Earth: The Operators' Manual

by Richard Alley

The book―companion to a PBS series―that proves humans are causing global warming and offers a path to the future. Since the discovery of fire, humans have been energy users and always will be. And this is a good thing-our mastery of energy is what separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom and has allowed us to be the dominant species on the planet. However, this mastery comes with a price: we are changing our environment in a profoundly negative way by heating it up.

Using one engaging story after another, coupled with accessible scientific facts, world authority Richard B. Alley explores the fascinating history of energy use by humans over the centuries, gives a doubt-destroying proof that already-high levels of carbon dioxide are causing damaging global warming, and surveys the alternative energy options that are available to exploit right now. These new energy sources might well be the engines for economic growth in the twenty-first century. 50 black-and-white photographs

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Environment, Climate Change

496 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2011

About the author

Richard B. Alley is a professor of geology at Penn State University and a member of the National Academy of Sciences. He was a member of the UN climate change committee that was awarded the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize. He lives in State College, Pennsylvania.

Reviews

[Blair · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Book is Better than the Title

"Earth: The Operators’ Manual". I would have ignored a book with such pretensions if I were not already familiar with the writing of the highly qualified author, Richard B. Alley. That would have been unfortunate, as I think this is the best introductory book on climate science I have encountered. His experience communicating with his students, politicians and the general public shows in his ability to explain complex subjects with simple language and well chosen analogies. He provides over a hundred pages of notes for those who want to check his facts or learn more detail.

Who do you Trust?

The target audience appears to be well-intentioned people who may be somewhat skeptical of global warming. His writing makes it clear he is not opposed to technology or economic growth. He likes to give down home examples based on where he lives in Pennsylvania and Cape Cod. He frequently appeals to the example set by Abraham Lincoln, who founded the National Academy of Sciences (of which Alley is a member), and the only president with a patent, about wind power no less. He asks, who do you trust, Abraham Lincoln or your brother in law? When discussing the role of carbon dioxide in the greenhouse effect, he points out the same principles were used by the military to develop heat seeking missiles. All this should help more conservative readers to feel comfortable with his message.

How Exxon Saved the Whales

The theme of this book is we have been through energy transitions before, and we will need to do it again. Two centuries ago most of our energy came from wood, with whale oil for high quality fuel. The result was massive deforestation and the near-extinction of whales in the ocean. When coal and oil came into widespread use, the forests grew back and the whale population began to recover. We will need another transformation so our atmosphere can recover. I question his emphasis on resources running out (peak wood, peak whales, peak oil). We may need to reduce fossil fuel use for climate reasons long before scarcity forces us to.

Science is not Politics

He does a great job handling the notion that scientists fudge their results to increase their grants when he discusses the National Academy of Science investigation into the allegation that power lines caused leukemia. Although some of the members were involved in that research, the Academy concluded there was no real connection. Researchers were willing to put themselves out of a job if the data said there was no issue. Therefore when the Academy declares that carbon dioxide production is a serious problem, that decision is based on real evidence, not self-interest.

How the Climate System Works

He devotes a few chapters to explaining how the climate system works. Most of this is done well, using innovative analogies. The importance of paleoclimate (climate of the past) studies is compared to an accountant looking at past financial records to understand the client’s current state. The climate changes of the past century are compared to a children’s soccer game, largely random but with some underlying direction.

I think he was mistaken to introduce climate models so early in the book because it reinforces the popular misconception that climate science is based entirely on those models. His explanation of modeling is excellent but I think it will fail to dispel the notion that climate is too complex to be understood, and model results are wrong. I am familiar with climate issues and write software for a living, yet I still do not understand how model tuning does not introduce bias. [I am not therefore claiming the models are biased – that would be an argument from ignorance.] I do understand that so many different independent modeling groups are not all going to cheat in the same way. He should have made it clear that climate can be understood well enough from basic physics and studies of past climate, and modeling is an advanced research tool for the scientists. The modeling chapter should have been placed at the end, to emphasize that it is a refinement of scientific understanding, not the sole basis of it.

Making it Make Sense to the Reader

The challenge of writing an introductory book is the contradiction between making it accurate and complete, and keeping it simple enough to be understood. There are occasions when he slips into language that is too dense and technical compared to the rest of the book.

He makes a brave attempt to explain the orbital cycles that drive the ice ages. There are three orbital cycles that interact with each other, and it all takes place in three-dimensional space and in time. I remember having great difficulty understanding similar accounts. Does his audience even know what causes the seasons? It would be best to start with what is most familiar and work from there. There needs to be a lot of good pictures to help visualize the movement, not just one fuzzy diagram. The author needs to ask if this topic is worth the space to describe it properly. If not, make a quick comment about how orbital cycles affect climate in complex ways, and let the footnotes point to more detail.

The last part of the book is comprehensive look at the possible technologies that can be used to replace the fossil fuels that generate carbon dioxide. He is leaving his area of expertise, and I get the feeling his is making difficult problems seem easier than the really are.

The Best Book on the Topic

This book succeeds where James Hansen’s “Storms of my Grandchildren” does not. His explanations are usually clear, he describes the balance of evidence rather than extrapolating the most extreme view, there are sufficient references, and best of all there is no hokey end-of-the-world flying saucer story. I recommend this book for anyone who wants to learn about the basics of the climate change issue.

[Frederik Van de Perre · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to credit the author for providing (possible) solutions for climate change. It is however a pity that his important message was packed in such a tedious book. Although the author tried to write in a pleasant, active way, the overabundance of technical details make it (and I'm sorry to say this)... a boring read.

[Howard Gibbins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a companion book to the PBS television series, unfortunately I have not been able to get my hands on a copy of the video to compare the two, but in any case while the video would undoubtedly enhance the book, I'm fairly sure it wouldn't detract as this book is very well researched and written.

The amount of detail in this book is amasing, and the information should be indispensible to anyone doing research on the effects of climate change both historically and in modern times. The book takes the reader a journey via a series of stories that does delve into the scientific end of things, but it is kept to a basic level so it should be understandable to readers of a Junior High School level or higher.

Dr. Alley, a professor at Pennsylvania State University, takes on topics such as how did we get fossil fuels to begin with, the establishment of the American National Academy of Science, glaciation and the ice ages. He then delves into how humans can help be looking at solutions based on human waste, the wind, geothermal energy, nuclear, and solar energy.

Highly recommended to anybody who is interested in the future (or the past for that matter) of this rock we live on.

[Austin · Rating 4 out of 5]

For my 10th book, I finally finished up "Earth: the Operators' Manual" by Richard Alley. I learned a great deal from this book, especially in the part least related to human-caused climate change. As an expert in ice cores, Alley gives an accessible but detailed account of the natural processes that have shaped the world into what gave rise to the human civilization. He also has an excellent treatment of the effects and science of human-caused climate change, but I am more familiar with that science so I didn't learn quite as much. The only part I though was a bit weaker was the last third, dedicated to the technologies that can address climate change. It sometimes fell into the in-between zone of too simplistic to be useful to a sector expert and not quite simple enough to be a short takeaway for a novice. But taken as a whole, the book was effective and enjoyable.

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52 books in 52 weeks update:
book number: 10 / 52

scorecard (see below):
W: 6/26
NW: 4/26
NA: 3/20
D: 0/5
F: 4
NF: 6

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Notes: I'm trying to read 52 books this year. To make sure I'm getting a broad range, I'm tracking some metrics. Open to more if folks have suggestions. My goal is to read books that are:
at least half by women
at least half not by white people
at least 20 by non-americans
at least 5 that I don't think I'll like or agree with going in

I'll also go for about half fiction and half non-fiction

[Dakota · Rating 5 out of 5]

Earth: The Operator's Manual by Richard B. Halley provides an engaging yet informative overview of the globe from our (humanity's) viewpoint. Transitioning from one story to another, alongside concrete scientific evidence, Halley travels through the history of energy use throughout the world, offers comprehensive, doubt - eliminating proof that high and rising levels of CO2 in our atmosphere are causing global warming, and finally finishing with a range of energy options available to us today. Halley proves his writing ability as he draws from various fields of expertise, from sociology to economics back to good old climatology.
Personally, I found Halley's work to be an excellent introduction toward the issue of global climate change. With the viewpoint of a climate geologist who has worked for oil giants and been published in a number of journals, his lack of bias is self-evident. Halley presents evidence, addresses all counterarguments equally, describes the effects of these facts in detail, and gives a few potential actions to be taken as result. The result is a good introductory analysis to just about everything involving climate change without completely turning off viewers with complicated jargon or technical workings. It is because of this that I personally was able to read through the material for long durations while holding my interest, and for this reason that I recommend this book for anyone and everyone involved in the climate change debate. And in case you haven't realised it yet, that estimate covers just about everyone. Addressing these issues will not be easy, but at the end of the day, the issue involves neither panic nor business -as-usual action; Halley attempts to guide readers towards a middle ground. Books such as Earth: The Operator's Manual provide much-needed education on one of the most heated issues of the modern day: global warming.

[Gabriela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part I and II explain why CO2 is the main driver of global warming, and the science that's behind this statement. I think it does a really good job at exposing the science and the scientific process behind climate change, and what science sources we should trust and more importantly why.

Part III, which was the part I was most excited about, fell a bit short. I was expecting a more in depth description of the technologies/processes available for CO2 management/remediation, alternative energy sources and the like. But, instead the descriptions were more on the possible energy output we could obtain from alternative sources. Which is also good to know, but it felt a bit short.

If you are lucky and work at a university or are still in school, you might get a better insight by looking up the papers cited in the notes.

[Brett Hinton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book was okay. It was pretty technical in its explanation about global warming and attempts to convince skeptics of why the production of CO2 is at the heart of climate change and that climate change is really happening. The last half or third of the book was dedicated to discussing strategies for the future. This is the part I was most excited about and it did only an ok job. I thought Dr. Alley was far less rigorous in his examination of possible remedies than he was in his treatment of why we should believe climate change is happening and why it is CO2 that is driving the change. I liked Friedman's book about Hot, Flat and Crowded for solutions better than I did Alley's book.

[Justin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another strong survey of the current state of climate science, giving context to important elements of history and society. A highlight is the compelling analogy of fairly urgent action stemming from the then new science of epidemiology and the need for effective public sanitation works. Just like climate action now, that was a substantial shift in society, opposed by vested interests and predicted by some to ruin the economy. It didn't. Whole new industries came into being, such as plumbing and pipework engineering, and humanity was vastly better off as a result.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second part of this book was fantastic!! I really enjoyed it and understood it. I found the first part a little tedious and sometimes over my head. As someone who's very concerned about global warming, I feel a little more optimistic after reading the second half of the book. Now if we could just get those darn politicians to read it and act on the suggestions!!

I found "Fixing Climate" much more readable, but this book incorporates new research that has come out since then.

[Mimesis · Rating 3 out of 5]

A large part of this book was about convincing the reader that climate change is real and since I am already convinced, it was more or less wasted on me.
But despite that, I think it succeded in getting the point across - we can switch from fossil fuels to renewable energy and we will have to.
Another thing that is really good about this book is that Alley can throw numbers around, but it still doesn't get hard to read.

[Penn State Brandywine Environmental Inquiry]

Website for the book: http://earththeoperatorsmanual.com/

Watch the preview episode or full program.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

interesting tidbits but didn't hold my attention.

[Kalyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have Dr. Alley as a professor, and just like some lectures, it tends to over explain stuff. But if it was someone who has never learned or read this stuff I would be good.

[Manoj Balraj · Rating 5 out of 5]

From Ted Danson ( yes, the hearthrob from yesteryears) to learned geologists such as Richard B Alley, we get compelling books devoted to telling us ( or rather warning us) about the alarming rate at which we are burning natural resources.
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\nEven if you have not seen the PBS documentary by the same name, this book will draw you in. And Richard B Alley dumbs it down for the rest of us. The purists from amidst his peers might snicker at his proposed solutions. But the facts, figures and the consequences will make you sit up. But rather than turn this thick book into an encyclopedia of whining, the second half of the book ( where the real meat is) offers several many solutions ( and of course hope).
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