A Brief History of Climate Folly

Trying to Control the Weather, from the Stone Age to the Space Age

De: Tim Flannery, Emma Flannery

An outrageous story of dreamers and schemers, and a warning for the present

For millennia, humans have been trying – or claiming – to influence the weather. We have thought up ever more audacious and technologically advanced ways to change our climate to suit our needs, from performing human sacrifices, to drawing up plans to drain the Mediterranean, create a ‘second moon’, or even drop nuclear bombs on polar ice caps. Yet these pale in comparison with the unplanned experiments of the fossil-fuel companies that have had profound effects on the Earth’s ecosystems. Despite past failures and wasted resources, our hubris remains undiminished, with new initiatives – like pumping saltwater into the Arctic and injecting sulphur into the atmosphere – being explored to bring us back from the brink of climate collapse.

In this book, Tim and Emma Flannery provide an entertaining overview of the most outrageous historical attempts – from the utterly ridiculous to the not-so-sublime – and they address a very serious question: can we do any better?

© Emma Flannery 2027 (P) Penguin Audio 2027

Reseñas de la Crítica

Praise for Tim Flannery’s Europe: The First 100 Million Years

Vivid, compelling, authoritative . . . an exciting book, full of wonder, affection and hope

Flannery takes great pleasure in opening up this world of surprises, describing it with verve and wit

Thrillingly captured . . . a bold and rich panorama