Fire and Flood
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  • Published: 18 July 2023
  • ISBN: 9780141999968
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $30.00

Fire and Flood

A People's History of Climate Change, from 1979 to the Present

Formats & editions
Paperback
18 Jul 2023
EBook
5 Apr 2022
Audiobook
5 Apr 2022
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The definitive history of the modern climate change era, from an award-winning writer who has been at the centre of the fight for more than thirty years

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter was presented with the findings of scientists who had been investigating whether human activities might change the climate in harmful ways. "A wait-and-see policy may mean waiting until it is too late," their report said. They were right -- but no one was listening. Four decades later, we are haunted by the consequences of this inattention, and the years of complacency, obfuscation and denialism that followed. Today, the staggering scale and scope of what we have done to the planet is impossible to ignore: the seasons of fire and flood have crossed into plain view.

Fire and Flood is a comprehensive, compulsively readable history of climate change from veteran environmental journalist Eugene Linden. Linden retells the story of the modern climate change era decade by decade, tracking the progress of four ticking clocks: first, the reality of climate change itself; second, advances in scientific understanding; third, the spread of public awareness; and fourth, the business and finance response. Like no previous writer, Linden has drawn together the elements of the biggest story in the world, in a book that it is gripping as history, as economic investigation, and as scientific thriller.
  • Published: 18 July 2023
  • ISBN: 9780141999968
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 336
  • RRP: $30.00
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About the author

Eugene Linden

Eugene Linden is an award-winning journalist and the author of The Parrot's Lament, The Future in Plain Sight, Silent Partners, and several other books on animals, the environment, and other issues relating to humanity's place in the natural order. His previous book on climate change, Winds of Change, received the Grantham Prize Special Award of Merit. He has consulted for the U.S. State Department, the UN Development Program, and he is a widely traveled speaker and lecturer before audiences ranging from the intelligence community to the congregation of the Cathedral of Saint John the Divine. He lives in the Hudson Valley, in New York.

Also by Eugene Linden

The Ragged Edge of the World
See all

Praise for Fire and Flood

Fascinating ... This will be a telling story for a long time to come (assuming we're around to hear it)

Bill McKibben

Praise for The Winds of Change

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Beautifully written ... a very thought-provoking volume. Linden manages to weave history, science, and narrative together in a compelling way

Science

Impressive ... Linden takes a penetrating historical view

The New York Times

Fascinating

NPR

Invaluable

Washington Post

Linden expertly and succinctly describes the natural cycles that control climate and the many ways they interact

Nature

Should be required reading for policy makers across the globe

Doug Macdougall, Chronicle of Higher Education

Fascinating-a tour de force. Linden has accumulated a greater comprehension of paleo-climatic and oceanographic issues than all but a very few scientists. I have nothing but admiration for this book

George Woodwell, founder of the Woodwell Climate Center and former president of the Ecological Society of America

Urgent, meticulous ... Linden pulls no punches

Publishers Weekly

In-depth, expertly researched, eminently readable ... Linden combines analysis with solutions as to where humanity should and may go, and those solutions should surprise, enrage, and enlighten readers... Fire and Flood should be on every person's bookshelf

Laure Hiatt, Library Journal

A hard-hitting study of contemporary climate change, exploring how science, business and public perception have become dangerously misaligned ... Linden cuts through the thickets of information to deftly guide the reader towards knowledge that is urgently required in this troubling age

BBC History

Refreshing... Eugene Linden tells a sorry story of good intentions backed by serious research

The Energy Mix

Linden's aim is true and, even if he doesn't name names, his analysis of the financial industry's role in the climate crisis is fresh... Fire and Flood stays on the shelf

Literary Review