The Future Earth: A Radical Vision for What's Possible in the Age of Warming

I enjoyed the author’s expertise in climate science and his passionate call for action on the climate crisis. I love his promotion of high-speed rail and I somewhat support his request for change in how we view ownership, but I suggest an alternative to his solution. Both the author and I are admirers of Katherine Hayhoe and Greta Thunberg. I agree with him that the enemy is the system we are all embedded in. He means capitalism, while I would include any system that does not value the atmosphere, air, water and other common resources, whether capitalism or socialism, the key is to put a value on those resources via, for example, a price on carbon/pollution. He is correct to point out that climate disasters will disproportionally harm the poor, women, Africans, indigenous communities, and developing countries that have contributed the least to the problem. He discusses climate disasters and the emerging problem of climate refugees, and I found that information enlightening as well as frightening. His call for action is inspiring and spot-on. Climate science tells us why we need to change course but not how to do it. For that, we must draw on engineering, physics, environmental science, economy and more. Unfortunately, the author demonstrates that he has no understanding of economy, engineering, or what modern technology/capitalism, i.e. economic freedom, has accomplished for humanity. His eco-socialist ideology and strong antipathy towards capitalism, businesses and rich people is obviously impeding his ability to be rational on this topic. Thanks to the interplay of modern capitalism, including the limited liability corporation, and science and engineering the world has gone from an extreme poverty rate of 85% in 1800, 29% in 2000, and now 9%. Poor countries have been lifted out of poverty. The average life span has increased from 31 to 72 over the same time span, violence has been reduced by magnitudes, deadly diseases eradicated. The poorest country today is better off than the western world including the US was in 1900. We can easily feed 7+ billion people today, which was impossible a 100 years ago. We cannot go back to a pre-industrial way of life without starving most of the world to death. Also, the 20th century east block socialist plan economies not only failed to provide for their citizens, they were worse for the environment. On page 193 the author accuses the rich of being the reason behind genocides without explaining himself. Never mind that socialist plan economies murdered nearly 200 million people in democides and genocides (see Rudolf Rummel et al). That’s a genocide/democide world record. He repeatedly and strongly rejects practical and proven solutions such as carbon-taxes/carbon-price while in his vision he is promoting socialist command-and-control solutions such as universal guarantees for housing, health care, employment, eliminate all cars including EVs, climate reparations, the banning of fossil fuel industry advertisements, and making burning fossil fuels illegal by 2030 (it is not how you get rid of them). Command-and-control solutions are frequently ineffective, impractical and tend to backfire, contrary to what he believes. Ironically, in a quote from Katherine Hayhoe on page 203 she seems to contradict Holthaus views on carbon prices. He calls believing the best means for problem-solving coming out of business “freaking nonsensical”, without any attempt to motivate that claim. Personally I believe incentivizing businesses towards innovation is a big part of the solution. His focus seems to be on equality rather than actually solving the climate crisis, which, if his vision comes true, would not bode well for either economic freedom or the climate. As Milton Friedman once said “the society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither”. History proves him right. The author does not provide any evidence, facts or valid arguments for his futuristic vision/solution. This stands in stark contrast to another book I was reading at the same time as I read this one, a book which provided practical solutions to climate change and that backed up the proposed solutions with thousands of facts, hundreds of economic calculations, and hundreds of intelligent and thoughtful arguments and comparisons. However, that book proposed solutions that considered economic laws such as demand and supply, technology under development, innovation, and both business and government solutions, and included and used economic freedom as a tool. Guess which book I found compelling, convincing and hopeful? I am sorry if I come off as very critical of this book, but I see its vision as potentially dangerous in a number of ways. Eco-socialist propaganda may deter centrists and conservatives from engaging in the climate question. Eco-socialist propaganda may give many people the impression that climate activists want to use the climate crisis as an excuse for creating a socialist society rather than actually solving the climate crisis. The eco-socialists themselves may reject practical and effective climate solutions because they aren’t eco-socialists, something I’ve come across. I see both eco-socialism and eco-fascism as a potential problem.

It was an okay book... Had to read it for class. But it really made me thing about some things. From what I got from it is that we need to take care of the earth or there isn't going to be one as well as many other things...

Part 1 provides an excellent summary of the undeniable consequences of global warming that we are experiencing right now. This summary is well researched, documented, and explained. Global warming has arrived. It is a reality that can no longer be denied. We must act now to change our way of life before the consequences leave no alternative. Part 2 concerns me a little. It uses an imaginary timeline to illustrate possible actions and proposed solutions. My concern is that mixing science with an imaginary timeline may confuse the proposed solutions and their consequences based on the assumptions about what will happen when. The science is clear on what will happen, the timing is much harder to predict. Consider that Arctic warming is happening much faster than predicted just a few years ago. When reading this fictional scenario, keep in mind that it may not happen this way or when suggested. However there are many excellent actions suggested in the scenario. Sometimes the author makes it clear that a solution is being proposed, other times it’s hard to separate the fictional narrative from the proposed solution. The Epilogue in Part 2 is an excellent place to explore possible actions that can happen now and guidance on how to cope with the reality and change your way of life with climate change in mind. This is an important chapter. My concern is that the global economic impacts of climate change must be experienced before we are convinced to demand a fundamental change of our socio-economic way of life. The author believes this can happen in time; I’m not so sure.

In the long-term, the climate crisis is the most daunting challenge we face and perhaps the greatest challenge we have ever faced. Leading climate journalist Eric Holthaus has written a unique and hopeful book addressing this challenge and the future of our planet. “The Future Earth” is meticulously researched, beautifully written, and deeply personal. In part one of the book, Holthaus describes the “living emergency” of climate change, weaving together (1) a clear and sobering picture of the science of climate change, and (2) inspiring stories about courageous individuals on the front lines of the climate emergency. My favorite story was about his visit from the remarkable young Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Greta and her father Svante stayed overnight at the author’s home while they were traveling around the United States and Greta was speaking and meeting with other climate activists. After a night’s rest and breakfast, Greta, her father, Holthaus, and his young sons went for a walk and chat in his neighborhood. Holthaus was deeply moved by her moral clarity, sense of urgency, and her “clear vision of a world that’s not just survivable but thriving” (p. 39). Part two is a set of three decade-by-decade scenarios that together describe a hopeful climate future and how we could actually get there. The scenarios are: (1) 2020-2030: Catastrophic Success, (2) 2030-2040: Radical Stewardship, and (3) 2040-2050: New Technologies and New Spiritualities. Holthaus uses a technique similar to one often used by futurists and strategic planners, starting with a preferred future in mind—a vision of what we aspire to and want to achieve—and identifying actions over time needed to succeed. Using this approach, he draws us into a positive future and demonstrates that transformational change is possible. Unlike almost all other books about climate change, “The Future Earth” covers both the dire seriousness of the crisis and realistic grounds for hope. It is an audacious vision of a positive future.

I really enjoyed The Future Earth. It starts with a glimpse at the climate disruption we have already experienced and then gives an good educated guess at the actions humanity can take to get to where we would all prefer to be 30 years from now. I've been aware of climate change and taking action to reduce emissions since 2008. I'm part of multiple organizations focused on limiting climate disruption and have also greatly transformed my personal life over the past 12 years. It is not often that I read something related to climate emergency that shifts, or expands my understanding. This book impacted me deeply. I knew that life is going to be different when I'm older no matter whether we as humans make the changes necessary to limit warming to 1.5C of warming or not but I had not fully let it really sink in. This book made it glaring clear for the first time, just how much and how rapidly everything is going to change. I've read the Unhabitable Earth and The Future We Choose and have heard what will happen if we continue on the path we are currently on but actually going through the decades a few years at a time was different. I know how important it is for us to act now and to make far-reaching changes to our society and I am so anxious for this massive undertaking to really begin. I am spending the majority of my free time trying to figure out how I personally can help drive this change to happen as soon as possible. Thank you Eric for this motivating book! I am starting a book study of it at work and in one of the environmental organizations I am a member of. My coworkers are very excited about a climate change book that gives hope.

This book on climate change is too important not to read. It is a guide to our future as well as the planet’s future. It encourages each of us and the world to take action in a collective way that rewards and protects all of us from the damaging affects of a dangerously warming climate.

A wonderful, easy-to-absorb book about what our Earth CAN be if we all work together. It's not just about climate change, but about all the ways our society needs to make itself better in order to survive. I would recommend it!

Hopeful novel providing possibilities for our shared Earth’s future in the coming years.

Quite a few books about the climate crisis have appeared in the past five years or so. Many convey to the reader a long list of scary things that are about to happen, and increasingly, that are already happening related to climate change. The Future Earth by Eric Holthaus has its list of scary things, too – very scary. But this book is different for several reasons. First, Holthaus addresses some really key topics that too many writers don’t even touch. Chief among them is that we’re undergoing a collapse of global civilization. That will worsen as more and more of us have trouble finding something to eat, or trouble surviving 120F temperatures or surviving massive storms and flooding. He argues that we need revolutionary changes in our political, economic and social systems. Our systems have been based on relatively unregulated capitalism for centuries now. The basic premise of capitalism is constant growth. Add to that the dedication to exploitation of natural resources as if those resources were unlimited. This system is breaking apart now. Holthaus argues in favor of a system that favors the welfare of all of us, not increasing the wealth of a very few, as the system currently supports. Second, the middle part of the book is a message from the future that Holthaus has written about how we addressed the climate crisis 10 years, 20 years, and finally 30 years from now. Holthaus makes it clear that it’s too late to “fix” everything. Buying an electric car, for example, is just not enough. His message from the future tells us what mitigating factors we were able to implement (starting yesterday), although he’s clear that there is much we won’t be able to fix because it’s just too late. Reduction and mitigation, not elimination, are the goals. That’s the best we’ll be able to do because we waited way too long to even start. Third, human mental health problems will increase. We’ve already seen the negative mental health effects of the covid pandemic with the increase in anxiety and depression that effect many aspects of our lives. Examples: two-thirds of us are having problems just getting a good night’s sleep; many of us developed health problems; and a lot of us are drinking a lot more alcohol than we should. And what about all these mass shootings we’re seeing? Holthaus does not speak about these mental health issues directly. Instead, he writes about grief and how to deal with it, how to connect to others to deal with our grief, and most of all, how to become grounded so we don’t just go nuts when faced with the challenge of the climate crisis. Holthaus is not arguing for us to have hope. Instead, he’s an advocate of courage. We’re going to needs guts to get through what’s coming. Holthaus is asking us to have the courage to reinvent ourselves and our civilization now. He argues for “collective liberation” – tearing down the system to build something that works for everyone, not just a very few. He says, “We are in a moment of apocalypse. We cannot return to the world that was, because that world no longer exists. Instead, it is up to us to help bring a new world into being.” Yes, that’s going to take a lot of courage.

The author describes groundwater shortages, Arctic food chain disruptions, heat waves, droughts, altered soil conditions and other tangible effects of global warming. These topics are covered with focused and detailed paragraphs and chapters. The author appeals to one's scientific knowledge and the average citizen's optimism. Since the global warming challenge is global but also has local features every US state legislature should use five percent (5%) of the state budget for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Establishing state grasslands parks adjacent to rivers, like the National Grasslands parks, will create new floodplains that build up groundwater. River restoration on the East Coast will help fisheries. Southwestern states can buy land for solar thermal energy systems, which are reliable and can be sourced from American manufacturers. The call for climate action can be incorporating in state lawmaking. Today, however, states push this challenge off to the Federal government. Cities and towns have a similar attitude -- wait for Federal funds.

I enjoyed the author’s expertise in climate science and his passionate call for action on the climate crisis. I love his promotion of high-speed rail and I somewhat support his request for change in how we view ownership, but I suggest an alternative to his solution. Both the author and I are admirers of Katherine Hayhoe and Greta Thunberg. I agree with him that the enemy is the system we are all embedded in. He means capitalism, while I would include any system that does not value the atmosphere, air, water and other common resources, whether capitalism or socialism, the key is to put a value on those resources via, for example, a price on carbon/pollution. He is correct to point out that climate disasters will disproportionally harm the poor, women, Africans, indigenous communities, and developing countries that have contributed the least to the problem. He discusses climate disasters and the emerging problem of climate refugees, and I found that information enlightening as well as frightening. His call for action is inspiring and spot-on. Climate science tells us why we need to change course but not how to do it. For that, we must draw on engineering, physics, environmental science, economy and more. Unfortunately, the author demonstrates that he has no understanding of economy, engineering, or what modern technology/capitalism, i.e. economic freedom, has accomplished for humanity. His eco-socialist ideology and strong antipathy towards capitalism, businesses and rich people is obviously impeding his ability to be rational on this topic. Thanks to the interplay of modern capitalism, including the limited liability corporation, and science and engineering the world has gone from an extreme poverty rate of 85% in 1800, 29% in 2000, and now 9%. Poor countries have been lifted out of poverty. The average life span has increased from 31 to 72 over the same time span, violence has been reduced by magnitudes, deadly diseases eradicated. The poorest country today is better off than the western world including the US was in 1900. We can easily feed 7+ billion people today, which was impossible a 100 years ago. We cannot go back to a pre-industrial way of life without starving most of the world to death. Also, the 20th century east block socialist plan economies not only failed to provide for their citizens, they were worse for the environment. On page 193 the author accuses the rich of being the reason behind genocides without explaining himself. Never mind that socialist plan economies murdered nearly 200 million people in democides and genocides (see Rudolf Rummel et al). That’s a genocide/democide world record. He repeatedly and strongly rejects practical and proven solutions such as carbon-taxes/carbon-price while in his vision he is promoting socialist command-and-control solutions such as universal guarantees for housing, health care, employment, eliminate all cars including EVs, climate reparations, the banning of fossil fuel industry advertisements, and making burning fossil fuels illegal by 2030 (it is not how you get rid of them). Command-and-control solutions are frequently ineffective, impractical and tend to backfire, contrary to what he believes. Ironically, in a quote from Katherine Hayhoe on page 203 she seems to contradict Holthaus views on carbon prices. He calls believing the best means for problem-solving coming out of business “freaking nonsensical”, without any attempt to motivate that claim. Personally I believe incentivizing businesses towards innovation is a big part of the solution. His focus seems to be on equality rather than actually solving the climate crisis, which, if his vision comes true, would not bode well for either economic freedom or the climate. As Milton Friedman once said “the society that puts equality before freedom will end up with neither”. History proves him right. The author does not provide any evidence, facts or valid arguments for his futuristic vision/solution. This stands in stark contrast to another book I was reading at the same time as I read this one, a book which provided practical solutions to climate change and that backed up the proposed solutions with thousands of facts, hundreds of economic calculations, and hundreds of intelligent and thoughtful arguments and comparisons. However, that book proposed solutions that considered economic laws such as demand and supply, technology under development, innovation, and both business and government solutions, and included and used economic freedom as a tool. Guess which book I found compelling, convincing and hopeful? I am sorry if I come off as very critical of this book, but I see its vision as potentially dangerous in a number of ways. Eco-socialist propaganda may deter centrists and conservatives from engaging in the climate question. Eco-socialist propaganda may give many people the impression that climate activists want to use the climate crisis as an excuse for creating a socialist society rather than actually solving the climate crisis. The eco-socialists themselves may reject practical and effective climate solutions because they aren’t eco-socialists, something I’ve come across. I see both eco-socialism and eco-fascism as a potential problem.

It was an okay book... Had to read it for class. But it really made me thing about some things. From what I got from it is that we need to take care of the earth or there isn't going to be one as well as many other things...

Part 1 provides an excellent summary of the undeniable consequences of global warming that we are experiencing right now. This summary is well researched, documented, and explained. Global warming has arrived. It is a reality that can no longer be denied. We must act now to change our way of life before the consequences leave no alternative. Part 2 concerns me a little. It uses an imaginary timeline to illustrate possible actions and proposed solutions. My concern is that mixing science with an imaginary timeline may confuse the proposed solutions and their consequences based on the assumptions about what will happen when. The science is clear on what will happen, the timing is much harder to predict. Consider that Arctic warming is happening much faster than predicted just a few years ago. When reading this fictional scenario, keep in mind that it may not happen this way or when suggested. However there are many excellent actions suggested in the scenario. Sometimes the author makes it clear that a solution is being proposed, other times it’s hard to separate the fictional narrative from the proposed solution. The Epilogue in Part 2 is an excellent place to explore possible actions that can happen now and guidance on how to cope with the reality and change your way of life with climate change in mind. This is an important chapter. My concern is that the global economic impacts of climate change must be experienced before we are convinced to demand a fundamental change of our socio-economic way of life. The author believes this can happen in time; I’m not so sure.

In the long-term, the climate crisis is the most daunting challenge we face and perhaps the greatest challenge we have ever faced. Leading climate journalist Eric Holthaus has written a unique and hopeful book addressing this challenge and the future of our planet. “The Future Earth” is meticulously researched, beautifully written, and deeply personal. In part one of the book, Holthaus describes the “living emergency” of climate change, weaving together (1) a clear and sobering picture of the science of climate change, and (2) inspiring stories about courageous individuals on the front lines of the climate emergency. My favorite story was about his visit from the remarkable young Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg. Greta and her father Svante stayed overnight at the author’s home while they were traveling around the United States and Greta was speaking and meeting with other climate activists. After a night’s rest and breakfast, Greta, her father, Holthaus, and his young sons went for a walk and chat in his neighborhood. Holthaus was deeply moved by her moral clarity, sense of urgency, and her “clear vision of a world that’s not just survivable but thriving” (p. 39). Part two is a set of three decade-by-decade scenarios that together describe a hopeful climate future and how we could actually get there. The scenarios are: (1) 2020-2030: Catastrophic Success, (2) 2030-2040: Radical Stewardship, and (3) 2040-2050: New Technologies and New Spiritualities. Holthaus uses a technique similar to one often used by futurists and strategic planners, starting with a preferred future in mind—a vision of what we aspire to and want to achieve—and identifying actions over time needed to succeed. Using this approach, he draws us into a positive future and demonstrates that transformational change is possible. Unlike almost all other books about climate change, “The Future Earth” covers both the dire seriousness of the crisis and realistic grounds for hope. It is an audacious vision of a positive future.

I really enjoyed The Future Earth. It starts with a glimpse at the climate disruption we have already experienced and then gives an good educated guess at the actions humanity can take to get to where we would all prefer to be 30 years from now. I've been aware of climate change and taking action to reduce emissions since 2008. I'm part of multiple organizations focused on limiting climate disruption and have also greatly transformed my personal life over the past 12 years. It is not often that I read something related to climate emergency that shifts, or expands my understanding. This book impacted me deeply. I knew that life is going to be different when I'm older no matter whether we as humans make the changes necessary to limit warming to 1.5C of warming or not but I had not fully let it really sink in. This book made it glaring clear for the first time, just how much and how rapidly everything is going to change. I've read the Unhabitable Earth and The Future We Choose and have heard what will happen if we continue on the path we are currently on but actually going through the decades a few years at a time was different. I know how important it is for us to act now and to make far-reaching changes to our society and I am so anxious for this massive undertaking to really begin. I am spending the majority of my free time trying to figure out how I personally can help drive this change to happen as soon as possible. Thank you Eric for this motivating book! I am starting a book study of it at work and in one of the environmental organizations I am a member of. My coworkers are very excited about a climate change book that gives hope.

This book on climate change is too important not to read. It is a guide to our future as well as the planet’s future. It encourages each of us and the world to take action in a collective way that rewards and protects all of us from the damaging affects of a dangerously warming climate.

A wonderful, easy-to-absorb book about what our Earth CAN be if we all work together. It's not just about climate change, but about all the ways our society needs to make itself better in order to survive. I would recommend it!

Hopeful novel providing possibilities for our shared Earth’s future in the coming years.

Quite a few books about the climate crisis have appeared in the past five years or so. Many convey to the reader a long list of scary things that are about to happen, and increasingly, that are already happening related to climate change. The Future Earth by Eric Holthaus has its list of scary things, too – very scary. But this book is different for several reasons. First, Holthaus addresses some really key topics that too many writers don’t even touch. Chief among them is that we’re undergoing a collapse of global civilization. That will worsen as more and more of us have trouble finding something to eat, or trouble surviving 120F temperatures or surviving massive storms and flooding. He argues that we need revolutionary changes in our political, economic and social systems. Our systems have been based on relatively unregulated capitalism for centuries now. The basic premise of capitalism is constant growth. Add to that the dedication to exploitation of natural resources as if those resources were unlimited. This system is breaking apart now. Holthaus argues in favor of a system that favors the welfare of all of us, not increasing the wealth of a very few, as the system currently supports. Second, the middle part of the book is a message from the future that Holthaus has written about how we addressed the climate crisis 10 years, 20 years, and finally 30 years from now. Holthaus makes it clear that it’s too late to “fix” everything. Buying an electric car, for example, is just not enough. His message from the future tells us what mitigating factors we were able to implement (starting yesterday), although he’s clear that there is much we won’t be able to fix because it’s just too late. Reduction and mitigation, not elimination, are the goals. That’s the best we’ll be able to do because we waited way too long to even start. Third, human mental health problems will increase. We’ve already seen the negative mental health effects of the covid pandemic with the increase in anxiety and depression that effect many aspects of our lives. Examples: two-thirds of us are having problems just getting a good night’s sleep; many of us developed health problems; and a lot of us are drinking a lot more alcohol than we should. And what about all these mass shootings we’re seeing? Holthaus does not speak about these mental health issues directly. Instead, he writes about grief and how to deal with it, how to connect to others to deal with our grief, and most of all, how to become grounded so we don’t just go nuts when faced with the challenge of the climate crisis. Holthaus is not arguing for us to have hope. Instead, he’s an advocate of courage. We’re going to needs guts to get through what’s coming. Holthaus is asking us to have the courage to reinvent ourselves and our civilization now. He argues for “collective liberation” – tearing down the system to build something that works for everyone, not just a very few. He says, “We are in a moment of apocalypse. We cannot return to the world that was, because that world no longer exists. Instead, it is up to us to help bring a new world into being.” Yes, that’s going to take a lot of courage.

The author describes groundwater shortages, Arctic food chain disruptions, heat waves, droughts, altered soil conditions and other tangible effects of global warming. These topics are covered with focused and detailed paragraphs and chapters. The author appeals to one's scientific knowledge and the average citizen's optimism. Since the global warming challenge is global but also has local features every US state legislature should use five percent (5%) of the state budget for climate change adaptation and mitigation. Establishing state grasslands parks adjacent to rivers, like the National Grasslands parks, will create new floodplains that build up groundwater. River restoration on the East Coast will help fisheries. Southwestern states can buy land for solar thermal energy systems, which are reliable and can be sourced from American manufacturers. The call for climate action can be incorporating in state lawmaking. Today, however, states push this challenge off to the Federal government. Cities and towns have a similar attitude -- wait for Federal funds.

Thanks so much to Netgalley and the publisher HarperOne (Harper Collins) for providing me with an early copy of this book in exchange for my honest review! The Future Earth is out now It felt a bit odd to be finishing this book at this present moment given everything that's happening (i.e. covid-19, the murder of George Floyd and the events following) as right now climate change seems to be the least of our worries; however, the hopefulness of this book also made this a phenomenal time to read this book and garner the optimism to imagine a more environmentally, economically, and socially just world for all. In Future Earth, Eric Holthaus spends the first third of the book situating his readers with the state of things regarding the climate crisis, including discussion of the increasing levels of destruction caused by hurricanes due to changing weather patterns, the activism work by Greta Thurnberg and other young adults like her, the history of colonialism and exploitation that got us to this point, and what has already been lost due to warming. The second two-thirds of the book tracks, as the subtitle suggests, the next three decades (2020-2030, 2030-2040, and 2040-2050) imagining--with the help of various experts in a variety of fields, including law, climate science, and indigenous activism--the changes we need to make (as well as us, globally, making them) and what that will mean for the rising average global temperature. In these visions, Holthaus implements the resurgence of train and ship travel (although at hyper-speeds); subsistence and regenerative agriculture that focuses as much on restoring the land as on growing the crop; laws criminalizing the burning of fossil fuels; a globalized, circular (or restorative) economy; and so many other ideas that would make most anyone excited about the possibilities and eager to get started on implementation. Although the book does sometimes feel slightly too optimistic, Holthaus continues to remind the reader of the strong possibilities of greed and violence taking over the wheel and sending us back towards impending doom. This helps to reinforce the importance of the work that needs to be done, as well as its urgency. The last ten percent of the book includes resources for starting dialogues with your friends, families, or even strangers (at one point in the resources section, Holthaus suggests potentially starting an environmentally-focused small business, wherein you could talk with your potential customers about climate change and its impacts) about climate change, which I really appreciated and definitely want to use in the future. All in all, I think this will be a great resource for many people and hopefully will be the push we need to finally take action in reimagining what our world could look like if we really cared for one another and our planet.