気候変動に対する意識は世界規模で高まっています。私たちは個人、あるいは企業体や政府レベルで、気候変動がつきつける課題に対しどのように対応していけば良いのでしょうか。既に始まっている気候変動の兆候とそれが将来に及ぼすであろう破滅的影響について、気候変動に関する政府間パネル（IPCC）第6次評価報告書（2021年）に盛り込まれた最新の科学的知見をもとに考察するとともに、最悪の事態を回避する方策としての気候変動の地政学も検討します。(cf. Climate Change: What Everyone Needs to Know)
    

• Fully updated for 2021 with the latest science on climate change, including key findings from the IPCC 2021 report
• Explains how and why climate change is happening
• Describes the mounting, wide-ranging evidence for climate change, and modelled predictions of future scenarios
• Looks at the political tensions surrounding climate change
• Examines the proposed solutions to protect our future and that of our planet

New to this Edition:

• Includes the very latest science from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
• Covers the politics of climate change right up to the climate negotiations chaired by the UK in 2021
• Includes a new solutions chapter which discusses what individuals, companies and Governments can do to deal with the climate change emergency
• Inludes a new chapter covering the 150 year history of climate change science
• Includes a new final chapter that discusses the imapct and lessons that can be learnt from the Covid-19 pandemic for dealing with the even greater crisis of climate change

   
In the last few years global awareness of climate change has grown very rapidly - through the school strikes led by Greta Thunberg, groups like Extinction Rebellion, the IPCC's recent high impact reports, tv documentaries, and declarations from governments around the world that we are in a climate emergency. This awareness is continuing to grow, as the science shows us that our planet and our species are facing a massive crisis, which we ourselves have caused. Climate change is one of the few scientific theories that make us examine the whole basis of modern society. It is a challenge that has politicians arguing, sets nations against each other, queries individual lifestyle choices, and ultimately asks questions about humanity's relationship with the rest of the planet.
   
This Very Short Introduction draws on the very latest science from the 2021 IPCC Report, examining the evidence that climate change is already happening, and discussing its potential catastrophic impacts in the future. Mark Maslin also explores the geopolitics of climate change and the win-win solutions we can employ to avoid the very worst effects of climate change. Throughout, he demonstrates how we must develop new modes of thinking for the 21st century at individual, corporate, and government levels to collectively tackle the challenge of climate change.