Overshoot

A devastating critique of the forces propelling us beyond critical temperature limits, by the bestselling author of How to Blow Up a Pipeline.

It might soon be far too hot on this planet. What do we do then? In the era of "overshoot," schemes abound for turning down the heat – not now, but a few decades down the road. We’re being told that we can return to liveable temperatures by means of technologies for removing CO2 from the air or blocking incoming sunlight. If they even exist, these technologies are not safe. They come with immense uncertainties and risks. Worse, like magical promises of future redemption, they might provide reasons for continuing to emit in the present.

But do they also hold some potentials? In Overshoot, two leading climate scholars subject the plans for saving the planet after it’s been wrecked to critical study. Carbon dioxide removal is already having effects, as an excuse for continuing business as usual, while geoengineering promises to bail out humanity if the heat reaches critical levels. Both distract from the one urgent task: to slash emissions now. There can be no further delay.

The climate revolution is long overdue, and in the end, no technology can absolve us of its tasks.