Our Fragile Moment [electronic resource] : : how lessons from the earth's past can help us survive the climate crisis

Michael Mann2023

eBook

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Summary

‘This detailed and yet marvellously readable look at our climatic past offers us the information we need to understand our climatic future — and more importantly, to act to shape that future in the here and now.’ Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature In this sweeping work of science and history, the renowned climate scientist and author of The New Climate War shows us the conditions on Earth that allowed humans not only to exist but thrive, and how they are imperiled if we veer off course. For the vast majority of its 4.54 billion years, Earth has proven it can manage just fine without human beings. Then came the first proto-humans, who emerged just a little more than 2 million years ago — a fleeting moment in geological time. What is it that made this benevolent moment of ours possible? Ironically, it’s the very same thing that now threatens us — climate change. The drying of the tropics during the Pleistocene period created a niche for early hominids, who cou...