Thought this book was brilliant, concise, and effective. Angus lays out our steady march towards planetary ecological crisis and climate instability in a convincing yet punchy manner. A few key points I did not fully appreciate until reading this book were 1. the exponential change in emissions (coupled with growth) between 1950-today relative to 1750-1950 (or wherever you want to mark the start of the industrial revolution) and 2. the notion of increased variance as well as increased averages - moving both the probability distribution / bell curve of temperatures upwards but also widening the curve such that extreme years are more probable (i.e. +3 standard deviation events now more likely than before). Something about that particular visual aid struck me
Loved the multi-disciplinary nature of this book as well, in particular the combination of history, ecology, and political economy when analyzing how oil and its related products became the lifeblood of the modern economy after World War 2, how the modern world is built for oil (I still need to get around to tackling Yergin's The Prize but oh well). Our current society needs growth to perpetuate itself, and the overwhelming majority of this growth goes hand in hand with increased fossil fuel usage
Today, few are without guilt regarding the addiction to cheap goods (after all, over 80% of us in the U.S. were born since 1950, per the census) and Angus spells out exactly what we and our predecessors have been sowing over these past decades...
...and now, the reaping?