Book Review: Unsettled by Steven E. Koonin

Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matters by Steven E. Koonin

A major hot-button topic in our culture is what to do as the Earth's climate changes. Alarmists and deniers give reactions from the far ends of the spectrum. The knowledge of how the climate is shifting and what impact human actions have had is growing and showing how complex the system is. The news media in general favors the alarmists, if for no other reason than panic-inducing headlines get more readership or followers than "everything is okay" messages. The issue has become important through the sheer weight it is given. But is that weight really there?

Steven Koonin has a doctorate in theoretical physics from MIT and taught that at Caltech for thirty years. He became a scientific advisor for British Petroleum and later for the Obama Administration's Department of Energy. He spent decades researching climate science on the national and international level. His approach is to look at all of the science, actually reading reports issued by government agencies and other entities to understand their conclusions and how they came to them. He also looks at historical data about weather and climate activities. The results are eye-opening thanks to his intelligent understanding of the models and the data he has found. So many factors are involved in how climate develops, from the absorption of solar radiation to natural and man-made production of carbon dioxide to the production and consumption of energy in developed and developing countries. The climate system of the Earth is very complex and operates on a much higher level, i.e. decades and centuries, than is often looked at in popular culture, where news, entertainment, and scientific reporting look at the latest disaster and claim it's part of a big problem that needs solving. Certainly the climate is changing but realistic understandings of that change and how much we can alter our impact (and how significant that impact really is) is key to a reasonable response.

This book is written for general readership, covering the wide variety of topics in accessible ways. It has plenty of charts and scientific data to back up its claims  but not in overwhelming amounts. Koonin has spent a lot of time researching and thinking about all the different components of this topic. He presents information for the majority of the book, giving his recommendations for how to move forward in climate management only in his conclusion. His clear intent is to have a more thoroughly thought out and truly global understanding of the Earth's climate. This topic is deep and difficult and requires more information than comes from the internet or contemporary news coverage. This book is a valuable resource to be informed rather than indoctrinated.

Recommended.