Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change | 
| Author: Elizabeth Kolbert
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Category: Book
List Price: $13.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  43 reviews
Sales Rank: 7566
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 240
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.5
Dimensions (in): 8.2 x 5.4 x 0.7
ISBN: 1596911301
Dewey Decimal Number: 363.73874
EAN: 9781596911307
ASIN: 1596911301
Publication Date: December 26, 2006
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Product Description
Long known for her insightful and thought-provoking political journalism, author Elizabeth Kolbert now tackles the controversial and increasingly urgent subject of global warming. In what began as groundbreaking three-part series in the New Yorker, for which she won a National Magazine Award in 2006, Kolbert cuts through the competing rhetoric and political agendas to elucidate for Americans what is really going on with the global environment and asks what, if anything, can be done to save our planet. Now updated and with a new afterword, Field Notes from a Catastrophe is the book to read on the defining issue and greatest challenge of our times.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 38 more reviews...
 Poetry when we need science July 16, 2008
This is another famous book on global warming. It is not as lightweight as Al Gore's book, which is basically a rock video put down on paper. This book is a series of stories and vigenttes. It certainly reads easily. Kolbert is a talented writer, and has produced a very easy to read book.
But this is not really a subject where we need more easy to read books. Kolbert's underlying assumptions are the same as Al Gore's. First, global warming is an absolute fact, it is caused by human CO2 emissions and, if we do not stop it, life as we know it will come to an end. Second, the reason that we do not act to stop this danger is that people are idiots, who can not understand science. So, if we talk real slow, and have lots of pictures, maybe we can teach these idiots to save themselves.
Kolbert does not go to Gore's coffee-table extremes. While she does not have any honest to goodness footnotes, she does actually cite us to eight pages of sources at the end. If Gore's book is basically a comic book, her book is about the level one would expect in a middle-brow monthly magazine. It is serious, but not very.
Here is the problem, Al and Ms. Kolbert. Many of us are not persuaded that the world is coming to an end. Many of us would like to see hard, well-reasoned science on the subject. Many of us would like to see the thoughts of skeptics taken seriously instead of brushed aside or mocked. This book does none of those things. It basically tells a bunch of stories, and makes no effort to make a serious, sustained and logical argument. It is possible that Gore and Kolbert are right, but it is going to take a much more serious scientific argument to persuade me.
I am less persuaded then I might be, because, even with my scanty knowledge on the issue, I can see her consciously tilting the evidence her way. Example. At one point, she talks about Greenland. She gives us a very short history of Greenland, noting that there were Norse settlers there for 400 years, who "scraped" out a living and then just kind of disappeared for reasons that Kolbert does not attempt to explain. These Norse settlements were founded at the height of the Medieval Warming -- when conditions were fairly nice -- and they died out due to the Little Ice Age, when it got so cold they could not survive. Kolbert knows that, because she refers to both the Medieval Warming and the Little Ice Age at other parts of the book. BUT she also knows that these non-people caused climatic changes undercut her argument. Global warming skeptics say that the current warming is consistent with the prior pattern of natural change, and the Medieval Warming is Exhibit A. Thus, by carefully not mentioning the real reason why the Norse settlements died out Kolbert has on her thumb on the scale. This does not inspire much confidence.
 Well-Meaning But Abortive Book July 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Climate change is the central issue of our time. Any book that raises public consciousness about it is a good thing. To its credit, "Field Notes From a Catastrophe" does help the cause by educating lay readers about the basics of climate change. However, it never really makes the transition from a series of New Yorker articles to a full-blown book. It consists mostly of human interest stories about climate researchers and the impact of global warming in places like Alaska and Iceland. These vignettes would be easily digestible on a subway or in a doctor's waiting room, but we expect more from a book. The reading non-science-educated public (which includes me) can handle more than this.
One good chapter tells how scientists discovered that carbon dioxide levels can raise or lower the global temperature equilibrium. There's another good chapter on the incredible mendacity and short-sightedness of the Bush Administration (may it rest in peace forever). Every American should read these sections, since America is the largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world and the greatest obstacle to international action. The rest of the book, however, is little more than disposable science journalism.
 A short, loud, urgent warning March 20, 2008
Little by little the skeptics of global warming are falling away. Let's hope this brief and very persuasive book shakes loose a few more of them, because Kolbert, an unbiased reporter and one of the best non-fiction writers of English today, makes it clear that the time to act on anthropogenic climate change is ten years ago. Were it not that the subject matter is inherently depressing, this book would be a sheer pleasure to read---and as it is, it can and should be read by everyone who has a middle school diploma. If you are considering buying it, stop reading the reviews right now and make the purchase. Then read it and pass it on.
A must!!! January 31, 2008
A small book, but big in content! If you are looking for that book that can summarize this ever growing problem, this is it. The writting is simple and to the point, no fluff.
Best book on climate change I've found January 30, 2008
If you're looking for a book that is a great read on climate change but doesn't necessarily go into every nook and cranny of the subject, this is the one for you. Kolbert is a fantastic writer and reporter and this subject is incredibly compelling. She makes it understanable and approachable. I had a very strong emotional reaction to this book. It's absolutely terrifying but, at the same time, Kolbert writes so well that it was an enjoyable read. I actually bought 15 copies to give to friends and family!
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