An Age of Limits

This ebook is priced at $9.50 and can be purchased here.

Contents

Summary
The Three Hundred Year Party
   Peak Forests
   The Atmospheric Engine
   The Industrial Revolution
   The Church of Progress 
   Living Within the Biosphere
A Climate Change Review
   Atmospheric Temperature
   Not Just CO2
   Committed Warming
Modeling Limitations
   Models — Not Reality
   Scientific Reticence
   Tipping Points
   Unanticipated Events
The IPCC
Key Reports
   Global Warming of 1.5 Degrees
   Physical Science Basis Report
   Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability Report
   Mitigation of Climate Change Report
   Synthesis Report
   Fact Sheet
Conferences of the Parties
   COP21 — The Paris Agreement
   Response to Paris
   COP26   
   2030 Goals    
A Clunky Sentence
An Age of Limits
Limits to Growth
End of Growth
Conclusions
References
Index

Summary

In this ebook we provide an overview of the climate crisis — what it is, what is causing it, and what the consequences may be. (The stress is on the word ‘overview’; there are many ebooks, web sites and reports that explain the topic in much greater detail.) We also show how the climate issues are part of a broader set of problems and predicaments that interact with one another in complex and difficult-to-understand ways. Climate change is not a stand-alone topic; instead, it is just one component of an overall energy predicament and ‘Age of Limits’ predicament.

The ebook starts with a description of the ‘300-Year Party’ — the short period of time in which we were able to build an industrial civilization on a foundation of fossil fuels: coal, oil and natural gas. The ebook then provides a description of the work of the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), including its latest Sixth Assessment reports. The role of the COPs (Conference of the Parties) is also discussed. An overview of the ‘Limits to Growth’ study is provided.

Additional Information

Further thoughts to do with the Age of Limits are provided at the post An Age of Limits.