Managing the Climate Crisis: Assessing Our Risks, Options, and Prospects

Using a risk management approach to tease apart the complex issue of climate change, this book assesses the key vulnerabilities and redirects the discussion to present a comprehensive plan to overhaul our response to climate change. According to the 2014 U.S. Climate Report, temperatures might increase by 5 degrees even with aggressive strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and could increase by as much as 10 degrees if emissions continue unabated. The report also predicts increases in extreme weather caused by global warming will continue. It is time to apply the lessons of sustainable disaster mitigation and hazard resilience to respond to the challenges posed by global warming, identify and assess the options we have for addressing the crisis, and create a practical plan for managing the problem. Unlike other books on climate change, this one uniquely applies a risk management approach to answer the question, “Considering what our policies look like now, what do we need to do next to mitigate climate change?” Robert O. Schneider, PhD, explains how the warming climate will affect everything from peak temperatures and weather extremes to infrastructure such as groundwater reservoirs, airports, and wastewater systems, making the dire nature of the crisis clear to readers in practical and personal terms. By enabling readers to understand the scientific and historical contexts of the climate crisis, the author makes a compelling case for the urgency of implementing a national climate policy to respond to the challenges posed by global warming. Introduces a broader audience to climate change as a crisis already in motion that poses predictable risks and urgently requires public policy changes and the creation of a national climate policy Makes the “invisible crisis” of climate change visible and comprehensible by enabling readers to understand the problem in the context of hazard risk and risk management