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  • Published: 5 January 2027
  • ISBN: 9781529939415
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $30.00
Categories:

Clearing the Air

A Hopeful Guide to Solving Climate Change — in 50 Questions and Answers




Bestselling environmental star Hannah Ritchie is back with a succinct, punchy new book that answers 50 of the key questions stopping us from tackling the climate crisis

***A Bill Gates Book of the Year***

'Pragmatic and undoomy' GUARDIAN * 'Essential reading' RUTGER BREGMAN * 'Read this book -- now' MARK LYNAS

Q: Aren’t our efforts pointless if China’s emissions keep growing? A: Experts believe China’s emissions
could peak within the next few years.

Q: Surely we don’t have enough land for everyone to go plant-based? A: If this happened we’d actually free up land currently used to produce animal feed.

Q: Aren’t electric cars just as bad for the climate as petrol cars? A: Manufacturing them does produce carbon but they pay this back once they get on the road.

Q: Isn’t nuclear power dangerous? A: Nuclear power is in fact far safer than fossil fuels.

Q: Isn’t it already too late? A: Every tenth of a degree matters. There’s no point at which it’s too late.

We can’t afford to delay climate action, but with all the shouting and disagreement it’s hard to know where to turn. In her new book, bestselling environmental star Hannah Ritchie answers 50 key climate questions once and for all, clearing the air so we can get on and fix things.

Now fully updated for paperback

‘An antidote to the bewildering and contradictory arguments with which we are bombarded… A breath of fresh air’ Sunday Times, Books of the Year
‘This highly readable book has all the facts you need’ Financial Times, Books of the Year

  • Published: 5 January 2027
  • ISBN: 9781529939415
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 304
  • RRP: $30.00
Categories:

About the author

Hannah Ritchie

Dr Hannah Ritchie is Senior Researcher in the Programme for Global Development at the University of Oxford. She is also Deputy Editor at the highly influential online publication Our World in Data and has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Statistical Society. Her research appears regularly in the The Economist, New York Times, Financial Times, BBC, WIRED and New Scientist. In 2022, Ritchie was named Scotland's Youth Climate Champion and New Scientist called her 'The woman who gave COVID-19 data to the world'. In 2024, she was selected by Prospect magazine as one of their 'Top 25 Thinkers'.

Also by Hannah Ritchie

See all

Praise for Clearing the Air

This book is such a pleasure. Each question snaps another piece of the jigsaw puzzle satisfyingly into place, presenting a big picture that is vivid, accurate and hopeful. I learned so much

TIM HARFORD, author of How To Make The World Add Up

Thank goodness for Hannah Ritchie and her clear, data-led optimism. An essential myth-busting primer on climate actions for everyone navigating the blizzard of confusing opinions and misinformation around the defining issue of our time

GAIA VINCE, author of Nomad Century

If there were a Nobel Prize for clear thinking, Hannah Ritchie would have my vote. She doesn’t just cut through the noise — she vaporizes it. With a scientist’s rigor and a storyteller’s grace, she shows us what the data actually says about the biggest challenges of our time. Her work is essential reading for anyone who still believes facts can change minds and optimism can change the world

RUTGER BREGMAN, author of Utopia for Realists and Humankind

The best thing you can do for the climate is to read this book -- now

MARK LYNAS, author of Six Degrees

Rebuts 50 arguments against green technology with lively pragmatism and authority... refreshingly pragmatic and undoomy

Steven Poole, Guardian

This is a book built out of short, simple sentences. And these short, simple sentences have a power. Reassuringly, they make it feel as if there is a clear, logical pathway to dealing with the climate crisis

Scotsman

Ritchie’s now trademark optimism shines through… the effect is powerful: you come away feeling informed and hopeful… in a world of fake news and political spin, this book is a breath of fresh air

Madeleine Cuff, New Scientist

If you have ever wondered if we can afford solar power, or if electric cars are really green, or whether heat pumps actually work, this highly readable book has all the facts you need

Pilita Clark, Financial Times *Best Books of 2025*

One of the clearest explanations of the climate challenge I’ve read... She’s realistic about the risks but grounded in data that shows real progress... a hopeful, fact-driven overview of where climate solutions stand

BILL GATES, Gates Notes

This pacey book is an antidote to the bewildering and contradictory arguments with which we are bombarded about climate change and net zero… A breath of fresh air

Sunday Times, *Books of the Year*

If you want clear facts about the pros and cons of tackling climate change, this is the book for you. If you are a prime minister leading the country on climate action, and needing all the arguments to refute opposers, this is also the book for you

Anthony Albanese, Guardian