Climate Uncertainty and Risk: Rethinking Our Response

by Judith Curry

World leaders have made a forceful statement that climate change is the greatest challenge facing humanity in the 21st century. However, little progress has been made in implementing policies to address climate change. In Climate Uncertainty and Risk , eminent climate scientist Judith Curry shows how we can break this gridlock. This book helps us rethink the climate change problem, the risks we are facing and how we can respond to these challenges. Understanding the deep uncertainty surrounding the climate change problem helps us to better assess the risks. This book shows how uncertainty and disagreement can be part of the decision-making process. It provides a road map for formulating pragmatic solutions. Climate Uncertainty and Risk is essential reading for those concerned about the environment, professionals dealing with climate change and our national leaders.

Genres: Science

340 pages, Hardcover

Published June 6, 2023

Reviews

[Bob Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dr. Judith Curry is the voice of reason in the climate change debate. Decades of apocalyptic predictions, all wrong, have desensitized the public which in turn produces more virulent proclamations. It is a worthwhile read for anyone who wants to learn the facts without all the nonsense.

[Brian Katz · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am not new to this subject having read: The Prize, Apocalypse Never, Unsettled, The Climate Fix and The Grid. I subscribe to the Substack page of Roger Pielke, Jr. and the author’s blog, Climate, Etc….

This was a good book that pulled a lot of concepts together. Some chapters were a bit of a repeat given what I have already read. IMO, the most importent chapters were: IPCC Scenarios of the 21rst Century Climate Change; What’s the Worst Case; Adaptation, Resilience, and Development; and Mitigation.

The overriding theme for me is the authors belief that humanity should prioritize development (infrastructure, electricity, food, etc… ) to eliminate poverty over the reduction of emissions from fossil fuels. Providing the poor with the basic needs of society would in fact make them more adaptive and resilient to climate change.

The IPCC models reveal the following: (1) heatwaves have become more frequent with human induced cause as high confidence, (2) heavy precipitation has become more frequent with human induced cause as likely, (3) human induced climate change has contributed to increases in agricultural drought due to increased land evapotranspiration with medium confidence, (4) it is likely that the occurrence of tropical cyclones has increased with human induced increased precipitation associated with tropical cyclones at high confidence.

There was a really interesting discussion about: (1) Florida landfalling hurricanes, (2) ARkStorm (California), and (3) South Asian Monsoon Failure.

Other key points: (1) accepting parallel efforts to reduce emissions and adapt is gaining momentum, (2) planning to fail safely @ Florida power & light, (3) economic development is the best hope for climate change adaptation, (4) distorted incentives and government policies can create resilience traps, (5) storage of CO2 on land and in the ocean is provided time in the fight, (6) biofuels can be worse than displacing fossil fuels, exacerbate food shortages and degrade farm land, (7) nuclear has the greatest potential to provide very large amounts of energy, (8) even with a continued rate of warming, all IPCC scenarios expect humans to be substantially better off than at present.

[Stephan Adriani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zeer evenwichtige en overtuigende analyse van de klimaatverandering, de maatschappelijke reactie daarop en het politieke beleid. Weg van de hysterie, met erkenning van de werkelijkheid. Inclusief de schets van een realistisch, hoopvol en haalbaar alternatief.
Soms moeizaam om te lezen door het doorlopend aanhalen van rapporten en onderzoeken. Maar wat een verademing.

[Scott Squires · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s refreshing to find an expert with a balanced view on climate science. A great source of information to give a better perspective than the false alarmist message we are continually bombarded with.

[Jim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn't really finish. My Kindle stopped working.

[Michael Muntisov · Rating 2 out of 5]

Climate Uncertainty and Risk is suitable for those readers with a good grasp of climate change and a thorough understanding of the arguments put forward by each of the opposing groups. It provides some new and insightful perspectives. However, it does have fundamental flaws. For that reason, I do not recommend it for the average reader with a basic understanding of climate change nor for those just starting their journey.
My full review here: https://courtofthegrandchildren.com/c...