Note: Front Cover -- The Global Climate Crisis -- The Global Climate Crisis: What To Do About It -- Copyright -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- List of Photos -- List of Textboxes and Special Reports -- Textboxes -- Special Reports -- Preface: Why read this book? -- Highlights -- Acknowledgments -- Acronyms -- 1 - Introduction -- Highlights -- Introduction -- Should we be concerned about global warming? -- What about solar radiation? -- The greenhouse effect -- What are the greenhouse gases? -- What are the signs of global warming? -- What are the dangers of global warming? -- Can anything be done about global warming? See Textbox 1.1 -- 2 - Dealing with global warming -- Highlights -- What is the challenge? -- Latency is a huge problem -- Global warming is not obvious to the vast majority of people -- The global economy is powered by fossil fuels -- There is a need for unprecedented and perhaps unachievable international cooperation -- All of us will have to be willing to accept changes -- What can be done? -- One -- 3 - The earth as a system -- Highlights -- Incident solar radiation -- Milankovitch cycles -- More about the greenhouse effect -- Carbon cycle -- Temperature increase-land and sea -- 4- Fundamental drivers of global warming -- Highlights -- Global population rising -- Inequities: The early role of the United States and United Kingdom -- The pivotal position of the United States -- Need to consider both absolute and per capita emissions -- GDP growth and energy use are related -- More energy will be required by developing countries -- Findings -- 5 - Evidence for a warming planet -- Highlights -- Global warming is not a new idea -- Earth's temperature is rising -- Ocean temperatures are rising -- CO2 emissions are rising -- Correlation of increasing global temperature with increasing atmospheric CO2. , Sea levels are rising -- Ocean acidification is occurring -- A message from the Arctic? -- Greenland, polar ice caps, sea ice, and glaciers -- Greenland and polar ice -- Glaciers -- Permafrost is melting -- Extreme weather events are increasing -- Deserts and tropics are expanding -- Rising temperatures are causing plant, animal, and human migration -- Methane emissions -- Watching the evidence -- 6 - How do we know greenhouse gases are the issue? -- Highlights -- Where do greenhouse gases come from? -- What happens to CO2 emissions? -- The significance of carbon 14 -- Historic emissions since the Industrial Revolution -- Increases in atmospheric CO2 correlate with fossil fuel use -- What is your carbon footprint? -- 7 - What are the effects of global warming? -- Highlights -- Latency-How long before effects show up? -- Climate change versus weather -- Earth's temperature will continue to rise -- Air pollution will increase -- Sea level rise causes flooding -- Oceans becoming warmer and more acidic -- Glaciers, icecaps, and sea ice melt -- Subsidence occurs and permafrost melts -- Deserts and tropics expand -- Rising temperatures are causing species extinction and migration -- Extreme weather events are more frequent and severe -- Droughts and wildfires are increasing -- There are impacts on agriculture -- Deforestation -- Public health problems are increasing -- Global warming could cause a financial crisis -- National security implications -- Tipping points: Unanticipated changes can occur -- What can we say for sure? -- References -- 8 - International efforts to address global warming -- Highlights -- Early efforts1 -- History of IPCC global warming objectives2 -- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) -- IPCC reports -- The Paris Agreement5 -- United Nations emission gap reports -- UN Conferences of Parties. , The UN Secretary-General's observations at COP27 -- How is the world doing? -- The big three: Plans to reach net zero (China, United States, India) -- China -- United States -- India -- Outlook for other major emitters (Japan, Germany, Russia) -- Japan -- Germany -- Russia -- Two -- 9 - What would it take to stop global warming? -- Highlights -- Doing nothing is not an option -- Are we too late already? -- Can we stop global warming?2 -- What would it take? -- Effect of Nationally Determined Contributions -- What are the intergovernmental panel on climate change scenarios? -- Carbon capture -- What will happen if we do nothing? -- The high cost of doing nothing -- 10 - Energy alternatives -- Highlights -- Fossil fuels: Coal, oil, natural gas, and biofuels -- Nuclear power6 -- Renewable energy -- Energy storage -- Efficiency improvements -- Transportation -- Hydrogen -- Converting CO2 into useable liquid fuels -- Fusion -- Smart grids -- The micro grid -- 11- Why is global warming such a difficult problem to solve? -- Highlights -- The problem is much more difficult -- The need for unprecedented, perhaps unachievable, global cooperation -- Lessons from past successes need to be considered -- The National Highway System -- The Apollo program -- The channel tunnel -- Fossil fuels are heavily subsidized -- There has been a systematic campaign of misinformation -- Climate change deniers -- Understanding climate change skepticism -- Global warming has not been a media priority -- Public uncertainty and education -- A positive message is needed -- Public support for government action -- Why it is hard to replace fossil fuels? -- Recognizing political leaders can make mistakes -- Acknowledging that failure is a possibility -- 12 - Some successes and failures -- Highlights -- The Permian Basin, a renewable energy powerhouse -- 1970s oil price hikes. , Automobile emissions -- Hole in the ozone layer -- Cigarette smoking and cancer -- Europe's push for diesel vehicles -- Nuclear power in the United States -- Ethanol -- California high-speed rail -- Lessons learned -- Three -- 13 - Action plan: Efficiency, power, transportation, and land use -- Highlights -- An action plan, recognizing we can't get to net zero by 2050 -- Action plan summary -- Do we need another moon shot? -- The challenges of a global approach -- Critical need to improve electric grid reliability11 -- What does En-ROADS show? -- Game changers -- Can the IPCC goal of keeping global warming under 2°C be met? -- Why can't we do better? -- Improve carbon sequestration -- Silver bullets -- Mitigation -- Financial measures: cap and trade and carbon fee -- Cap and trade -- Carbon fee -- References -- 14 - Can it be done? -- Highlights -- The trend is our friend -- Can solar energy power the world? -- Can wind power the world? -- What would it cost? -- Can we afford it? -- Fossil fuel subsidies -- 15 - The way forward -- Highlights -- The future can be bright -- Need for a smooth transition -- Top priorities -- Government actions -- Actions for concerned citizens -- Actions for industry -- What next? -- Afterword -- Further reading -- Useful reports -- Useful websites -- Four - Appendices -- Index -- A -- B -- C -- D -- E -- F -- G -- H -- I -- J -- K -- L -- M -- N -- O -- P -- R -- S -- T -- U -- V -- W -- Z -- Back Cover -- Backcover.

Note: Front Cover -- Reaching Net Zero -- Copyright Page -- Contents -- List of Figures -- List of Tables -- Photographs -- Preface: Why read this book? -- Acknowledgments -- Acronyms -- 1 Introduction -- Should we be concerned about global warming? -- What about solar radiation? -- The greenhouse effect -- What are the greenhouse gases? -- What are the signs of global warming? -- What are the dangers of global warming? -- Can anything be done about global warming? -- 2 Addressing global warming -- Latency is a huge problem -- Global warming is not obvious to the vast majority of people -- The global economy is powered by fossil fuels -- There is a need for unprecedented and perhaps unachievable international cooperation -- All of us will have to be willing to accept changes -- U.S. participation is essential -- What can be done? -- I -- 3 The earth as a system -- Incident solar radiation -- Milankovitch cycles -- More about the greenhouse effect -- Carbon cycle -- Temperature increase -- 4 Fundamental drivers of global warming -- Global population rising -- Inequities: the early role of the United States and the United Kingdom -- The pivotal position of the United States -- Need to consider both absolute and per capita emissions -- Gross domestic product growth and energy use are related -- More energy will be required by developing countries -- 5 How do we know global warming is real? -- Global warming is not a new idea -- CO2 emissions are rising -- Earth's temperature is rising -- Correlation of increasing global temperature with increasing atmospheric CO2 -- Ocean temperatures are rising -- Sea levels are rising -- Ocean acidification is occurring -- A message from the Arctic? -- Glaciers, ice caps, and sea ice are melting -- The permafrost is melting -- Extreme weather events are increasing -- Deserts and tropics are expanding. , Rising temperatures are causing plant, animal, and human migration -- Early warning signs of global warming: a California case history -- 6 How do we know man-made CO2 is the issue? -- Where do man-made greenhouse gases come from? -- What happens to CO2 emissions? -- The significance of carbon-14 -- Historic emissions since the Industrial Revolution -- Increases in atmospheric CO2 correlates with fossil fuel use -- What is your carbon footprint? -- 7 What are the effects of global warming? -- Latency-how long before effects show up? -- Climate change versus weather -- Earth's temperature will continue to rise -- Air pollution will increase -- Sea levels rise causing flooding -- Oceans become more acidic -- Glaciers, ice caps, and sea ice melt -- Subsidence occurs and permafrost melts -- Deserts and tropics expand -- Species migration and extinction -- Frequency and severity of storms -- Impact on agriculture, droughts, loss of cropland, and wildfires -- Health problems will be more severe -- Could global warming cause a financial crisis or some other financial problem? -- National security implications -- Migrations caused by climate change -- Tipping points: unanticipated changes can occur -- 8 International efforts to address global warming -- Early efforts -- The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change -- The Paris Agreement -- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change special reports -- History of Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change global warming objectives -- II -- 9 What would it take to reach net zero? -- Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change alternative scenarios -- What would it take? -- Are the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change scenarios realistic? -- Carbon removal -- What is a more likely scenario? -- Are we too late already? -- Doing nothing is not an option -- What will happen if we do nothing?. , The high cost of doing nothing -- 10 Energy alternatives -- Fossil fuels: coal, oil, and natural gas -- Nuclear power -- Renewable energy -- 11 Unique problems of major contributors to global warming -- What can we learn from Germany? -- The United States fails to take a leadership position -- China-Will it be the leader? -- India-large population, little energy -- Japan-strong technological capabilities -- Russia-may not be a player -- Observations -- 12 Why is global warming such a difficult problem to solve? -- The need for unprecedented, perhaps unachievable, global cooperation -- Fossil fuels are heavily subsidized -- Educating the public -- The media have not dealt fairly with global warming -- Public uncertainty -- A positive message is needed -- Public support for government action -- Why it is hard to replace fossil fuels? -- Solving technical challenges -- The need for strong economies -- Understanding climate change skepticism -- Recognizing political leaders can make mistakes -- Acknowledging that failure is a possibility -- 13 Some successes and failures -- The Permian Basin, a renewable energy powerhouse -- 1970s oil price hikes -- Automobile emissions -- Hole in the ozone layer -- Cigarette smoking and cancer -- Europe's push for diesel vehicles -- Nuclear power in the United States -- Is there a future for nuclear power? -- Ethanol -- High-speed rail -- Lessons learned -- III -- 14 Action Plan: efficiency, power, transportation, and land use -- Do we need another moon shot? -- The challenges of a global approach -- An Action Plan, assuming we cannot get to net zero by 2050 -- Can the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's goal of keeping global warming under 2°C be met? -- Why can't we do better? -- Silver bullets -- Mitigation -- Carbon fee -- 15 Can it be done? -- The trend is our friend -- Can renewable energy power the world?. , Can wind power the world? -- What would it cost? -- Can we afford it? -- 16 The way forward -- The future can be bright -- Top priorities -- Government actions -- Actions for concerned citizens -- Actions for industry -- What next? -- Afterword -- Further reading -- Useful reports -- Useful websites -- IV Appendices -- Appendix 1: Abbreviations, units, and conversion factors -- Abbreviations -- Units and conversion factors -- Energy and GHG equivalencies -- Greenhouse gas equivalencies -- Appendix 2: The amount of CO2 in the atmosphere: sources and sinks -- Appendix 3: Will the IPCC goal of 450ppm be met? -- Appendix 4: Key parameters used to formulate Action Plan -- Appendix 5: Flood and sea rise mitigation -- Appendix 6: Financial measures -- Cap and Trade -- Fee and dividend -- Appendix 7: Activist and lobbying groups, litigation examples -- Activist groups -- Litigation -- Appendix 8: Excerpts from corporate annual reports -- Bank of America -- Olin Corporation -- Eli Lilly Corporation -- Verizon -- The Southern Company -- DuPont Corporation -- Caterpillar -- Home Depot -- Chevron Corporation -- Alliant Energy -- DTE Energy Inc -- UPS Corporation -- Wisconsin Electric (WEC Energy Group) -- Eaton Corporation -- Duke Power -- Corning Inc -- Index -- Back Cover.