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The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything: How Carbon Dioxide Made Our World – A Natural History of Planetary Climate and the Future of Life
Carbon dioxide. This seemingly simple and ubiquitous substance is fundamental to how our planet works. All life is made from CO2 and its behavior on this planet has kept it bizarrely habitable for hundreds of millions of years. In its workings lie both the splendor of our world—and the potential for life’s destruction. In short, it is the most important substance in Earth’s history. But why is CO2 as essential to life on Earth as it is capable of destroying it? In THE STORY OF CO2 IS THE STORY OF EVERYTHING, award-winning science journalist Peter Brannen reveals carbon dioxide’s fundamental role in the operation and maintenance of Planet Earth. Starting at the beginning of time and working all the way up to our present reality, he illuminates how CO2 has been responsible for the planet’s many deaths and rebirths, for the evolution of life, and for the development of modern human society. Carbon dioxide’s movement through the rocks, the air, the oceans, and life has kept our planet’s climate livable, its air breathable, and its oceans hospitable to complex life for more than 500 million years. And only by understanding CO2 in the context of deep Earth history can we see how it gave rise to today’s industrial economy – and more clearly recognize what it means to be churning through hundreds of millions of years of old life in the form of fossil fuels and converting it all to carbon dioxide. With groundbreaking research and a clear-eyed perspective, Brannen shows how a deep exploration into the mechanics of the carbon cycle and the history of our planet can provide hope for averting environmental catastrophe in the future. It all starts with a richer understanding of the essential role of one substance.
512 pages, Hardcover
Published August 26, 2025
115 people are currently reading
5257 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
November 9, 2025
My thanks to NetGalley and HarperAudio for an ALC of this book to listen to and review.
DNF at 10% of the way into the book. Just the intro told me that the book was going to be incredibly negative re: humankind and our ability to kill this beautiful planet we call home, without much thought or malice, just through ignorance and an unwillingness to learn and do better.
So, that was fun. Then add in the overly technical (to this layperson listener) scientific jargon, interwoven with purple prose and a narrator with a very calming, even tone of voice, and you had this listener nodding off during her commute to and from work, both from being bored and from the wonderfully modulated voice of the narrator.
2, recommended if you are having problems sleeping and you won't get nightmares of the messed up carbon cycle killing you in your sleep, stars.
DNF at 10% of the way into the book. Just the intro told me that the book was going to be incredibly negative re: humankind and our ability to kill this beautiful planet we call home, without much thought or malice, just through ignorance and an unwillingness to learn and do better.
So, that was fun. Then add in the overly technical (to this layperson listener) scientific jargon, interwoven with purple prose and a narrator with a very calming, even tone of voice, and you had this listener nodding off during her commute to and from work, both from being bored and from the wonderfully modulated voice of the narrator.
2, recommended if you are having problems sleeping and you won't get nightmares of the messed up carbon cycle killing you in your sleep, stars.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 4, 2025
4,5 stars; this is some solid science writing; sure, life is carbon based, and life is life because life persists in relation to its environment, which is the source of the carbon; so indeed the story of biology is the story of the oxidisation of carbon; nothing new here but an interesting viewpoint from which to explore biology, geology and even the realm of human affairs concerned with the acquisition and protection of carbon resources; politics and war; only minor downside is its length; the text couldbe condensed to a more agreeable 250-300 pages and not lose its central argument and punch.
December 6, 2025
This book is an in depth discussion about CO2 and the role it plays in the creation, maintenance and the future destruction of our planet. This was a very dense novel with a lot of information to parse. It was quite interesting and I enjoyed reading the history of the molecule. I will say this book would benefit from some illustrations of what is being discussed. There are a few references to illustrations which I couldn't tell if there were supposed to be pictures that weren't compatible with digital reading. I think I would have had an easier time reading if I had a physical copy to flip through.
Overall a pretty informative, interesting book. 3/5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.
Overall a pretty informative, interesting book. 3/5 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.
November 10, 2025
I hate GoodReads. I already did a review for this book and it's popping up on my currently reading under a different edition.
This thread has my comments, which I don't want to lose and the other one already has likes on it and my full review, so I don't want to delete that one.
My apologies to anyone who is confused by this (if anyone cares, these are my random musings and honestly, it's not like I'm a super-important book reviewer, lol). Please refer to my review on the other edition of this book if you are interested in it.
My thanks to NetGalley and HarperAudio for an ALC of this book to listen to and review.
This thread has my comments, which I don't want to lose and the other one already has likes on it and my full review, so I don't want to delete that one.
My apologies to anyone who is confused by this (if anyone cares, these are my random musings and honestly, it's not like I'm a super-important book reviewer, lol). Please refer to my review on the other edition of this book if you are interested in it.
My thanks to NetGalley and HarperAudio for an ALC of this book to listen to and review.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 28, 2025
He’s not kidding around. This book is fascinating. I especially enjoyed part one which has given me a whole perspective.
Part two makes me feel like I should get some therapy but I’m worried I’ll send her into an existential crisis.
The entire book is filled with so many fascinating facts one read just won’t cut it. I’ve already started it again.
Part two makes me feel like I should get some therapy but I’m worried I’ll send her into an existential crisis.
The entire book is filled with so many fascinating facts one read just won’t cut it. I’ve already started it again.
December 28, 2025
A grand tour through all of Earth's history featuring the central character of the CO2 molecule. It is a central character because it figures in all the important processes of cycling Earth's store of carbon, making the Earth a unique planet in our solar system. The only one which seems to have plate tectonics and a vigorous climate system which cycles from one extreme to the other, and which cycles CO2 from sky to oceans to rock and back to sky again over the eons. The only planet which seems to harbor life in its amazingly diverse forms cycling from one form to another while also moving CO2 from sky to plant life to animal life and back to sky and rock.
Brannen's telling of Earth's history can sometimes get repetitive, it is, after all, the same chemistry and biology and geology cycling carbon through the eons. But it's not all a perfect balance and the times when things go out of balance lead to interesting stops in the tale.
For instance: oxygen in our breathable atmosphere: it doesn't come from the Amazon rain forests. The "normal" cycle has plant-life taking CO2 from the air, producing the carbohydrates they use to live and build their stems and leaves, etc and exhaling waste oxygen. When the plants die they decay: or, the carbon in the plants joins the oxygen in the air: CO2. But, over the eons, a tiny trickle of these lifeforms are buried in sediment and, for a time, are removed from the constant cycle. This is how "fossil fuels" are formed in layers of rock, and how oxygen builds up in our atmosphere:
"What if, say, you buried a tree before it could be respired back to CO2? It stands to reason that that oxygen would remain in the air, unused. And this is, in fact, what happens. Plants, trees, entire forests, and swirling blooms of algae in the ocean die and fall to the earth. Yes, 99.99 percent of them are respired back to CO2 on the Earth's surface, or in the deep ocean, using up oxygen in the process. But the tiny remainder that aren't respired represent a leak of organic carbon into the crust. Before this photosynthetic stuff can be decomposed with oxygen, it is quickly buried and shielded from decay. And there it stays buried for hundreds of millions of years, while the oxygen it produced in life remains in the air. While this fate might account for less than 0.01 percent of the photosynthesis on Earth, such an infinitesimal amount, compounded over geologic time, can add up to quite a lot." (pp. 105-106)
This extremely slight imbalance in the carbon cycle has resulted in the atmosphere which makes our animal lives possible.
There are many such interesting facts from Brannen's book, and his writing is descriptive and colorful. Here he describes the "phantamagoric ogres" which populated the Earth during the Permian period (298-251 million years ago):
"These strange creatures were the aptly named dinocephalians, or 'terrible heads.' While they weren't dinosaur-scaled, they made up for size in their sheer unattractiveness. In fact, there's a strong case to be made that the 14-million-year stretch of the middle Permian is the ugliest period in all of Earth's history. One struggles to describe or even find analogues for these creatures--alternately snaggle-toothed, humpbacked, postured like foundering ships, with the exaggerated, unwieldy heads of sports mascots. They seem to be feinting toward a lifestyle more mammal than reptile, but they still likely lacked hair, and in artists' reconstructions they seem to be as confused to find themselves brought to life as we are to find their bones in the rocks." (p.178)
CO2 is also the principle control knob for the Earth's climate system. High atmospheric CO2 levels lead to hothouse climates, while extremely low levels lead to planet-wide ice ages. We owe our livable climate to the delicate balance of CO2 in Earth's cycles:
"Over the long term, the climate state is primarily set by the give-and-take of outgassing volcanic CO2 on the one hand, and weathering rocks, which buries that CO2 as carbonate rock like limestone, on the other. If these sources and sinks were mismatched by as little as 5 percent from each other, then the biosphere would be destroyed in less than 5 million years, either by lethal high-CO2 heat or a zero-CO2 catastrophe. But somehow these sources and sinks have stayed almost miraculously balanced over the long run."
There have been times in Earth's past when this balancing act has gone astray and huge quantities of CO2 accumulate in the atmosphere, leading to sudden warming and mass extinctions. Usually these involve massive, continent-wide volcanic activity which burn through some of Earth's sequestered fossil fuels. But in today's world humans have become the volcano, digging up and burning through massive stores of fossil fuels at a much faster rate than the Earth ever has:
"'You cannot expect to take fossilized solar energy for three hundred million years and let it off in a bang in a hundred and fifty years and get away with it,' the geochemist Michael Russell told me. 'It's ludicrous. Of course it's going to be awful.'" (p.158)
And:
"Today, humanity produces more CO2 than all the other substances we produce on Earth *combined.* It is our signature product. From a planetary perspective, human society is now, above all else, a conduit for moving carbon in the crust into the atmosphere." (p. 393)
Will humans be able to slow this conduit or stop it before the climate changes drastically enough to possibly render the planet uninhabitable? Is there some way to suck massive amounts of CO2 from the air and keep the planet in a climate state we are used to living in? Will planting a trillion trees do it?
"Unfortunately, though, schemes that rely on photosynthesis at the Earth's surface to draw down our CO2 and get us out of our jam are, if anything, even more infeasible. You cannot fix a problem with biology that you got into with geology. They are different scales." (p. 427)
Perhaps, as Brennan says, "Maybe we can figure this out." (p. 439) and cap the human volcano. But it is a monumental task unlike anything humans have ever accomplished. The Earth, however, will cycle on and bring new, amazing world's into existence.
Brannen's telling of Earth's history can sometimes get repetitive, it is, after all, the same chemistry and biology and geology cycling carbon through the eons. But it's not all a perfect balance and the times when things go out of balance lead to interesting stops in the tale.
For instance: oxygen in our breathable atmosphere: it doesn't come from the Amazon rain forests. The "normal" cycle has plant-life taking CO2 from the air, producing the carbohydrates they use to live and build their stems and leaves, etc and exhaling waste oxygen. When the plants die they decay: or, the carbon in the plants joins the oxygen in the air: CO2. But, over the eons, a tiny trickle of these lifeforms are buried in sediment and, for a time, are removed from the constant cycle. This is how "fossil fuels" are formed in layers of rock, and how oxygen builds up in our atmosphere:
"What if, say, you buried a tree before it could be respired back to CO2? It stands to reason that that oxygen would remain in the air, unused. And this is, in fact, what happens. Plants, trees, entire forests, and swirling blooms of algae in the ocean die and fall to the earth. Yes, 99.99 percent of them are respired back to CO2 on the Earth's surface, or in the deep ocean, using up oxygen in the process. But the tiny remainder that aren't respired represent a leak of organic carbon into the crust. Before this photosynthetic stuff can be decomposed with oxygen, it is quickly buried and shielded from decay. And there it stays buried for hundreds of millions of years, while the oxygen it produced in life remains in the air. While this fate might account for less than 0.01 percent of the photosynthesis on Earth, such an infinitesimal amount, compounded over geologic time, can add up to quite a lot." (pp. 105-106)
This extremely slight imbalance in the carbon cycle has resulted in the atmosphere which makes our animal lives possible.
There are many such interesting facts from Brannen's book, and his writing is descriptive and colorful. Here he describes the "phantamagoric ogres" which populated the Earth during the Permian period (298-251 million years ago):
"These strange creatures were the aptly named dinocephalians, or 'terrible heads.' While they weren't dinosaur-scaled, they made up for size in their sheer unattractiveness. In fact, there's a strong case to be made that the 14-million-year stretch of the middle Permian is the ugliest period in all of Earth's history. One struggles to describe or even find analogues for these creatures--alternately snaggle-toothed, humpbacked, postured like foundering ships, with the exaggerated, unwieldy heads of sports mascots. They seem to be feinting toward a lifestyle more mammal than reptile, but they still likely lacked hair, and in artists' reconstructions they seem to be as confused to find themselves brought to life as we are to find their bones in the rocks." (p.178)
CO2 is also the principle control knob for the Earth's climate system. High atmospheric CO2 levels lead to hothouse climates, while extremely low levels lead to planet-wide ice ages. We owe our livable climate to the delicate balance of CO2 in Earth's cycles:
"Over the long term, the climate state is primarily set by the give-and-take of outgassing volcanic CO2 on the one hand, and weathering rocks, which buries that CO2 as carbonate rock like limestone, on the other. If these sources and sinks were mismatched by as little as 5 percent from each other, then the biosphere would be destroyed in less than 5 million years, either by lethal high-CO2 heat or a zero-CO2 catastrophe. But somehow these sources and sinks have stayed almost miraculously balanced over the long run."
There have been times in Earth's past when this balancing act has gone astray and huge quantities of CO2 accumulate in the atmosphere, leading to sudden warming and mass extinctions. Usually these involve massive, continent-wide volcanic activity which burn through some of Earth's sequestered fossil fuels. But in today's world humans have become the volcano, digging up and burning through massive stores of fossil fuels at a much faster rate than the Earth ever has:
"'You cannot expect to take fossilized solar energy for three hundred million years and let it off in a bang in a hundred and fifty years and get away with it,' the geochemist Michael Russell told me. 'It's ludicrous. Of course it's going to be awful.'" (p.158)
And:
"Today, humanity produces more CO2 than all the other substances we produce on Earth *combined.* It is our signature product. From a planetary perspective, human society is now, above all else, a conduit for moving carbon in the crust into the atmosphere." (p. 393)
Will humans be able to slow this conduit or stop it before the climate changes drastically enough to possibly render the planet uninhabitable? Is there some way to suck massive amounts of CO2 from the air and keep the planet in a climate state we are used to living in? Will planting a trillion trees do it?
"Unfortunately, though, schemes that rely on photosynthesis at the Earth's surface to draw down our CO2 and get us out of our jam are, if anything, even more infeasible. You cannot fix a problem with biology that you got into with geology. They are different scales." (p. 427)
Perhaps, as Brennan says, "Maybe we can figure this out." (p. 439) and cap the human volcano. But it is a monumental task unlike anything humans have ever accomplished. The Earth, however, will cycle on and bring new, amazing world's into existence.
December 13, 2025
Greta Thunberg (Swedish, b. 2003) represents the zeitgeist (i.e., 'spirit of the time') for the values of today's climate change activists.
I agree with her position on electrification. She supports electrification as part of a larger, systemic shift away from fossil fuels, but stresses it's not a silver bullet; she demands rapid, equitable fossil fuel phase-outs, urgent systemic change over mere individual greenwashing (like just getting an EV), and emphasizes that solutions require deep societal transformation, not just technological fixes, focusing on what we stop doing and keeping the most vulnerable at the center (climate justice).
One reason electrification is not a silver bullet: Copper and consumer electricity are irrevocably linked. "With regard to the large copper industry, today's average grade of copper mined in the U.S. has dropped to only 0.4 percent. This means that 99.6 percent (globally, it's 99.4 percent) of the rock mined in the U.S. for copper doesn't have copper in it. The low-hanging fruit has already been picked. Vastly more rock will need to be mined, ground down, and processed which will take vastly more energy and fresh water, and at a time when both will be in extremely high demand, perhaps direly so." (excerpted from Brannen's book)
This consideration of electrification constraints is in the context of awareness "that currently CO2, in our atmosphere, sits at 421 parts per million, or 0.042 percent, far higher than it's ever been in the history of Homo sapiens. In fact, it's the highest it's been since the Pliocene epoch over 3 million years ago, when evergreen forests stretched all the way to the shores of the Arctic Ocean, the Greenland and the West Antarctic ice sheets likely didn't exist, and the shoreline of the U.S. pushed almost halfway into the Carolinas." (also excerpted from Brannen's book)
Peter Brannen, a science journalist, unequivocally and correctly states that CO2 is essential to life and without question, CO2 came alive on Earth. It's the ultimate source of carbon for all life and is the primary knob of Earth's temperature. And CO2 is our species' signature product.
All life is ultimately made from CO2, and it has kept Earth bizarrely habitable for hundreds of millions of years. In short, it is the most important substance on Earth.
Imagine the unceasing, repetitive movement of CO2 from the air to limestone, coal, liquid petroleum and methane gas and then back into the atmosphere where the longest components of the cycle operate on a hundred-millennia to million-year timescales.
Carbon cycle equilibrium fluctuations can severely impact the biosphere. These perturbation details are interesting, though it's the numerous species-ending results - extinction events, summarized by the geologic time scale, that's the primary story.
The author does an excellent job of linking extinction events represented by geologic time scale divisions to perturbations of the carbon cycle. He skillfully narrates the known details.
And that it's only by reckoning with this planetary scale history that we can understand the cosmic stakes of our current moment on Earth - and how dangerous our experiment with the climate really is.
Humans, like all animals, have a climate niche. It's a surprisingly narrow band of the climate - concentrated between mean annual temperatures of 52°F and 59°F (11°C and 15°C).
A farm in a region that may dry up next year is not loan worthy. A country drowned by sea-level rise on its coasts, charred by wildfires inland, and racked by crop failures is not bondable. And heat makes people stupider and kill each other more.
So, what can be done to stop our burning of fossil fuels, stabilize climate change, and prevent perturbing the carbon cycle?
The author says, "The advocates for degrowth are right about one thing: truly endless growth on a finite planet is physically impossible. Unquestionably, a major energetic retreat today by purposely reducing global GDP would entail incalculable human suffering. Deliberate degrowth isn't a viable strategy.
The author writes minimally and cautiously about the future possibility of generating electricity using commercial nuclear fusion reactors.
The author's opinion is that "there are very good practical and energetic reasons to think fusion as an energy source will not be scalable in the near future, but, as many have noticed, there's a nuclear reactor in the sky that operates and generates energy for free."
He narrates descriptions of a couple of viable alternatives to burning fossil fuels including geothermal heat and geologic hydrogen. Several unfeasible alternatives like, direct air capture machines and splitting water for its hydrogen are described.
The author writes, "After eons freeloading off the energy captured by photosynthesis and burning it back to CO2, we need to capture our own and become photosynthetic.
He also mentions the unfortunate human behavior called the Jevons paradox named after a nineteenth-century English economist. New modes of economy and efficiency almost always leads to an increase of consumption.
"We must be prepared for our carbon dioxide removal schemes to be a failure. Because without all but ceasing CO2 emissions, carbon dioxide removal will be less than useless."
In summary, he says, "we're in deep shit. Still, given what we know about the carbon cycle, on balance it still seems like a no-brainer to try to decarbonize, despite the difficulty. There needs to be a positive vision for the future for people to sign on to, not a prescription for austerity, no matter how righteously advanced. And lets try, as best we can, to avoid being simple catalysts for the resurrection of the Carboniferous."
Beyond this book's focus, I have researched methods of solution with more of a humanistic slant.
Art and philosophy offer crucial tools for tackling climate change by shifting mindsets, fostering emotional connections to nature, visualizing complex data, inspiring hope, and prompting ethical reflection, moving beyond just scientific facts to drive the deep societal & personal changes needed for a sustainable future. Art makes the abstract tangible and acts as a catalyst for dialogue. Philosophy provides tools to critically analyze the cultural norms, consumerism, and power structures that drive the crisis by bridging the gap between knowing about climate change and feeling compelled to act, encouraging radical societal shifts. Together they can move society from a purely rational understanding of climate change to a holistic, values-driven, and action-oriented approach, essential for the "rapid, radical, and transformative societal change" needed.
For starters, listen to these popular songs readily available at YouTube.com.
Neil Young has many songs about the environment, reflecting his deep commitment to climate activism.
After the Gold Rush (1970): The title track paints a dystopian picture of environmental decay. “...look at Mother Nature on the run..."
And his, 'On the Beach' (1974) is about being a vampire “sucking blood from the Earth.” Greendale (2003) is a concept album with characters like "Sun Green" dealing with environmental issues, and anthems like "Be the Rain".
Bob Dylan doesn't have many explicitly environmental anthems, but his nature imagery, apocalyptic warnings, and calls for change in his songs like, 'A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall', 'The Times They Are A-Changin' are relevant.
Joni Mitchell's “Big Yellow Taxi” from her 1970 Ladies of the Canyon album, is an iconic environmental conservation song.
Popular Music Artist: Billie Eilish is a highly popular contemporary artist whose music addresses environmental concerns. Including songs like, 'all the good girls go to hell' from her 2019 debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Relevant poetry suggestions to make the abstract more tangible.
Jim Harrison's poetry is rich with environmental themes.
Gary Snyder has poetry lines that emphasize nature as home, urging deep connection and responsibility, highlighting wildness, simple living, and Indigenous wisdom.
Olafur Eliasson is a leading international figure recognized for large-scale installations and photography that directly engage the public with the climate crisis. His 2015 artwork Ice Watch placed massive blocks of melting ice from Greenland in public squares in Paris and London to highlight the urgency of glacial melt.
American painter Elizabeth Peyton chose her 2019 portrait Greta Thunberg as the leading image of one of her shows and has been depicted in multiple murals. Other visual art focuses on Thunberg's image.
Some of Thunberg's speeches have been incorporated into music. In 2019, Thunberg contributed a voiceover for a release of "The 1975", a song by the English band by the same name.
Sculptor: Courtney Mattison is a former ocean conservation scientist who creates intricate, large-scale ceramic sculptures visualizing the fragile beauty of coral reefs to raise awareness about ocean pollution and warming waters. Her work, such as Confluence and Malum Geminos, uses art to communicate complex scientific issues.
Jason deCaires Taylor: Creates underwater sculptures that form artificial reefs, highlighting marine degradation.
Edward Burtynsky: Known for large-format photos revealing the immense scale of industrial impact on landscapes.
Novel Writer: Kim Stanley Robinson is a leading voice in the "cli-fi" (climate fiction) genre and is widely considered one of its most important contemporary writers. His novel 'New York 2140' is an example.
Edward O. Wilson's nonfiction book, 'Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life' argues that the situation facing us is too large to be solved piecemeal and proposes a solution commensurate with the magnitude of the problem: dedicate half the surface of the Earth to nature.
In L. Ron Hubbard's 1982 science fiction book, 'Battlefield Earth', a saga in the year 3000, mining is portrayed as a destructive, exploitative force driven by alien greed. It serves as a harsh analogy for unchecked corporate extraction and environmental disregard. Humanity is reduced to primitive laborers to facilitate this resource theft for profit, highlighting themes of colonialism and environmental devastation.
As a challenge to complacency, author Daniel Alpert provides a provocative account of a world suffering from economic abundance in his book, 'The Age of Oversupply: Overcoming The Greatest Challenge To The Global Economy' which speaks to the results of laissez-faire ideas.
Leveraging an aphorism, 'use fire to fight fire,' I tried an Artificial Intelligence (AI) experiment to focus on humanistic approaches to improving understanding the dangers of carbon cycle perturbation.
I asked Google's version of AI to 'speculate on a specified individual's or institution's philosophical response to the 21st century climate change crisis? Here is a summary of the results:
a) Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) was an Austro-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language.
He'd emphasize that real change comes from understanding our embeddedness in natural systems, moving beyond mere technical fixes to transform our forms of life (language and practices) to show reverence, rather than just saying we care.
For him, climate response isn't just about scientific facts but changing our form of life, our daily routines, values, and relationships with nature. We are part of nature, not separate masters of it.
He might see purely technical or economic "solutions" (e.g., relying solely on market signals) as insufficient, preferring a gardener's approach by understanding and working within complex systems rather than trying to engineer them from above.
Climate change's profound ethical dimensions might be seen as mystical aspects, requiring a fundamental shift in our worldview, not just more data.
Wittgenstein would diagnose climate denial and inaction not just as ignorance, but as a failure in our language, our practices, and our understanding of our place in the natural world. Like deep, transformative shifts in how we live and speak about our existence.
b) Baruch Spinoza (1632 - 1677), philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin was born in the Dutch Republic. He was a prelude to the Age of Enlightenment.
He rejected traditional religion, dogma, free will, and miracles, proposing that true freedom comes from understanding our place within this determined system, mastering our passions, and finding happiness through increased power and knowledge, ultimately leading to a peaceful, rational life.
Spinoza's philosophical response to 21st-century climate change would likely emphasize rational understanding of humanity's non-dualistic place within nature and motivate action through enlightened self-interest, rather than moral appeals, fear, or guilt. He'd be against moral judgment. He'd say, people are not separate from or masters of nature.
His response to the climate crisis would not be panic, blame, or repentance. Instead, it would require a rational, scientific understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change.
Fundamentally, Spinoza would likely urge humanity to abandon anthropocentric superstition.
c) Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900) was a German philosopher. He was both heavily influenced by and highly critical of Schopenhauer's philosophy.
He is particularly remembered as critical of traditional (Christian) morality and labeling it as being a "slave morality," born from resentment, favoring weakness, pity, and equality, contrasting it with a master morality of strength and affirmation.
A Nietzschean philosophical response to 21st-century climate change would likely be a scathing critique of modern "herd" morality, a rejection of universalist calls for guilt-driven action, and a challenging demand for a revaluation of values leading to a new, life-affirming relationship with the Earth. His perspective would emphasize strength, responsibility, and the emergence of a higher type of human being.
The idea that one "should" conserve the environment out of pity for future generations or other species would be rejected.
He'd likely reject the "Apocalypse" Narrative.
The climate crisis, for Nietzsche, might be a crucial moment of transition—an opportunity to escape consumerism's nihilism and a test that only a "higher" type of human, the Übermensch, could pass.
In essence, Nietzsche would likely see the climate crisis not merely as an environmental problem but as a profound spiritual and cultural challenge, demanding a fundamental re-evaluation of our most deeply held modern values and the cultivation of a stronger, more life-affirming humanity.
d) Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was a German philosopher who witnessed the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. His philosophy is characterized by profound pessimism; the world is a place of suffering, conflict, and endless frustration (the "best of all possible bad worlds").
Pessimism in 1850s Germany stemmed from the failed 1848 revolutions, leading to severe political reaction blow back, crackdowns, limited rights, and heavy censorship, alongside harsh economic realities like poverty and the social costs of early industrialization, fueling emigration and a sense of disillusionment with progress despite eventual growth.
It was a time of economic hardship and deep societal divisions between the rising bourgeoisie and struggling workers, all while traditional order was being noticeably eroded by modernization.
While deeply pessimistic, Schopenhauer transformed art from mere decoration into a substitute religion. Artists were not merely skilled hands; they were priests or prophets of his ideas. His doctrine of aesthetics justified artistic work as a matter of highest importance in human society.
He'd reject the idea that climate art should inspire environmental activism. Art only provides a brief palliative to escape from suffering.
He would likely view 21st-century climate change as entirely predictable and would not offer conventional political or technological solutions, but rather a deeply pessimistic commentary on human nature and the inherent suffering of life.
He'd see climate change as a symptom of industrialization, consumerism, and the relentless pursuit of comfort and growth.
In summary, Schopenhauer would likely look at the climate crisis as a grand, tragic opera, confirming his belief that life is a "senseless and painful episode" driven by a blind force, with human egoism leading inevitably to widespread suffering for all sentient beings.
Schopenhauer's aesthetic doctrine was developed in direct opposition to the philosophy of Hegel and opposition to German Idealism, in general.
e) Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) was a German philosopher. His philosophy is fundamentally and inextricably aligned with German Idealism.
It's worth knowing that German Idealism was a substitute for religion after the U.S. Civil War when Americans were drawn to German Idealism because of a loss of faith in traditional cosmic explanations.
A German Idealist philosophical response to 21st-century climate change would emphasize humanity's moral duty and rational responsibility to protect the environment, viewing the crisis as a manifestation of a damaged relationship between human spirit and the natural world. A profound reorientation of humanity's self-understanding and its place within the natural world is required.
f) David Hume (1711-1776), Scottish philosopher, historian, economist and essayist was a prominent intellectual of the Enlightenment.
He'd surely point out the harsh reality that governments aren’t acting on the climate crisis because they are being paid not to.
He would emphasize the limits of motivating human behavior solely on the basis of facts.
He would stress that the missing link in climate action, as some modern interpretations suggest, is not information, but sufficient public passion and sympathy.
g) Buddhism. The ultimate goal is to achieve Nirvana, a state of liberation from the cycle by eliminating cravings and realizing the true impermanent nature of reality and becoming aware there is no-self. Your actions (karma) in one life determine the conditions of your next existence, potentially leading to rebirth in fortunate realms (gods, humans) or unfortunate ones (animals, ghosts, hells). The cycle of rebirth is inherently unsatisfactory and painful because of clinging to the illusion of a permanent self. Being born human is considered rare and fortunate because it offers the best opportunity to practice the Dharma (i.e., the nature of reality) and attain enlightenment.
Peter Brannen's 2025 book, 'The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything,' provokes explorations into new and old ways of thinking. I've tried to summarize his concepts in the context of related historical understandings, the zeitgeist of our era, and my thoughts on avoiding perturbation of the carbon cycle. It's a revolutionary book with abundant revelations.
I agree with her position on electrification. She supports electrification as part of a larger, systemic shift away from fossil fuels, but stresses it's not a silver bullet; she demands rapid, equitable fossil fuel phase-outs, urgent systemic change over mere individual greenwashing (like just getting an EV), and emphasizes that solutions require deep societal transformation, not just technological fixes, focusing on what we stop doing and keeping the most vulnerable at the center (climate justice).
One reason electrification is not a silver bullet: Copper and consumer electricity are irrevocably linked. "With regard to the large copper industry, today's average grade of copper mined in the U.S. has dropped to only 0.4 percent. This means that 99.6 percent (globally, it's 99.4 percent) of the rock mined in the U.S. for copper doesn't have copper in it. The low-hanging fruit has already been picked. Vastly more rock will need to be mined, ground down, and processed which will take vastly more energy and fresh water, and at a time when both will be in extremely high demand, perhaps direly so." (excerpted from Brannen's book)
This consideration of electrification constraints is in the context of awareness "that currently CO2, in our atmosphere, sits at 421 parts per million, or 0.042 percent, far higher than it's ever been in the history of Homo sapiens. In fact, it's the highest it's been since the Pliocene epoch over 3 million years ago, when evergreen forests stretched all the way to the shores of the Arctic Ocean, the Greenland and the West Antarctic ice sheets likely didn't exist, and the shoreline of the U.S. pushed almost halfway into the Carolinas." (also excerpted from Brannen's book)
Peter Brannen, a science journalist, unequivocally and correctly states that CO2 is essential to life and without question, CO2 came alive on Earth. It's the ultimate source of carbon for all life and is the primary knob of Earth's temperature. And CO2 is our species' signature product.
All life is ultimately made from CO2, and it has kept Earth bizarrely habitable for hundreds of millions of years. In short, it is the most important substance on Earth.
Imagine the unceasing, repetitive movement of CO2 from the air to limestone, coal, liquid petroleum and methane gas and then back into the atmosphere where the longest components of the cycle operate on a hundred-millennia to million-year timescales.
Carbon cycle equilibrium fluctuations can severely impact the biosphere. These perturbation details are interesting, though it's the numerous species-ending results - extinction events, summarized by the geologic time scale, that's the primary story.
The author does an excellent job of linking extinction events represented by geologic time scale divisions to perturbations of the carbon cycle. He skillfully narrates the known details.
And that it's only by reckoning with this planetary scale history that we can understand the cosmic stakes of our current moment on Earth - and how dangerous our experiment with the climate really is.
Humans, like all animals, have a climate niche. It's a surprisingly narrow band of the climate - concentrated between mean annual temperatures of 52°F and 59°F (11°C and 15°C).
A farm in a region that may dry up next year is not loan worthy. A country drowned by sea-level rise on its coasts, charred by wildfires inland, and racked by crop failures is not bondable. And heat makes people stupider and kill each other more.
So, what can be done to stop our burning of fossil fuels, stabilize climate change, and prevent perturbing the carbon cycle?
The author says, "The advocates for degrowth are right about one thing: truly endless growth on a finite planet is physically impossible. Unquestionably, a major energetic retreat today by purposely reducing global GDP would entail incalculable human suffering. Deliberate degrowth isn't a viable strategy.
The author writes minimally and cautiously about the future possibility of generating electricity using commercial nuclear fusion reactors.
The author's opinion is that "there are very good practical and energetic reasons to think fusion as an energy source will not be scalable in the near future, but, as many have noticed, there's a nuclear reactor in the sky that operates and generates energy for free."
He narrates descriptions of a couple of viable alternatives to burning fossil fuels including geothermal heat and geologic hydrogen. Several unfeasible alternatives like, direct air capture machines and splitting water for its hydrogen are described.
The author writes, "After eons freeloading off the energy captured by photosynthesis and burning it back to CO2, we need to capture our own and become photosynthetic.
He also mentions the unfortunate human behavior called the Jevons paradox named after a nineteenth-century English economist. New modes of economy and efficiency almost always leads to an increase of consumption.
"We must be prepared for our carbon dioxide removal schemes to be a failure. Because without all but ceasing CO2 emissions, carbon dioxide removal will be less than useless."
In summary, he says, "we're in deep shit. Still, given what we know about the carbon cycle, on balance it still seems like a no-brainer to try to decarbonize, despite the difficulty. There needs to be a positive vision for the future for people to sign on to, not a prescription for austerity, no matter how righteously advanced. And lets try, as best we can, to avoid being simple catalysts for the resurrection of the Carboniferous."
Beyond this book's focus, I have researched methods of solution with more of a humanistic slant.
Art and philosophy offer crucial tools for tackling climate change by shifting mindsets, fostering emotional connections to nature, visualizing complex data, inspiring hope, and prompting ethical reflection, moving beyond just scientific facts to drive the deep societal & personal changes needed for a sustainable future. Art makes the abstract tangible and acts as a catalyst for dialogue. Philosophy provides tools to critically analyze the cultural norms, consumerism, and power structures that drive the crisis by bridging the gap between knowing about climate change and feeling compelled to act, encouraging radical societal shifts. Together they can move society from a purely rational understanding of climate change to a holistic, values-driven, and action-oriented approach, essential for the "rapid, radical, and transformative societal change" needed.
For starters, listen to these popular songs readily available at YouTube.com.
Neil Young has many songs about the environment, reflecting his deep commitment to climate activism.
After the Gold Rush (1970): The title track paints a dystopian picture of environmental decay. “...look at Mother Nature on the run..."
And his, 'On the Beach' (1974) is about being a vampire “sucking blood from the Earth.” Greendale (2003) is a concept album with characters like "Sun Green" dealing with environmental issues, and anthems like "Be the Rain".
Bob Dylan doesn't have many explicitly environmental anthems, but his nature imagery, apocalyptic warnings, and calls for change in his songs like, 'A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall', 'The Times They Are A-Changin' are relevant.
Joni Mitchell's “Big Yellow Taxi” from her 1970 Ladies of the Canyon album, is an iconic environmental conservation song.
Popular Music Artist: Billie Eilish is a highly popular contemporary artist whose music addresses environmental concerns. Including songs like, 'all the good girls go to hell' from her 2019 debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?
Relevant poetry suggestions to make the abstract more tangible.
Jim Harrison's poetry is rich with environmental themes.
Gary Snyder has poetry lines that emphasize nature as home, urging deep connection and responsibility, highlighting wildness, simple living, and Indigenous wisdom.
Olafur Eliasson is a leading international figure recognized for large-scale installations and photography that directly engage the public with the climate crisis. His 2015 artwork Ice Watch placed massive blocks of melting ice from Greenland in public squares in Paris and London to highlight the urgency of glacial melt.
American painter Elizabeth Peyton chose her 2019 portrait Greta Thunberg as the leading image of one of her shows and has been depicted in multiple murals. Other visual art focuses on Thunberg's image.
Some of Thunberg's speeches have been incorporated into music. In 2019, Thunberg contributed a voiceover for a release of "The 1975", a song by the English band by the same name.
Sculptor: Courtney Mattison is a former ocean conservation scientist who creates intricate, large-scale ceramic sculptures visualizing the fragile beauty of coral reefs to raise awareness about ocean pollution and warming waters. Her work, such as Confluence and Malum Geminos, uses art to communicate complex scientific issues.
Jason deCaires Taylor: Creates underwater sculptures that form artificial reefs, highlighting marine degradation.
Edward Burtynsky: Known for large-format photos revealing the immense scale of industrial impact on landscapes.
Novel Writer: Kim Stanley Robinson is a leading voice in the "cli-fi" (climate fiction) genre and is widely considered one of its most important contemporary writers. His novel 'New York 2140' is an example.
Edward O. Wilson's nonfiction book, 'Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life' argues that the situation facing us is too large to be solved piecemeal and proposes a solution commensurate with the magnitude of the problem: dedicate half the surface of the Earth to nature.
In L. Ron Hubbard's 1982 science fiction book, 'Battlefield Earth', a saga in the year 3000, mining is portrayed as a destructive, exploitative force driven by alien greed. It serves as a harsh analogy for unchecked corporate extraction and environmental disregard. Humanity is reduced to primitive laborers to facilitate this resource theft for profit, highlighting themes of colonialism and environmental devastation.
As a challenge to complacency, author Daniel Alpert provides a provocative account of a world suffering from economic abundance in his book, 'The Age of Oversupply: Overcoming The Greatest Challenge To The Global Economy' which speaks to the results of laissez-faire ideas.
Leveraging an aphorism, 'use fire to fight fire,' I tried an Artificial Intelligence (AI) experiment to focus on humanistic approaches to improving understanding the dangers of carbon cycle perturbation.
I asked Google's version of AI to 'speculate on a specified individual's or institution's philosophical response to the 21st century climate change crisis? Here is a summary of the results:
a) Ludwig Wittgenstein (1889-1951) was an Austro-British philosopher who worked primarily in logic, the philosophy of mathematics, the philosophy of mind, and the philosophy of language.
He'd emphasize that real change comes from understanding our embeddedness in natural systems, moving beyond mere technical fixes to transform our forms of life (language and practices) to show reverence, rather than just saying we care.
For him, climate response isn't just about scientific facts but changing our form of life, our daily routines, values, and relationships with nature. We are part of nature, not separate masters of it.
He might see purely technical or economic "solutions" (e.g., relying solely on market signals) as insufficient, preferring a gardener's approach by understanding and working within complex systems rather than trying to engineer them from above.
Climate change's profound ethical dimensions might be seen as mystical aspects, requiring a fundamental shift in our worldview, not just more data.
Wittgenstein would diagnose climate denial and inaction not just as ignorance, but as a failure in our language, our practices, and our understanding of our place in the natural world. Like deep, transformative shifts in how we live and speak about our existence.
b) Baruch Spinoza (1632 - 1677), philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin was born in the Dutch Republic. He was a prelude to the Age of Enlightenment.
He rejected traditional religion, dogma, free will, and miracles, proposing that true freedom comes from understanding our place within this determined system, mastering our passions, and finding happiness through increased power and knowledge, ultimately leading to a peaceful, rational life.
Spinoza's philosophical response to 21st-century climate change would likely emphasize rational understanding of humanity's non-dualistic place within nature and motivate action through enlightened self-interest, rather than moral appeals, fear, or guilt. He'd be against moral judgment. He'd say, people are not separate from or masters of nature.
His response to the climate crisis would not be panic, blame, or repentance. Instead, it would require a rational, scientific understanding of the causes and consequences of climate change.
Fundamentally, Spinoza would likely urge humanity to abandon anthropocentric superstition.
c) Friedrich Nietzsche (1844 - 1900) was a German philosopher. He was both heavily influenced by and highly critical of Schopenhauer's philosophy.
He is particularly remembered as critical of traditional (Christian) morality and labeling it as being a "slave morality," born from resentment, favoring weakness, pity, and equality, contrasting it with a master morality of strength and affirmation.
A Nietzschean philosophical response to 21st-century climate change would likely be a scathing critique of modern "herd" morality, a rejection of universalist calls for guilt-driven action, and a challenging demand for a revaluation of values leading to a new, life-affirming relationship with the Earth. His perspective would emphasize strength, responsibility, and the emergence of a higher type of human being.
The idea that one "should" conserve the environment out of pity for future generations or other species would be rejected.
He'd likely reject the "Apocalypse" Narrative.
The climate crisis, for Nietzsche, might be a crucial moment of transition—an opportunity to escape consumerism's nihilism and a test that only a "higher" type of human, the Übermensch, could pass.
In essence, Nietzsche would likely see the climate crisis not merely as an environmental problem but as a profound spiritual and cultural challenge, demanding a fundamental re-evaluation of our most deeply held modern values and the cultivation of a stronger, more life-affirming humanity.
d) Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860) was a German philosopher who witnessed the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. His philosophy is characterized by profound pessimism; the world is a place of suffering, conflict, and endless frustration (the "best of all possible bad worlds").
Pessimism in 1850s Germany stemmed from the failed 1848 revolutions, leading to severe political reaction blow back, crackdowns, limited rights, and heavy censorship, alongside harsh economic realities like poverty and the social costs of early industrialization, fueling emigration and a sense of disillusionment with progress despite eventual growth.
It was a time of economic hardship and deep societal divisions between the rising bourgeoisie and struggling workers, all while traditional order was being noticeably eroded by modernization.
While deeply pessimistic, Schopenhauer transformed art from mere decoration into a substitute religion. Artists were not merely skilled hands; they were priests or prophets of his ideas. His doctrine of aesthetics justified artistic work as a matter of highest importance in human society.
He'd reject the idea that climate art should inspire environmental activism. Art only provides a brief palliative to escape from suffering.
He would likely view 21st-century climate change as entirely predictable and would not offer conventional political or technological solutions, but rather a deeply pessimistic commentary on human nature and the inherent suffering of life.
He'd see climate change as a symptom of industrialization, consumerism, and the relentless pursuit of comfort and growth.
In summary, Schopenhauer would likely look at the climate crisis as a grand, tragic opera, confirming his belief that life is a "senseless and painful episode" driven by a blind force, with human egoism leading inevitably to widespread suffering for all sentient beings.
Schopenhauer's aesthetic doctrine was developed in direct opposition to the philosophy of Hegel and opposition to German Idealism, in general.
e) Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) was a German philosopher. His philosophy is fundamentally and inextricably aligned with German Idealism.
It's worth knowing that German Idealism was a substitute for religion after the U.S. Civil War when Americans were drawn to German Idealism because of a loss of faith in traditional cosmic explanations.
A German Idealist philosophical response to 21st-century climate change would emphasize humanity's moral duty and rational responsibility to protect the environment, viewing the crisis as a manifestation of a damaged relationship between human spirit and the natural world. A profound reorientation of humanity's self-understanding and its place within the natural world is required.
f) David Hume (1711-1776), Scottish philosopher, historian, economist and essayist was a prominent intellectual of the Enlightenment.
He'd surely point out the harsh reality that governments aren’t acting on the climate crisis because they are being paid not to.
He would emphasize the limits of motivating human behavior solely on the basis of facts.
He would stress that the missing link in climate action, as some modern interpretations suggest, is not information, but sufficient public passion and sympathy.
g) Buddhism. The ultimate goal is to achieve Nirvana, a state of liberation from the cycle by eliminating cravings and realizing the true impermanent nature of reality and becoming aware there is no-self. Your actions (karma) in one life determine the conditions of your next existence, potentially leading to rebirth in fortunate realms (gods, humans) or unfortunate ones (animals, ghosts, hells). The cycle of rebirth is inherently unsatisfactory and painful because of clinging to the illusion of a permanent self. Being born human is considered rare and fortunate because it offers the best opportunity to practice the Dharma (i.e., the nature of reality) and attain enlightenment.
Peter Brannen's 2025 book, 'The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything,' provokes explorations into new and old ways of thinking. I've tried to summarize his concepts in the context of related historical understandings, the zeitgeist of our era, and my thoughts on avoiding perturbation of the carbon cycle. It's a revolutionary book with abundant revelations.
November 27, 2025
Woahhhh.
August 15, 2025
Peter Brannen’s The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything is a magisterial work of non-fiction: detailed, highly informative, easy to follow without being dumbed down, well-structured, wide-ranging, and engaging. Just an overall fantastic read.
Brannen walks us methodically through the entire history of Earth from literally the very beginning, because as he says in the introduction, “the truly cosmic nature of our current climate crisis can only be understood in the context of deep Earth history.” And so we begin at the Big Bang, move quickly to Earth’s formation, then into its earliest time periods, and from there we move forward age by age and eventually century by century, sometimes slowly sometimes quickly depending on points being made with regard to carbon’s impact on the planet and (eventually) its life forms. Much of the exploration is done through the prism of entropy and the way energy moves through the planetary system, both naturally such as by hurricanes or photosynthesis through most of the planet’s history and then through humanity’s use of coal/fossil fuels.
This is the thread that runs throughout the work and ties all the disparate elements and time periods together, lending it an effective sense of unity and making it all hold together in the reader’s mind. And there are a lot of elements here, as Brannen ranges far afield, not in any digressive sense but more along the lines of showing us how everything (and I mean everything) is connected. So we learn about plate tectonics, unitary continents, clouds, volcanoes, the change in oxygen in our atmosphere, comet impacts, major and minor extinction events, the change in plant life over time, the shift in carbon usage within photosynthesis, ocean currents, the move from hunter-gatherer systems to agriculture, domestication of animals (especially the horse), the Nazi war machine running down, the Industrial Revolution, human evolution, mastery of fire, imperialism, and the list goes on. All of it tied to carbon’s impact. It sounds like it should be overwhelming ,but it is not, not at all. Instead it is fascinating, mesmerizing, and stimulating as the interconnectedness of it all comes into sight. I’ve rarely felt so widely and fully informed on a topic in terms of context.
The end point, of course, is the warning we’ve been ignoring for decades now — that our sudden blast of carbon into the atmosphere, which though less than has been ejected before is now occurring in a much, much, much, more concentrated time period is leading us to a series of tipping points that can potential bring human modern civilization down (not humans — he is not calling this an extinction event). This is no rant or diatribe, and anyone who thinks this is about “global warming” is grossly simplifying and distorting this scientific and social history. As noted above, Brannen is methodical and patient, building a deep and abiding understanding with occasional dips into our current danger, before towards the end dealing with climate change more directly, though not at any great length and in any self-righteous fashion (and in fact, he is critical of those who argue for “the world” to draw down energy or people in general to cut back, pointing out for instance that for poorer countries, increased energy use goes not to huge SUVs or backyard water fountains but to hospitals and food. As he says, “these ae not luxuries.” Refusing them that would be a gross act of immorality.
As for what to do about it, things get a bit depressing there. Brannen concisely dismisses (with explanation) a number of suggested paths to bring our carbon emissions down (cutting back energy growth, geoengineering, etc.) and ends up, in a highly relatable expression, where a lot of us probably are: “in summary, we’re in deep shit.” He ends, however, somehow, on a somewhat hopeful (or at least, not hopeless) note.
Beyond the content, Brannen is an excellent writer and stylist. It’s one of best written non-fiction books I’ve read in some time. Always clear, always engaging, sometimes lyrical, always precise, often making use of good metaphors/analogies, often returning back to earlier points to keep things coherent but without becoming repetitive. Really, it’s just an overall excellent work of non-fiction and one I can’t recommend enough.
Brannen walks us methodically through the entire history of Earth from literally the very beginning, because as he says in the introduction, “the truly cosmic nature of our current climate crisis can only be understood in the context of deep Earth history.” And so we begin at the Big Bang, move quickly to Earth’s formation, then into its earliest time periods, and from there we move forward age by age and eventually century by century, sometimes slowly sometimes quickly depending on points being made with regard to carbon’s impact on the planet and (eventually) its life forms. Much of the exploration is done through the prism of entropy and the way energy moves through the planetary system, both naturally such as by hurricanes or photosynthesis through most of the planet’s history and then through humanity’s use of coal/fossil fuels.
This is the thread that runs throughout the work and ties all the disparate elements and time periods together, lending it an effective sense of unity and making it all hold together in the reader’s mind. And there are a lot of elements here, as Brannen ranges far afield, not in any digressive sense but more along the lines of showing us how everything (and I mean everything) is connected. So we learn about plate tectonics, unitary continents, clouds, volcanoes, the change in oxygen in our atmosphere, comet impacts, major and minor extinction events, the change in plant life over time, the shift in carbon usage within photosynthesis, ocean currents, the move from hunter-gatherer systems to agriculture, domestication of animals (especially the horse), the Nazi war machine running down, the Industrial Revolution, human evolution, mastery of fire, imperialism, and the list goes on. All of it tied to carbon’s impact. It sounds like it should be overwhelming ,but it is not, not at all. Instead it is fascinating, mesmerizing, and stimulating as the interconnectedness of it all comes into sight. I’ve rarely felt so widely and fully informed on a topic in terms of context.
The end point, of course, is the warning we’ve been ignoring for decades now — that our sudden blast of carbon into the atmosphere, which though less than has been ejected before is now occurring in a much, much, much, more concentrated time period is leading us to a series of tipping points that can potential bring human modern civilization down (not humans — he is not calling this an extinction event). This is no rant or diatribe, and anyone who thinks this is about “global warming” is grossly simplifying and distorting this scientific and social history. As noted above, Brannen is methodical and patient, building a deep and abiding understanding with occasional dips into our current danger, before towards the end dealing with climate change more directly, though not at any great length and in any self-righteous fashion (and in fact, he is critical of those who argue for “the world” to draw down energy or people in general to cut back, pointing out for instance that for poorer countries, increased energy use goes not to huge SUVs or backyard water fountains but to hospitals and food. As he says, “these ae not luxuries.” Refusing them that would be a gross act of immorality.
As for what to do about it, things get a bit depressing there. Brannen concisely dismisses (with explanation) a number of suggested paths to bring our carbon emissions down (cutting back energy growth, geoengineering, etc.) and ends up, in a highly relatable expression, where a lot of us probably are: “in summary, we’re in deep shit.” He ends, however, somehow, on a somewhat hopeful (or at least, not hopeless) note.
Beyond the content, Brannen is an excellent writer and stylist. It’s one of best written non-fiction books I’ve read in some time. Always clear, always engaging, sometimes lyrical, always precise, often making use of good metaphors/analogies, often returning back to earlier points to keep things coherent but without becoming repetitive. Really, it’s just an overall excellent work of non-fiction and one I can’t recommend enough.
February 1, 2026
This is an incredibly broad-scoped, powerful and well-written book. It's also unflinchly realistic, even downright scary at the possibility of Homo sapiens' self-destructive future and the role of modern capitalism in possibly? probably? likely? bringing that about.
First, Peter Brannen may be the most vivid of deeply popularizing science writers, more so for sure than Ed Yong, Steve Brussatte or Ben Goldacre. The prose isn’t purplish, but it is vivid.
Sample: “We kill more dinosaurs every year in industrial chicken slaughterhouses than the End-Cretaceous asteroid ever did.”
Second, note how I phrased that. “Pop science” is Mary Roach of the 3 stars on every book. “Deep” or “deeply popularizing science” means a level of intellectual and empirical depth far beyond the likes of her. Indeed, this book is probably deeper than the three above. It gets into climate science, but starts with the latest in geology and biochemistry. When I saw Nick Lane mentioned more than once, I knew we were in good territory.
On the geology side, as far as writing, interviewing and observational skills, he’s like a younger, more vivid John McPhee. Fans of his should definitely read this.
I was worried when, on the inside back dust cover, it said he has written for places like Atlantic Monthly. I was expecting a neoliberal capitalism take on climate change. But, even in the first one-third of the book, there’s plenty of intellectual smackdown that goes beyond that.
That first one-third gets us up to the start of the Cambrian Explosion. From there, the rest of the first half takes us through first the Carboniferous, its explosion of plant life that turned into coal, then the Permian and beyond, and its dinosaurs and other animals that turned into oil and natural gas.
Part two of the book first deals with the post-asteroid world of mammals, then the world of humans, with the last chapter laying out just how much of an uphill sled we face as a planet trying to get to a post-carbon world. Governments around the world are lying to you when they’re not practicing climate nationalism. Neoliberal environmentalists are also lying to you.
In that last chapter, siding with James Hansen vs Michael Mann’s attacks on him, Brannen notes that a number of climate change models show us breaking 5°C by early-middle next century. My own study of Hansen’s findings that provoked Mann’s unwarranted attack show a not-impossible outside chance of 5°C by the end of THIS century.
With that and more in mind, Brannen notes he has no idea if we can even really pull off a Manhattan Project of addressing climate change. But, he says the semi-metaphorical equivalent of “die trying” is better than doing nothing.
Side note: Per a “go-to” geologist extensively interviewed, Brannen hints that the amount of contingency involved with the start of animal life, and additional contingency needed for the environment to sustain it for eons, should make us take a much more pessimistic approach to the Drake Equation and possible parameters than the SETI types do.
Side note two: I’ve long thought Bill Nye the Science Guy is both an attention whore and at least partially full of shit on the “science guy.” Confirmation of that, and note of how far back this goes, pages 401-02:
“In 1996 … Walt Disney World opened its Exxon-sponsored ride, “Ellen’s Energy Adventure.” It was hosted by an ingenuous duo of Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye, who introduced ridegoers to the country’s energy system, laundering every familiar industry talking point — hyping “clean coal,” casting doubt on renewables, and lauding offshore drilling.”
First, Peter Brannen may be the most vivid of deeply popularizing science writers, more so for sure than Ed Yong, Steve Brussatte or Ben Goldacre. The prose isn’t purplish, but it is vivid.
Sample: “We kill more dinosaurs every year in industrial chicken slaughterhouses than the End-Cretaceous asteroid ever did.”
Second, note how I phrased that. “Pop science” is Mary Roach of the 3 stars on every book. “Deep” or “deeply popularizing science” means a level of intellectual and empirical depth far beyond the likes of her. Indeed, this book is probably deeper than the three above. It gets into climate science, but starts with the latest in geology and biochemistry. When I saw Nick Lane mentioned more than once, I knew we were in good territory.
On the geology side, as far as writing, interviewing and observational skills, he’s like a younger, more vivid John McPhee. Fans of his should definitely read this.
I was worried when, on the inside back dust cover, it said he has written for places like Atlantic Monthly. I was expecting a neoliberal capitalism take on climate change. But, even in the first one-third of the book, there’s plenty of intellectual smackdown that goes beyond that.
That first one-third gets us up to the start of the Cambrian Explosion. From there, the rest of the first half takes us through first the Carboniferous, its explosion of plant life that turned into coal, then the Permian and beyond, and its dinosaurs and other animals that turned into oil and natural gas.
Part two of the book first deals with the post-asteroid world of mammals, then the world of humans, with the last chapter laying out just how much of an uphill sled we face as a planet trying to get to a post-carbon world. Governments around the world are lying to you when they’re not practicing climate nationalism. Neoliberal environmentalists are also lying to you.
In that last chapter, siding with James Hansen vs Michael Mann’s attacks on him, Brannen notes that a number of climate change models show us breaking 5°C by early-middle next century. My own study of Hansen’s findings that provoked Mann’s unwarranted attack show a not-impossible outside chance of 5°C by the end of THIS century.
With that and more in mind, Brannen notes he has no idea if we can even really pull off a Manhattan Project of addressing climate change. But, he says the semi-metaphorical equivalent of “die trying” is better than doing nothing.
Side note: Per a “go-to” geologist extensively interviewed, Brannen hints that the amount of contingency involved with the start of animal life, and additional contingency needed for the environment to sustain it for eons, should make us take a much more pessimistic approach to the Drake Equation and possible parameters than the SETI types do.
Side note two: I’ve long thought Bill Nye the Science Guy is both an attention whore and at least partially full of shit on the “science guy.” Confirmation of that, and note of how far back this goes, pages 401-02:
“In 1996 … Walt Disney World opened its Exxon-sponsored ride, “Ellen’s Energy Adventure.” It was hosted by an ingenuous duo of Ellen DeGeneres and Bill Nye, who introduced ridegoers to the country’s energy system, laundering every familiar industry talking point — hyping “clean coal,” casting doubt on renewables, and lauding offshore drilling.”
November 6, 2025
An ambitious and really quite impressive synthesis of a whole array of disparate topics, many of which I've been thinking & reading about a great deal over the last few years. That might be why this book has provoked me into my first review.
Part 1 is an utterly fascinating dive into how Earth's carbon cycle works and has been foundational to the emergence of life. This is illustrated by a wonderfully colourful journey through our planet's deep history, focusing on particular moments when things have gone awry, causing mass extinctions of living beings, and explaining how CO2 levels are pretty well always implicated in these processes. The first half is so rich in details and interconnections that will shake your assumptions and understanding of the world, including that the storing of fossil fuels below ground is what gave rise to the oxygen-rich atmosphere we depend on. As he ties together energy, geology, ecology, and metaphysics, Brannen is truly masterful in Part 1.
Part 2 then integrates this Earth science and deep-time context into the course of human history and civilisation, attempting to synthesise the realities of our physical, living planet with a modern politics and economics that are wholly determined to ignore and obscure those realities. He emphasises the all-important connection between material/energetic throughput and economic growth which makes clear that, even ignoring all the environmental challenges we face, we would still need to pivot away from fossil fuels pretty urgently, since we're burning through them millions of times quicker than they can regenerate. He also does a good job of dispelling the myth that efficiency gains will lead to declining energy use, or indeed easier lives. This section is really skilful and perceptive - until, towards the end, we arrive at the so-what-should-we-do-about-it? chapter.
Here, Brannen turns out to be about as psychologically incapable as most of us of contending with the revolutionary implications of the utter catastrophe that he's spent the last few hundred pages staring in the face. The cognitive dissonance is plain to see as he meticulously dismantles the prospect of endless economic growth with finite resources, all the while dismissing post-growth economics as cynical and misanthropic. He makes no bones about the fact that "we're in deep shit." But then, inexplicably, his prescription ends up being a pretty limp "the only way is through," suggesting that we should just continue decarbonising (presumably at the excruciatingly slow rate that capital investment dictates?) without attempting to change the structure of our economies, much less our relationship with the world, and, essentially, hope for the best. (I'm obviously doing considerable violence to his argument here for the sake of brevity - but that appears to be the gist of it.)
Don't get me wrong, I loved this book. It is valuable and intelligent, and many more people should read it than will. Sure, the ending is a bit confused. Sure, a book that brings such clarity to bear on connecting our species' story to the Earth's physical processes might have had more to say about our profound cultural and psychological disconnect with those same physical processes, and the living world more broadly. Nevertheless, this is an exceptional, important book that dishes up a lot of insight into the world around us, and provides no small amount of wonder at the mystery of life on the planet we call home.
Part 1 is an utterly fascinating dive into how Earth's carbon cycle works and has been foundational to the emergence of life. This is illustrated by a wonderfully colourful journey through our planet's deep history, focusing on particular moments when things have gone awry, causing mass extinctions of living beings, and explaining how CO2 levels are pretty well always implicated in these processes. The first half is so rich in details and interconnections that will shake your assumptions and understanding of the world, including that the storing of fossil fuels below ground is what gave rise to the oxygen-rich atmosphere we depend on. As he ties together energy, geology, ecology, and metaphysics, Brannen is truly masterful in Part 1.
Part 2 then integrates this Earth science and deep-time context into the course of human history and civilisation, attempting to synthesise the realities of our physical, living planet with a modern politics and economics that are wholly determined to ignore and obscure those realities. He emphasises the all-important connection between material/energetic throughput and economic growth which makes clear that, even ignoring all the environmental challenges we face, we would still need to pivot away from fossil fuels pretty urgently, since we're burning through them millions of times quicker than they can regenerate. He also does a good job of dispelling the myth that efficiency gains will lead to declining energy use, or indeed easier lives. This section is really skilful and perceptive - until, towards the end, we arrive at the so-what-should-we-do-about-it? chapter.
Here, Brannen turns out to be about as psychologically incapable as most of us of contending with the revolutionary implications of the utter catastrophe that he's spent the last few hundred pages staring in the face. The cognitive dissonance is plain to see as he meticulously dismantles the prospect of endless economic growth with finite resources, all the while dismissing post-growth economics as cynical and misanthropic. He makes no bones about the fact that "we're in deep shit." But then, inexplicably, his prescription ends up being a pretty limp "the only way is through," suggesting that we should just continue decarbonising (presumably at the excruciatingly slow rate that capital investment dictates?) without attempting to change the structure of our economies, much less our relationship with the world, and, essentially, hope for the best. (I'm obviously doing considerable violence to his argument here for the sake of brevity - but that appears to be the gist of it.)
Don't get me wrong, I loved this book. It is valuable and intelligent, and many more people should read it than will. Sure, the ending is a bit confused. Sure, a book that brings such clarity to bear on connecting our species' story to the Earth's physical processes might have had more to say about our profound cultural and psychological disconnect with those same physical processes, and the living world more broadly. Nevertheless, this is an exceptional, important book that dishes up a lot of insight into the world around us, and provides no small amount of wonder at the mystery of life on the planet we call home.
October 2, 2025
The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything~~~
There;s a touring high school percussionist band in Lincoln that calls themselves Pangea. They may be under the impression that the second supercontinent in Earth's geologic history was cool, as if it reflected well on their band, but the supercontinents were dead and deadly places no living thing would be able to inhabit. Pangea actually had five mass instinctions. This is just one little thing I learned in science writer Peter Brannen's 2025 book The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything with a long subtitle.
The most important thing I learned was that it's not how much carbon dioxide (CO2) is in our atmosphere that's so crucial, but how fast it's accumulating in said atmosphere. Only once before was a massive amount of CO2 released so quickly into the atmosphere as today and that was several epochs ago, was caused by a spontaneous eruption of volcanos, and the Earth just about died.
You might have noticed that word 'spontaneous' in the last paragraph, That means the volcanic eruptions were triggered when CO2 passed a threshold in the Earth that had to be released in lava,
The fossil fuel industry and the agriculture industry, which includes cows farting methane that turns into CO2, are two of the largest CO2 releasers into our atmosphere. If Earth is to have a chance to safely store that awesome amount of CO2, such as in the ocean depths and new rock that needs weathering, then the industries must slow down energy production using fossil fuels. Renewable energy sources aren't the best solution. We the people need to use much less energy, Find different hobbies like reading books, sports, board games, art, conversation.
I also learned that we live in a brief interlude between ice ages called an interglacial. We and our fellow creatures evolved in a very rare interglacial period, which is why we have ice caps on the poles and why they must stay covered in ice if the Earth is to remain habitable.
Carbon dioxide may be a miniscule part of our atmosphere, but it is why we have life and can live here, Our sun sends a bit of CO2 to us, which causes the Earth to try to get rid of it so it could return to its equilibrium, which meant it wanted to be eternally dead. The Earth never wanted life, which is its way of trying to get rid of CO2. How do religious people explain that, I wonder?
Brannen doesn't sugar coat our immense challenges in regards to our climate change, but I think he could've mentioned that robots may help in many ways in the near future. Let's hope!
Oh, and dinosaurs ruled Earth for 135 million years. Climate change probably got them in the end,
There;s a touring high school percussionist band in Lincoln that calls themselves Pangea. They may be under the impression that the second supercontinent in Earth's geologic history was cool, as if it reflected well on their band, but the supercontinents were dead and deadly places no living thing would be able to inhabit. Pangea actually had five mass instinctions. This is just one little thing I learned in science writer Peter Brannen's 2025 book The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything with a long subtitle.
The most important thing I learned was that it's not how much carbon dioxide (CO2) is in our atmosphere that's so crucial, but how fast it's accumulating in said atmosphere. Only once before was a massive amount of CO2 released so quickly into the atmosphere as today and that was several epochs ago, was caused by a spontaneous eruption of volcanos, and the Earth just about died.
You might have noticed that word 'spontaneous' in the last paragraph, That means the volcanic eruptions were triggered when CO2 passed a threshold in the Earth that had to be released in lava,
The fossil fuel industry and the agriculture industry, which includes cows farting methane that turns into CO2, are two of the largest CO2 releasers into our atmosphere. If Earth is to have a chance to safely store that awesome amount of CO2, such as in the ocean depths and new rock that needs weathering, then the industries must slow down energy production using fossil fuels. Renewable energy sources aren't the best solution. We the people need to use much less energy, Find different hobbies like reading books, sports, board games, art, conversation.
I also learned that we live in a brief interlude between ice ages called an interglacial. We and our fellow creatures evolved in a very rare interglacial period, which is why we have ice caps on the poles and why they must stay covered in ice if the Earth is to remain habitable.
Carbon dioxide may be a miniscule part of our atmosphere, but it is why we have life and can live here, Our sun sends a bit of CO2 to us, which causes the Earth to try to get rid of it so it could return to its equilibrium, which meant it wanted to be eternally dead. The Earth never wanted life, which is its way of trying to get rid of CO2. How do religious people explain that, I wonder?
Brannen doesn't sugar coat our immense challenges in regards to our climate change, but I think he could've mentioned that robots may help in many ways in the near future. Let's hope!
Oh, and dinosaurs ruled Earth for 135 million years. Climate change probably got them in the end,
September 30, 2025
Peter Brannen's The Ends of the World is an all time favorite for me, so I was stoked to get my hands on this bad boy. Brannen is just a marvelous writer who brings a sense of humor and, not to overstate things, but the soul of a poet to what is frequently some pretty hard science. I kept highlighting parts to come back to, here's one:
I admit I had to take a pause in the middle and read a few random thriller novels to let my brain chill for a minute because this book serves up a LOT of information. But I was delighted to return, despite the fact that we are all doomed. I'm glad to be alive at the same time as Brannen here in the last geological quarter-second of a human-habitable Earth.
My thanks to Ecco and NetGalley for the ARC. Quote above is from the ARC and may not reflect what's in the final copy.
The blasted planet that followed the greatest catastrophe of all time was extremely boring. Two hundred fifty million years ago, a globetrotting ecologist could have traveled to the ends of the Earth only to find, everywhere, the same impoverished ecosystems. The same stupid clam in this tidepool was the same stupid clam you'd see in all the other tidepools, thousands of miles away, all around the planet, everywhere you went. The same torpid little piglike Lystrosaurus picking at weeds in Antarctica was the same ugly creature you'd find gnawing on the same miserable shrubs in China, or Russia, or India, or Africa. Life was drab, simple, generalist, weedy. The world was deserted, dismal, and insanely hot.
I admit I had to take a pause in the middle and read a few random thriller novels to let my brain chill for a minute because this book serves up a LOT of information. But I was delighted to return, despite the fact that we are all doomed. I'm glad to be alive at the same time as Brannen here in the last geological quarter-second of a human-habitable Earth.
My thanks to Ecco and NetGalley for the ARC. Quote above is from the ARC and may not reflect what's in the final copy.
September 8, 2025
Thanks Ecco for the gifted ARC book.
As Brannen states in the Acknowledgment of The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything, “this book covers an inadvisably wide range of subjects,” and it most certainly does. I thought I had started reading early enough to finish before the pub date, but this ended up being a dense and consuming read that took longer than I anticipated, though I’m totally okay with that. I tabbed a ridiculous number of pages.
There’s life in the writing as it has a literary touch rather than being straight-up academic. It’s well-researched and grotesquely educational without being dry. This is the kind of book that makes my science brain simultaneously rejoice at the depth of fascinating knowledge we have about how things work while also feeling a little overwhelmed by the intricacies of how those things work. We’re talking about billions of years of planetary history!
So much is covered here, some in more detail than others, all in a cohesive manner. Everything truly comes back to the carbon cycle and carbon dioxide – a substance essential to life, yet responsible for destruction. Photosynthesis and climate change may be the first things that come to mind on the topic of carbon dioxide, however, Brannen discusses its influence on hunter/gatherer societies, mass extinctions, the Industrial Revolution, capitalism, and much more. After reading, you’d be hard-pressed to find something that cannot be connected back to carbon.
This was definitely an engaging read! Ultimately, this exploration and understanding of the carbon cycle is important if we are to have hope of avoiding future planetary catastrophe.
As Brannen states in the Acknowledgment of The Story of CO2 is the Story of Everything, “this book covers an inadvisably wide range of subjects,” and it most certainly does. I thought I had started reading early enough to finish before the pub date, but this ended up being a dense and consuming read that took longer than I anticipated, though I’m totally okay with that. I tabbed a ridiculous number of pages.
There’s life in the writing as it has a literary touch rather than being straight-up academic. It’s well-researched and grotesquely educational without being dry. This is the kind of book that makes my science brain simultaneously rejoice at the depth of fascinating knowledge we have about how things work while also feeling a little overwhelmed by the intricacies of how those things work. We’re talking about billions of years of planetary history!
So much is covered here, some in more detail than others, all in a cohesive manner. Everything truly comes back to the carbon cycle and carbon dioxide – a substance essential to life, yet responsible for destruction. Photosynthesis and climate change may be the first things that come to mind on the topic of carbon dioxide, however, Brannen discusses its influence on hunter/gatherer societies, mass extinctions, the Industrial Revolution, capitalism, and much more. After reading, you’d be hard-pressed to find something that cannot be connected back to carbon.
This was definitely an engaging read! Ultimately, this exploration and understanding of the carbon cycle is important if we are to have hope of avoiding future planetary catastrophe.
December 26, 2025
I’m not sure what Brannen’s background is, but I think it’s more literary than scientific. This book is dense and I’m sure rigorously researched, but full of metaphor and comparisons… and several pretentious vocabulary words without definition while some of the simple science is described over and over. This absolutely was written in chapters or sections that were later combined and need a stronger editor. Despite these drawbacks the premise, and evidence, were so compelling I did finish in just a few sittings.
The time spent on description was great to get through the strange configurations and eras of the entire history of Earth. The repetition can be useful to remind readers of which era was which, but the writing could also have been better organized to make the point without having to jump around or dive so deep. As we move from deep history to modern time I lost some interest. This period has more data, but the story got muddled. Perhaps it is predicting the future that gets muddled.
A small point, but the hardcover has a handful of photos and illustrations - but about half are not useful or even truly referenced. A lot of the dinosaurs or continental configurations which are very important and which we are told to look up are not included. It should have been easy to get permission to reproduce, with credit, an educational illustration of some kind. And saved the reader from several of the repeated descriptions.
The time spent on description was great to get through the strange configurations and eras of the entire history of Earth. The repetition can be useful to remind readers of which era was which, but the writing could also have been better organized to make the point without having to jump around or dive so deep. As we move from deep history to modern time I lost some interest. This period has more data, but the story got muddled. Perhaps it is predicting the future that gets muddled.
A small point, but the hardcover has a handful of photos and illustrations - but about half are not useful or even truly referenced. A lot of the dinosaurs or continental configurations which are very important and which we are told to look up are not included. It should have been easy to get permission to reproduce, with credit, an educational illustration of some kind. And saved the reader from several of the repeated descriptions.
January 4, 2026
I read "The Ends of the World" by Brannen before this book, and this is a repeat of much of what is covered in his previous book. The difference is in the detail and the telling, and perhaps the presentation in relation to the current situation of humanity in the planetary ecosystem. I enjoyed "Ends" a bit more, perhaps because I read it first, but also it was a more sequential presentation of information. This is still a good book that some people may like better.
From page 16, describing life over the eons on Earth and humanity now: "But if we are to endure on Earth for anything like geologic time, we need to find our civilizational rhythms in the pulsing flows and tributaries of this life-sustaining carbon cycle."
I also found this paragraph on page 248 worth remarking on:
'Today the entire industrialized world is held up by the energy released by oxidizing organic carbon back to CO2.... We just happen to be burning all the plant matter in Earth history that we can get our hands on, buried in the crust.... We are what's known as an "obligate pyrophile." We need fire to survive....'
Brannen states things clearly and directly, if perhaps a bit wordy in some places if only to get the necessary amount of information across. Study his conclusions about what humanity can do to reduce the effects of its own effect on the CO2 flush into the atmosphere. As he wrote, "In summary, we're in deep shit,..." (page 428).
From page 16, describing life over the eons on Earth and humanity now: "But if we are to endure on Earth for anything like geologic time, we need to find our civilizational rhythms in the pulsing flows and tributaries of this life-sustaining carbon cycle."
I also found this paragraph on page 248 worth remarking on:
'Today the entire industrialized world is held up by the energy released by oxidizing organic carbon back to CO2.... We just happen to be burning all the plant matter in Earth history that we can get our hands on, buried in the crust.... We are what's known as an "obligate pyrophile." We need fire to survive....'
Brannen states things clearly and directly, if perhaps a bit wordy in some places if only to get the necessary amount of information across. Study his conclusions about what humanity can do to reduce the effects of its own effect on the CO2 flush into the atmosphere. As he wrote, "In summary, we're in deep shit,..." (page 428).
February 6, 2026
Please note: the page count on here is off. It says that this book is 512 pages long. The actual book, without the Bibliography is actually 447 pages long.
So I "won" this book in the Goodreads giveaways. I am not paid to say anything but I do want to put my two cents in.
The book seems long. It's dry. That doesn't mean it's a bad book or that the information in it is worthless. On the contrary...it's great info. It opened my eyes to how the evolution of CO2 manifested itself. Something you never walk around and think about or ponder. We just go about our days and do our thing without thinking about it.
With that being said, I think there are parts in this book that could have been consolidated or removed. But would that make the book better? I don't have an answer for that.
I did enjoy the book though. It starts off with the creation of our Planet then goes through the Geographical timeline of our planet to demonstrate how CO2 is the process that binds everything together. There are moments of this book that seems like he is reiterating the same point he did a few paragraphs earlier, which made it a bit hard to really figure out if you are just reading the same thing again as if you lost your page, or the author is trying to drive a point home.
I will have to say that the author did a great job of researching this book. So there is no doubt that when you are reading his narratives, he is pretty close to being an expert.
So I "won" this book in the Goodreads giveaways. I am not paid to say anything but I do want to put my two cents in.
The book seems long. It's dry. That doesn't mean it's a bad book or that the information in it is worthless. On the contrary...it's great info. It opened my eyes to how the evolution of CO2 manifested itself. Something you never walk around and think about or ponder. We just go about our days and do our thing without thinking about it.
With that being said, I think there are parts in this book that could have been consolidated or removed. But would that make the book better? I don't have an answer for that.
I did enjoy the book though. It starts off with the creation of our Planet then goes through the Geographical timeline of our planet to demonstrate how CO2 is the process that binds everything together. There are moments of this book that seems like he is reiterating the same point he did a few paragraphs earlier, which made it a bit hard to really figure out if you are just reading the same thing again as if you lost your page, or the author is trying to drive a point home.
I will have to say that the author did a great job of researching this book. So there is no doubt that when you are reading his narratives, he is pretty close to being an expert.
October 27, 2025
This is a good and important book. Everyone should read either this or his other book Ends of the World. Ideally, folks will take the time to read both.
The carbon cycle provides a grand, unifying framework to understand not just ecology, geology, and evolution; it also provides a powerful lens through which a lot of human history, industry, and economics can be understood as well. It really is the story of everything. Or, at least the things we care about on this planet.
Somewhat paradoxically I found the deep history and geologic context these books provide simultaneously reassuring and deeply disturbing. It is not like what is happening to our climate today is incomprehensible or unprecedented. Actually, it is very similar to things that have occurred to this planet before. The mechanisms make perfect sense. It is just that when these things happen, it doesn’t go well for life on this planet.
Hopefully lots of people read these books, and the shared knowledge becomes the foundation for collaborative action.
The carbon cycle provides a grand, unifying framework to understand not just ecology, geology, and evolution; it also provides a powerful lens through which a lot of human history, industry, and economics can be understood as well. It really is the story of everything. Or, at least the things we care about on this planet.
Somewhat paradoxically I found the deep history and geologic context these books provide simultaneously reassuring and deeply disturbing. It is not like what is happening to our climate today is incomprehensible or unprecedented. Actually, it is very similar to things that have occurred to this planet before. The mechanisms make perfect sense. It is just that when these things happen, it doesn’t go well for life on this planet.
Hopefully lots of people read these books, and the shared knowledge becomes the foundation for collaborative action.
January 17, 2026
As the author makes abundantly clear, carbon dioxide is central to life on Earth. Yes, water is important, but life as we know it would not exist without CO2. A brief introduction starts with the Big Bang but quickly moves to approximately 4 BYA. What follows is a careful progression through Earth’s climatological and biological history, with attention to the role of CO2 at each step. The cause of each extinction is described, and except for Chicxulub, they tend to be related to the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Whether it’s Snowball Earth, volcanism, or other mechanisms that have such effect, wandering asteroids large enough to cause the destruction of one of the most successful lineages on Earth are quite rare.
Peter Brannen presents one of the clearest explanations of entropy for a non-technical reader that I have ever read. Then he brings it into every chapter possible, even in discussing the end of the solar system and trillions of years off, the “death” of the universe. This book is well-organized, eminently readable, and scary as all get out.
Peter Brannen presents one of the clearest explanations of entropy for a non-technical reader that I have ever read. Then he brings it into every chapter possible, even in discussing the end of the solar system and trillions of years off, the “death” of the universe. This book is well-organized, eminently readable, and scary as all get out.
October 26, 2025
This book is a colossal history of geologic time through human time. The epic throes of planetary history are of the likes we cannot imagine and at timescales beyond our depths of understanding. Some extremes that happened before we may face on a timescale of our own minuscule making. All because we live out of sync with the carbon cycle. This we know, but in this book you go on the full journey and it is one hell of a ride. I would love if this book was made into a documentary series for even bigger impact. Unfortunately it ends on the usual note of books like these—an inconclusive take on what we should do other than to try. Maybe as a sequel (or complementary book) to complete this saga would be one on what are the collective psychological flaws of humans that make us unable to be curious about deep time or generally empathetic to the world around us.
May 3, 2025
This book is a history of carbon dioxide and how it interacts with life and the planet, starting all the way at the beginning of life and ending with modern times.
I saw this on Netgalley and I was intrigued so I asked for a copy. I’m glad I did because this book was fascinating. It covers the start of life, different mass extinctions, different ice ages, different time periods and the life involved in them, the rise of humanity, and the state of humanity and the environment today. I can tell this was well researched. There was so much in this that I didn’t know about before and I loved learning about it. This book is very well written in my opinion and very readable.
Overall I greatly enjoyed this and highly recommend it for nonfiction fans/readers of all ages.
I saw this on Netgalley and I was intrigued so I asked for a copy. I’m glad I did because this book was fascinating. It covers the start of life, different mass extinctions, different ice ages, different time periods and the life involved in them, the rise of humanity, and the state of humanity and the environment today. I can tell this was well researched. There was so much in this that I didn’t know about before and I loved learning about it. This book is very well written in my opinion and very readable.
Overall I greatly enjoyed this and highly recommend it for nonfiction fans/readers of all ages.
August 26, 2025
This book explores the crucial role of carbon dioxide in Earth’s history, from its contribution to life’s evolution to its current threat to the climate. By understanding the carbon cycle, we can better address the global climate crisis.
The book is full of useful information but written in a purely fact-based style that does nothing to take the reader’s well-being into account. The tone is alarmist. A few pages of the introduction are enough to inspire existential terror. If you’re interested enough in the subject to find the book valuable, take whatever steps you need to in order to protect your mental health.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
The book is full of useful information but written in a purely fact-based style that does nothing to take the reader’s well-being into account. The tone is alarmist. A few pages of the introduction are enough to inspire existential terror. If you’re interested enough in the subject to find the book valuable, take whatever steps you need to in order to protect your mental health.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC I received. This is my honest and voluntary review.
September 22, 2025
Enlightening. He draws heavily from his geology / biogeochemistry / planetary science which he used in his earlier work, and goes beyond, bringing in theories about the origin of metabolism (e.g., life), anthropology, economics and history. He puts climate change (the dynamics of C02, oxygen, the carbon cycle) into a geological time framework, and shows so well how we are now a geological force. A heavy dose of anthropomorphic and effusive adjectives ... but with a purpose. Sobering.
Although I believe I am reasonably well-versed in current issues about climate change, this work provided me with geological time-scale perspectives, and an understanding of how our technological and financial structures interconnected, to make us a powerful geological force.
Although I believe I am reasonably well-versed in current issues about climate change, this work provided me with geological time-scale perspectives, and an understanding of how our technological and financial structures interconnected, to make us a powerful geological force.
September 28, 2025
This book has everything I want out of a nonfiction: straightforward, well-researched and a little bit scary. Honestly just the idea of this book was exciting to me because I’m shocked at how few CO2 books are out there for the public. This pick is easy to follow but still scientifically robust.
I think Brannen does a brilliant job making concepts accessible and looping back to previous concepts and metaphors to show just how CO2 is connected to everything we are, do, eat and breathe. A wealth of recommendations and resources within as well.
Super informative and really interesting book. Also loved the App State rep!
3.5/5 overall.
Thank you Harper Collins for another fabulous arc ily <3
I think Brannen does a brilliant job making concepts accessible and looping back to previous concepts and metaphors to show just how CO2 is connected to everything we are, do, eat and breathe. A wealth of recommendations and resources within as well.
Super informative and really interesting book. Also loved the App State rep!
3.5/5 overall.
Thank you Harper Collins for another fabulous arc ily <3
September 30, 2025
Enjoyed this in spite of the Brannen's writing style (which was eerily similar to William T. Vollmann although not as good) - the author does not have a similar speaking rhythm (as evidenced by his podcast appearance on Decoupled which made me wonder why he couldn't simply write as he talks)... Regardless, whether Brannen has everything exactly as it is and shall be in here is yet to be seen, but he does make a compelling case and cites the experts I most trust in the area of energy use (i.e., Smil). It's sober reading, but even Wallace-Wells has walked back some of his most dire predictions. I'd more like to put on rose-coloured glasses and believe along the lines in McKibbon's latest...but again only time will tell the planet's outcome.
May 17, 2025
This book was disappointing. I had previously read Peter Brannen’s “The Ends of the Earth” and loved it. The writing was sharp and articulate; not so for “The Story of CO2”. Most of my reading time was spent trying to decipher the excessively literary writing rather than in assimilating information. While some of the writing had humour, I also felt at times I was being scolded. And while some of the explanations of the science were good, these were buried under layers of poetic text that obscured most of it. I was not getting what I wanted out of the book and stopped reading about a third of the way through. Thank you to Edelweiss and Ecco for the digital review copy.
September 10, 2025
This book is a marvel. What Brannen has done is not written just another pop science book about geology or mass extinctions. Instead, he's written a book that fully integrates the story of humanity with that of the rest of the earth system -- in this story rocks are not just cool things to look at, but in fact, are intricately tied to our own history, our own fate. This book deftly interweaves the geological and human -- I learned an immense amount not just about our planet's history but also about human civilization and our economic system. A must read for anyone interested in truly understanding how and why fossil fuels are leading us down such a dangerous environmental path.
October 9, 2025
This novel was information dense. It took me many days to read so I could digest small portions at a time, otherwise I would find my mind wandering and disengaging. I don’t think this is the fault of the author. His writing is clear and I enjoyed learning more about the carbon systems of our world. It was simply a lot of information and so I took my time.
I did a hybrid read where I listened to the audiobook and read the novel. I found this helped me fully understand the material. The narration was fantastic, the lively voice kept me interested despite the, at times dry material.
Thank you to eccobook for the physical book and Harper Audio for the audiobook
I did a hybrid read where I listened to the audiobook and read the novel. I found this helped me fully understand the material. The narration was fantastic, the lively voice kept me interested despite the, at times dry material.
Thank you to eccobook for the physical book and Harper Audio for the audiobook
December 22, 2025
I love getting perspective on things and this is the ultimate perspective of us (humanity) on this planet. This planet has been through a lot. It has seen mass extinctions, ice ages galore, and times of incredible speciation. I love how this guy puts it all in perfect detail and perspective. Spoiler alert: we might not make it through this human caused CO2 increase. My recommendation would be to print out a copy of geologic timeline for your reference. Something that would have been east to include in the book!
January 13, 2026
Brannen is one of my favorite science writers, and here he once again proves to be curious and thorough. He's able to draw clear lines across heady, complex topics. I didn't read this particularly fast, because of how densely packed it is with science. This mostly skews away from doomerism, but Jeeeesus Christ, the end of this book, and its restatement of our wicked climate problem, left me feeling sick and hollow. Cool way to spend one's free time.
I'll continue to read all Brannen's book-length work, and I know from a podcast appearance that he's a Celtics fan. True mensch.
I'll continue to read all Brannen's book-length work, and I know from a podcast appearance that he's a Celtics fan. True mensch.
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