The carbon dioxide issues for the planet is definitely a catastrophic problem that should not be ignored. Some of the POVs in this book were stating that Co2 is good for plants (what). Aside from some of these view points, the writing style of the book was strange. It was hard to read.

Cannot recommend.

Thanks to Netgalley, Lewis H Ziska and Columbia University Press for an advanced free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Already available.

I have a PhD in plant biochemistry and as the author stated "We are not shy about pointing out other scientists mistakes", so here we go:
- Cannabis/THC never killed someone (I did once a literature research to find the highest drug concentration in blood; there was no article that confirmed a death by overdosis, contrary to heroin, cocain,...) If I'm wrong, please add a citation
- To my knowledge, the biggest living thing isn't an aspen; it's a fungy. If you calculate in weight, it'd be heaviest, not biggest (in m3)
- Algae aren't plants; therefore can't be weeds, as weeds are defined to be plants and algae are eukaryotic organisms

The writing style is very informal, targeting a non-scientific audience, I didn't mind. The book is very US-centric, which is a pity sometimes.

The first few chapters have about 5-15 citations, which for my liking are too few, and need more (see points above). Introduction: 3/5 stars.

Starting chapter 6, there are 25-50 citations and very interesting research is shown. Unfortunately, in the Kindle edition there are only the pictures clearly visible, tables and diagrams weren't readable, which was a shame as I was interested in the data. 4.5/5 stars.

The last part about the political obstacles was hard for me to read. As a Western European I shook my head the whole time. I can totally understand the frustration of the author.
The best thing one can do against climat change is vote? I'd have guessed not to waste (food, water, electricity, petrol by driving every distance), but fortunately, I don't live in a country where the government can stop scientific research in a short time. Here it'd have been great if the author would have looked over the US borders to see what the rest of the world is doing. How's funding regarding climat change or agriculture in other countrys? A quick look at PubMed told me that in the last 5 years there were over 43.000 articles about climate change, 12.000 alone in 2022. So there's research regarding this topic, but (mainly) not in the US. For the last part; I'd give 4/5 stars.

Overall, the book is informative and a quick read. I had wished for more citations and a more in-depth look beyond the US.

A nice, insightful book about the effect of rising CO2 on plant growth. I learned some new things from it. I found the writing style a little annoying at times, there? are? many? questions? to the reader, which got on my nerves. But the topic was very nice and the book is well researched.

I really plan on getting to this one asap, unfortunately it is Halloween season and I have a ton of horror books to get to first. Not sure when GREENHOUSE PLANET will rise up on my TBR. I wanted to reach out and thank the publisher for the opportunity to check this one out. I will still leave a review on Goodreads when I get to it.

This is a book about a topic which will affect everyone, but also one which the author clearly felt a lot of personal motivation to write. From long ago feeling duped into appearing in what turned out to be a biased pro-CO2 video, to quitting a job he’d had for 24 years because of Trump administration actions, and a general lack of funding for research, he’s not happy about how science has been politicized and denied.

The book begins with a section describing the many ways plants affect human life from the obvious (food, drugs, allergies) to the less obvious (art, religion) followed by the bulk of the book examining the effects of increasing levels of CO2 on planetary life.

It has become a common right-wing slogan that more CO2 is good for plants, wanting people to think of more food, and therefore good for people. While it’s true that CO2 increases plant growth and may have some benefits, the author digs into the complexities involved and cites some studies about CO2 levels with troubling results, such as weeds outgrowing crops leading to increased spraying and resistance and health issues, and lower nutrition levels among crops.

Essentially, the brief and often humorous book is a call for less political ignorance, and more research into complex issues which will affect life on the planet.

Thanks to Columbia University Press and NetGalley for the advance copy to review.

This book was interesting and filled with some really cool and interesting information. However, I do feel as though the writing in the book oscillated between overly formal and informal, and it made it feel a bit like whiplash reading at times. The actual content of the book is informative and I liked the structure. I learned a lot about plants and their relationship to CO2, and I liked that the author included discussions on the good and the bad of rising CO2 levels in regard to plants. The last part of this book was really my favorite, it combined the first two parts to tie it all together about the conversation of climate change and debunking the "CO2 is plant food" fossil-fuel messaging from the past few years and called for action and even talked about the censorship of science post-Citizens United decision. Overall a good book with lots of interesting information framed in a way that debunks some of the well-known conservative and anti-climate change rhetoric in a thoughtful and well-explained way.

I think this book has important ideas but the writing style was very weird to me. It felt overly informal, like someone just having a conversation with a friend.