Fire and Flood : a People's History of Climate Change, From 1979 to the Present.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 275-276) and index.

Preface -- Introduction -- The four clocks -- Part one: Setting the stage. The biggest picture -- Science: the dawn of the modern climate change era -- Part two: The 1980s. Science in the 1980s -- The 1980s: a distracted public -- Business and finance in the 1980s: creating the denial playbook -- Part three: The 1990s. Reality: ominous portents of change -- Climate science in the 1990s: a new paradigm emerges -- The public: stirred but not shaken -- Business and finance in the 1990s: mobilizing, but against climate action -- Part four: The new millennium. Reality in the oughts -- The science of climate change in the oughts -- Public opinion in the oughts: a climate denier in the White House -- Business and finance in the oughts: stirrings of change -- Part five: 2010s: things get real. The 2010s: reality bites -- The climate picture comes into focus -- The 2010s: the public realizes that something is wrong -- The 2010s: Business and finance awaken to the threat -- Part six: Where do we go from here?. The trap we've set for ourselves -- A narrow path to a livable future.

From a writer and climate-change expert who has been at the center of the fight for more than thirty years, a brilliant big-picture reckoning with the reasons for our shocking failure thus far to rein in climate change. Linden focuses on the malign power of key business interests, arguing that those same interests could flip this story very quickly-- if a looming economic catastrophe doesn't happen first. Starting with the 1980's, Linden tells the story decade by decade utilizing four clocks that move at different speeds: the reality of climate change; the scientific consensus about it, which always lags reality; public opinion and political will, which lag farther still; and finally, what Linden argues is the most important clock, business and finance-- the monied climate-change deniers have been devilishly effective at slowing and even reversing the progress of our collective awakening. Fire and Flood represents Linden's definitive case for the prosecution as to how and why we have arrived at our current dire pass, closing with his argument that the same forces that have so confused the public's mind and slowed the policy response are poised to pivot with astonishing speed, as long-term risks have become present-day realities and the cliff's edge is now within view. There is a path back from the cliff, but we must pick up the pace. Fire and Flood shows us why, and how.-- Adapted from book jacket.

Eugene Linden wrote his first big cover story on climate change, for Time magazine, in 1988. In the years since, he has written many more investigative pieces, for many outlets, as well as served as an advisor for nonprofits, insurance companies, and other businesses in the cross-hairs of the disastrous impact of global warming.

American Meteorological Society Louis J. Batton Authors Award, 2024