Looking at climate change in 2021

"How to Prepare for Climate Change"

by David Pogue

President-Elect Joe Biden spent much time savoring the celebrations of his inauguration on Wednesday, because he’s promised to sign a flurry of orders and reset international relationships, including having the United States rejoin the Paris climate accord.

In fact, former Secretary of State John Kerry, who helped negotiate the original accord, is back on board with a new role to restore the American commitment to climate policy.

Seems like a great time to put a couple of forthcoming books on climate change on your list.

I’m excited about David Pogue’s forthcoming “How to Prepare for Climate Change: A Practical Guide to Surviving the Chaos.” He writes about science for the New York Times and is delightfully adept at blending social science — the way we’re behaving and reacting to the changing climate — with comprehensive research about our warming world.

We’re inviting Pogue to the show and hope to have a date soon.

Bill Gates is also publishing a book about climate change in mid-February called “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need,” and I love the concept of this book.

Gates acknowledges that there’s a lot of interest and commitment to ambitious goals but the book promises to give us real and practical solutions. How do we get to zero greenhouse gas emissions by a date certain? How do we build more tools to harness more solar and wind right now? And what are the specific steps — stuff we can do right now — to make a difference.

We’re also inviting Gates to the show. More on that when we hear back from him.

My two must-reads in early 2021 on climate change are: David Pogue’s “How to Prepare for Climate Change” and Bill Gates’ “How to Avoid a Climate Disaster.”