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Intervention Earth: Life-saving Ideas from the World's Climate Engineers
'Very well-informed, splendidly provocative – a must-read for the rich debates to come' JONATHON PORRITT
Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising and weather is becoming more extreme. Most of us know the cut our carbon emissions. There's only one problem – we aren't doing it.
So what else can we do?
Over the past four years, Gwynne Dyer has spoken to dozens of the world's leading climate scientists, asking them this question and listening to what they have to say.
Should we copy volcanoes and squirt sulphates into the stratosphere to reflect the sun's rays? Can we suck CO2 out of the air and bury it? Invent a clever way to prop up the 'Doomsday' glacier? Or dam the North Sea? The ideas might seem outlandish, but these are desperate times.
From fission power to fake meat, from the deep seas to the jet stream, Intervention Earth is a magisterial survey of the most creative scientific thinking on how we might still solve
the most frightening problem of our age.
Glaciers are melting, sea levels are rising and weather is becoming more extreme. Most of us know the cut our carbon emissions. There's only one problem – we aren't doing it.
So what else can we do?
Over the past four years, Gwynne Dyer has spoken to dozens of the world's leading climate scientists, asking them this question and listening to what they have to say.
Should we copy volcanoes and squirt sulphates into the stratosphere to reflect the sun's rays? Can we suck CO2 out of the air and bury it? Invent a clever way to prop up the 'Doomsday' glacier? Or dam the North Sea? The ideas might seem outlandish, but these are desperate times.
From fission power to fake meat, from the deep seas to the jet stream, Intervention Earth is a magisterial survey of the most creative scientific thinking on how we might still solve
the most frightening problem of our age.
- GenresNonfiction
353 pages, Kindle Edition
Published April 16, 2024
About the author
Gwynne Dyer
32 books110 followersGwynne Dyer, OC is a London-based independent Canadian journalist, syndicated columnist and military historian.
Dyer was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador (then the Dominion of Newfoundland) and joined the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve at the age of sixteen. While still in the naval reserve, he obtained a BA in history from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1963; an MA in military history from Rice University in Houston, Texas, in 1966; and a PhD in military and Middle Eastern history at King's College London in 1973. Dyer served in the Canadian, American and British naval reserves. He was employed as a senior lecturer in war studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, 1973–77. In 1973 he began writing articles for leading London newspapers on the Arab-Israeli conflict, and soon decided to abandon academic life for a full-time career in journalism. In 2010, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.
Dyer was born in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador (then the Dominion of Newfoundland) and joined the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve at the age of sixteen. While still in the naval reserve, he obtained a BA in history from Memorial University of Newfoundland in 1963; an MA in military history from Rice University in Houston, Texas, in 1966; and a PhD in military and Middle Eastern history at King's College London in 1973. Dyer served in the Canadian, American and British naval reserves. He was employed as a senior lecturer in war studies at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst, 1973–77. In 1973 he began writing articles for leading London newspapers on the Arab-Israeli conflict, and soon decided to abandon academic life for a full-time career in journalism. In 2010, he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 10, 2024
Written in his customary forthright and no-nonsense prose, the reader finds themself skipping quickly over the issues of any debate about the reality of climate change, or even the magnitude, and immediately starts to grapple with the problems of us exceeding a 1.5 degree rise, probably exceeding a 2 degree rise and possibly pushing further towards Hothouse Earth before the middle of the century.
I've long been a fan of Dyer's journalism and history writing, and in 'Intervention Earth' he crafts a compelling argument for evaluating the intervention options that are almost certainly likely to be necessary to buy us the time we need to change our behaviour sufficiently to correct the dangerous trajectory that we find ourselves travelling.
The book will make uncomfortable reading for those who feel we should only be focusing on a just speedy transition to a carbon-free energy future, along with only such targeted mitigation and adaptation as may be needed. Dyer tackles head-on the discussion about the big intervention levers we may need to pull - after all, we already began (inadvertently) doing this at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution so now it cannot be too surprising if we need to put some thought and collective muscle into further tweaks on a global scale.
The author neatly avoids the issue of the inevitable conspiracy theories and culture wars that will rain down on us as these concepts become more openly discussed and considered, but those are rebuttals and arguments for another day. In the meantime it is helpful that the author has had the courage to take a pragmatic look at some of the choices that will face us as we realise we're not moving fast enough and we come to terms with the fact that time will run out unless action is taken.
I've long been a fan of Dyer's journalism and history writing, and in 'Intervention Earth' he crafts a compelling argument for evaluating the intervention options that are almost certainly likely to be necessary to buy us the time we need to change our behaviour sufficiently to correct the dangerous trajectory that we find ourselves travelling.
The book will make uncomfortable reading for those who feel we should only be focusing on a just speedy transition to a carbon-free energy future, along with only such targeted mitigation and adaptation as may be needed. Dyer tackles head-on the discussion about the big intervention levers we may need to pull - after all, we already began (inadvertently) doing this at the beginning of the Industrial Revolution so now it cannot be too surprising if we need to put some thought and collective muscle into further tweaks on a global scale.
The author neatly avoids the issue of the inevitable conspiracy theories and culture wars that will rain down on us as these concepts become more openly discussed and considered, but those are rebuttals and arguments for another day. In the meantime it is helpful that the author has had the courage to take a pragmatic look at some of the choices that will face us as we realise we're not moving fast enough and we come to terms with the fact that time will run out unless action is taken.
December 11, 2024
An extremely urgent and important book, with impeccable erudite research and a very sober and eloquent plea for immediate action, with solid scientific backing. Everyone should read this
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews