premise, which no serious scientist doubts.) In my household, this wonderfully written, funny, accessible and very important book has led to lots of healthy discussions about our world — and our own household. Suddenly my kids — 10 and 7 — are talking and thinking about electricity and water usage, recycling, gas mileage, thermostat settings, and even the great outdoors itself, in ways they never did before. I’m glad this book has people talking, because, as the book points out, the solutions to this problem will make us stronger as a people, and there’s much more danger in doing — or saying — nothing.
Rating: 5 / 5
Readers should be aware that the the first editions of this book contain a chart (page 18 ) of the past 650,000 years that shows that CO2 emissions rose BEFORE global temperatures. In fact, the chart is reversed – CO2 emissions did rise, but only hundreds (in some cases thousands) of years AFTER temperature rises. For some reason the chart lines are backwards.
Scholastic is planning to issue a revised version with an updated chart, but there will be no revision to the text of the book, which references and explains the chart. I don’t know that most kids will notice that the chart does not support the argument, but an important subject like this should be accurate in all details.
With such inaccuracies I do not recommend the book. Explain global warming to your children yourself – and be sure and use accurate information!
Rating: 1 / 5
book arrived well within promised time and in perfect condition. Great book to explain a complex subject to kids (and adults)
Rating: 5 / 5
This is a kid’s version of a typical global warming hysteria book.
If you do not believe in it (or even know there is another side), you probably will not want this for your kid.
Even if you believe in the IPCC type worries, you should be aware this has a section designed to encourage the kids to nag you about reducing your carbon footprint. Some parents who agree there is a problem still may not want this book just to avoid the nagging.
The books has all of the usual statements abut global warming and leaves out the other side, emphasizing the negative. There is a statement abut increased poison ivy and hay fever but they somehow fail to mention that increased carbon dioxide has been shown repeatedly in green house experiments and open field experiments to promote growth of virtually all plants. For instance, an open field experiment (pumping the gas into a small forest plot)showed increased tree growth, with an incidental observation that the poison ivy also grew more. This book mentions the poison ivy, but fails to note the major result, which was the increased tree growth. If most plants growth more, there probably will be more pollen and hence more hay fever, but it also means food crops gow much better and less starvation, but there is no mention of this.
Increased heat deaths if the globe if warmer are likely (especially if in an effort to prevent warming energy prices have been raised so fewer can afford air conditioning,but there is no mention of the well established fact that death rates increase every winter (flu season) and warmer winters would reduce these, and by far more than any summer increase in deaths.
Rating: 2 / 5
This book directly competes with “The Sky is Not Falling”. The best thing to do is to read both books and make decisions on your own.
The point is (few people dispute it), the earth is warming. There are conflicting opinions on why. This book presents the “mainstream” belief that is rightfully under attack. The integrity of the data does not stand up to presenting solid “proof” that human generated CO2 is causing global warming. The planet is warming and CO2 has increased. We know one is driving the other based on the 650,000 year chart. The real chart tells us that CO2 rises after temperature rises. Even in the face of this recognized fact the alarmists believe the debate is over.
The point of this entire debate is what we do about Global Warming. If you believe that we are causing the rise in temperature, then you must believe in the rules set forth in the Kyoto treaty. Most people don’t have any idea what the Kyoto treaty is, what it will force us to do, what impact it will have on the economy and that only the “wealthy” countries have to act on the treaty. If you believe we are impacting the climate, read what you can about the treaty and ask yourself if you are ready and willing to sacrifice your job and your future ability to support your family as the cascading effects of regulation destroy the world economy. If you believe, therefore, we all must act, you are destroying your child’s economic future.
If you are of the mind that the earth is warming because of a natural cycle and that there is nothing we can do about it, that should not mean that we need to live an unnecessarily gluttonous lifestyle. Teaching our children to recycle, to turn off lights, to utilize more efficient energy sources is responsible and does not have any negative impact.
The problem with the arguments right now is that they are polarizing. You either “love the planet” or you “hate the planet”. I can love the planet, yet believe that we are going through a natural cycle that we will have to adjust to. I’m not willing to destroy our economy or my children’s ability to support their families under the premise that some scientists using questionable data tell me the world will end. I do believe that we are wasteful and that there are responsible things we can do to reduce. I will teach my children how to conserve and be responsible while telling them the facts of this debate.
Let’s begin to question what is going on in reality. The people who are preaching to us, Al Gore, Hollywood and others are not impacted by any negative economic events that will fall upon us with the realities of the Kyoto treaty. Al Gore uses 20 times the electricity of the average household and flies on private jets. The hollywood elite lead their extravagant lifestyles while preaching to us to conserve. Being wasteful and then purchasing Carbon Credits (from companies he is invested in) is about the most hypocritical thing a person can do. That is Al Gore.
Did you know that the countries who have signed onto the Kyoto treaty are being paid cash for planting trees? In order to find land to plant trees on, they are clear cutting old forests and replanting to get the money.
Politicians always have good intentions. What they are not good about is understanding the economics of the unintended consequences of their actions. The point made above is a perfect example of this.
Be a good citizen of this earth. Read all sides of this and all issues. Make an unemotional conclusion, understanding all of the impacts of that conclusion and ACT. Don’t be lazy and follow the mainstream and let yourself be sucked along without knowing the facts or the possible outcomes. The mainstream accepted the “facts” of Iraq and we now have a bad result in Iraq. We are heading down a similar path with the global warming debate.
The mainstream is eliminating debate. That is unacceptable.
Rating: 1 / 5