PALM TREES AT THE NORTH POLE

Earth’s climate has changed before, but science shows us that now it’s changing more quickly and with serious consequences—what can be done?

The team that produced Hey There, Earth Dweller! (2019) returns to explain “the big story of climate change.” In 10 neatly organized chapters, Horst provides historical background, describes research, discusses causes and consequences, and presents a variety of present-day and potential remedies. He refers to current debates as “squabbling” and emphasizes the point that most scientists agree there’s a problem. Each chapter begins with a summary and list of topics; a line reminding readers of the chapter subject appears along one edge of each spread. The writer addresses his young readers directly in a reassuring, conversational tone. He talks about the origin of fossil fuels, the Industrial Revolution, and bovine methane emissions. He includes a story from First Nations Australians reflecting knowledge of the sea level rise that created the Coral Sea as well as the “hockey stick” graph showing the rise in Earth’s temperature over the last thousand years. Panders’ lighthearted illustrations offset the weight of the substantial text. Sadly, the opening map wildly distorts the size of Northern Hemisphere continents and islands. All the measurements in this Canadian-published Dutch import are metric; this is appropriate in a science book, but U.S. readers unaccustomed to this world standard may find themselves confused. A mordant “climate bingo” game concludes the book.

A comprehensive account engagingly presented.