Slow burn The hidden costs of a warming world
Book - 2024
"How the subtle but significant consequences of a hotter planet have already begun--from lower test scores to higher crime rates--and how we might tackle them today. It's hard not to feel anxious about the problem of climate change, especially if we think of it as an impending planetary catastrophe. In Slow Burn, R. Jisung Park encourages us to view climate change through a different lens: one that focuses less on the possibility of mass climate extinction in a theoretical future, and more on the everyday implications of climate change here and now. Drawing on a wealth of new data and cutting-edge economics, Park shows how climate change headlines often miss some of the most important costs. When wildfires blaze, what happens to p...eople downwind of the smoke? When natural disasters destroy buildings and bridges, what happens to educational outcomes? Park explains how climate change operates as the silent accumulation of a thousand tiny conflagrations: imperceptibly elevated health risks spread across billions of people; pennies off the dollar of productivity; fewer opportunities for upward mobility. By investigating how the physical phenomenon of climate change interacts with social and economic institutions, Park illustrates how climate change already affects everyone, and may act as an amplifier of inequality. Wealthier households and corporations may adapt quickly, but, without targeted interventions, less advantaged communities may not. Viewing climate change as a slow and unequal burn comes with an important silver lining. It puts dollars and cents behind the case for aggressive emissions cuts and helps identify concrete steps that can be taken to better manage its adverse effects. We can begin to overcome our climate anxiety, Park shows us, when we begin to tackle these problems locally"--
- Subjects
- Published
-
Princeton :
Princeton University Press
[2024]
- Language
- English
- Main Author
- Physical Description
- ix, 325 pages : black and white illustrations, black and white maps ; 25 cm
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references and index.
- ISBN
- 9780691221038
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- 1. Thinking Fast and Slow about Climate Change
- 2. Physical versus Human Capital
- 3. Where There Is Smoke
- 4. Anecdotes, Data, and the Problem of Causality
- 5. How Heat Hurts
- 6. Temperature and the Wealth of Nations
- 7. Peace and Peace of Mind in a Hotter World
- 8. Climate Change and Economic Opportunity
- 9. Climate Inequality Close to Home
- 10. The Hidden Determinants of Climate Vulnerability
- 11. Never Too Late
- 12. Beyond Silver Bullets
- Conclusion: The Rest of Creation
- Notes
- Index
Review by Library Journal Review
Review by Kirkus Book Review