This book is a hard read. The writing is urgent and plain, with no lyricism. Moreover, it's bleak. The author pulls no punches. He gives a very bleak picture of our future. In addition, it’s a cascade of facts, leaving you feeling slightly breathless. However, it's an important read which should be read by as many people as possible.

'Hard-hitting' is the epithet that I imagine most people associating with this book - but, in fact, the well-researched content merely serves to alert the reader, in a coherent and direct manner, to the future that confronts us. Methodical in its analysis of the issues and engagingly written, the narrative is vivid, unsettling and haunting. If it helps to push the reader into furthering progress on our trajectory to a more sustainable future then it will have served its purpose.
No doubt demonstrating my scientific bias, I think that this book would have been improved if had it been comprehensively referenced rather than having to rely on the useful general bibliography provided. Despite this, it should be mandatory reading for all those with an interest in our future. It lays out in some detail the adjustments that we will inevitably have to make to live with the consequences of our appallingly short-sighted custodianship of the planet. Recommended.
Many thanks to NetGalley and to the author & publishers for access to this e-ARC in exchange for my review. All opinions expressed here are entirely my own.

Bill McGuire, a British volcanologist of repute, has, with his "Hothouse Earth: An Inhabitant’s Guide,” written a steely-eyed post-COP26 assessment of Earth’s and humanity’s prospects within the unfolding climate crisis. It is sure to ignite yet another hot debate about the plusses and downsides of doomsaying but the author, although bleak in his worldview, is never less than fair with his judgments. He wastes little time with the denialists, instead laying out the science, including the gaps in climate science and the unknown risks with tipping points, and then walking through the upcoming predictions for heat, floods, fires, storms, famines, diseases, and so on and so on. I expected to be laid low by his confident pessimism (the likelihood of +1.5C are slim and +2C is at risk) but instead came away much better informed (and, given that I read a lot on the subject, that is itself a wonderment with this book) and ready for witnessing and action. Hothouse Earth indeed: you must devour it and weep and gnash teeth and take positive steps.

Great book to start with if interested about the change of world's global heating.

Geologist and Activist, Bill McGuire covers history - mostly stuff we already know but great for readers who aren't as perhaps informed as I am - when we flick into the 21st century, things start heating up in the book that's for sure and become so much more enjoyable reading wise there is a lot to learn about and McGuire's only too happy to share it with you.

Causes of the global heating issues and also the effects are very well explained and the book touches on social political issues as well as getting down to alarming and nitty gritty facts such as food security, climate issues and humanity. The book also touches on the effects we are having on our planet but also the consequences in our environment including heat related fires, floods and deaths and of course the effects of unrest in both the human and animal world.

The best thing about this book is that everything that needs to be referred to is all in one book making it accessible and also there is the online resources but also there is an offline resource pool too.

This in an inspirational book but it's also a wake up call to our climate and also ourselves.

With thanks to netgalley and the publishers for this FREE ARC in return for my review.

Hothouse Earth, written by geologist and activist Bill McGuire, is a great summary for the general reader of the key issues around global heating. It’s just under 200 pages and is broken down into short sections.

The areas it covers include the scientific evidence for the effects of global heating on climate, food security, humanity and biodiversity. He also discusses the likely social consequences – including heat-related deaths, mass migration and civil unrest. There’s also an interesting critique of some of the technological fixes offered by the private jet class as an excuse not to do anything.

Some of this was new to me, some of it was information that I sort-of thought I knew from reading about it or hearing it on a podcast. The beauty of Hothouse Earth is that it brings everything into one book you can refer back to.

Hothouse Earth is very accessible and the warmth and commitment of Bill McGuire shines through. It could leave you despairing – there’s a calamity coming, we know what we need to do, but too many people in power have an interest in doing nothing. But it’s also, somehow, inspiring and a call to action.
*
I received a copy of Hothouse Earth from the publisher via Netgalley.

An accessible, yet alarming (not alarmist) overview of the effects of climate change.

The first third of the book covers climate change since pre-history, leaving the reader wondering whether McGuire has anything new to say. Once it gets to the twenty-first century, this is a riveting read, covering meteorology, oceanography and socio-political issues, Cause and effect are well-explained.

Bill McGuire is Emeritus Professor of Geophysical and Climate Hazards at University College London.

Includes a list of online and offline resources.