Understanding Climate Change, by Harald Lesch, Cecilia Scorza-Lesch and Katharina Theis-Bröhl, reviewed

Understanding Climate Change … with sketchnotes By Harald Lesch, Cecilia Scorza-Lesch and Katharina Theis-Bröhl.  Springer | Hardback | £22.99 | $29.99 | 978-3-662-66371-4 | 6^th September 2023. See more about the book and how to buy it  here.

Understanding Climate Change reviewed

This is a bright, visual, well illustrated book. The authors have thought hard about how to make it accessible, readable, and engaging. This is of course super important as we see global warming and climate change demonstrate the impact of these changes. It seems insane that we even had to endure so much negative news, usually funded by oil based multinationals who sought to deny, delay and distract that climate change was even happening. All the more so, because they clearly knew it was true, but just wanted to maximise revenue for a few more decades, despite the wider cost to the planet, and their own offspring.

Naturally it is a challenge to find the right tone, as you don’t want to freak out or completely depress your younger, intended audience. We enjoyed the systematic and methodical approach to tackling and explaining these issues. The book follows a coherent structure, beginning with why the earth is special, moving into what the greenhouse effect is. Then explaining the earth’s climate system, followed by climate change itself. With final sections on what can be done, and possible future solutions. We have the ability, and capacity to change things, and redress the dire situation we now find ourselves in, but, as the penultimate chapter says, we must act.

This is an important, timely and well put together book. Hopefully it does well and has the impact that is needed.

More about this book

• What is driving climate change?
• What impact does it have on the Earth’s ecosystems, our environment, and us?
• What can I do?

This book explains in a clear and understandable way the interrelationships, influencing factors and effects of climate change –  the greatest challenge facing mankind.

With this book, you can understand the causes of climate change, discover the physical connections, and recognize both local and global impacts. You will learn about the role played by our location in the solar system, the feedback processes involved in global warming, and what it means when the oceans acidify.

And ultimately, the question will be asked: How much time do we have left to act?

About the authors

Harald Lesch is Professor of Theoretical Astrophysics at the Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Munich. For years, he has brought complex scientific and philosophical topics to the general public in an understandable and impressive way with numerous bestsellers and programs such as ‘Lesch’s Cosmos’. Climate change and climate protection are among his main topics.

Cecilia Scorza holds a doctorate in astrophysics and is the coordinator of public outreach and education at the Faculty of Physics at the University of Munich. She has received, among others, the Neumann Prize for Didactics of the German Astronomical Society, the Scientix Prize of the EU and the Kepler Prize for Physics Education. Together with Harald Lesch and colleagues, she initiated the project ‘Climate Change: Understanding and Acting’, which has run with great success in German-speaking schools since 2018.

Katharina Theis-Bröhl is a professor of physics, mathematics and materials science at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences. She uses sketchnotes in lectures and popular science talks to present complex issues in an understandable way. In 2019 and 2022, she organized the ‘Climate Week Bremerhaven’ at Bremerhaven University of Applied Sciences, where scientists, students and the interested public could inform and exchange ideas. She is active in Scientists for Future.

See more book and product reviews by Irish Tech News here.