World leaders have made a forceful statement that climate change is the greatest challenge facing humanity in the 21st century. However, little progress has been made in implementing policies to address climate change. In Climate Uncertainty and Risk, eminent climate scientist Judith Curry shows how we can break through this stalemate. This book helps us rethink the climate change problem, the risks we are facing and our response. It helps us strategize on how we can best engage with our environment and support human well-being while responding to climate change. Climate Uncertainty and Risk provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the climate change debate. It shows how both the climate change problem and its solution have been oversimplified. It explains how understanding the uncertainties helps us to better assess the risks. It describes how uncertainty and disagreement can be part of the decision-making process. It provides a road map formulating pragmatic solutions that can improve our well-being in the 21st century. Judith Curry brings a unique perspective to the debate on climate change. She has engaged extensively with decision makers in both the private and public sectors on a range of issues related to weather and climate. She engages with scientists, activists and politicians on both sides of the climate change debate. In her search for wisdom in this debate, she incorporates the philosophy and sociology of science, ethics, risk management and politics. Climate Uncertainty and Risk is essential reading for those concerned about the environment, professionals dealing with climate change and our national leaders.

Judith Curry is Professor Emerita of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences at the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, and President of the Climate Forecast Applications Network.

Anthem Environment and Sustainability Initiative

List of Figure and Tables; Description; Acknowledgments; Author’s Foreword; Part One The Climate Change Challenge, Chapter One Introduction; Chapter Two Consensus, or Not?; Chapter Three The Climate Change Response Challenge; Chapter Four Mixing Science and Politics; Part Two Uncertainty of Twenty-First Century Climate Change, Chapter Five The Climate Change “Uncertainty Monster”; Chapter Six Climate Models; Chapter Seven IPCC Scenarios of Twenty-First Century Cimate Change; Chapter Eight Alternative Methods for Generating Climate Change Scenarios; Chapter Nine What’s the Worst Case?; Part Three Climate Risk and Response, Chapter Ten Risk and Its Assessment; Chapter Eleven Risk Management; Chapter Twelve Decision-Making Under Deep Uncertainty; Chapter Thirteen Adaptation, Resilience, and Development; Chapter Fourteen Mitigation; Chapter Fifteen Climate Risk and the Policy Discourse; Index