Page 4 - A Hot Mess: How the Climate Crisis Is Changing Our World

C H A P T E R 1
Climate

Change 101

There’s one issue that will define the contours of this
century more dramatically than any other, and that is
the urgent threat of a changing climate.
—then US president Barack Obama,
speaking at the World Economic Forum in 2015

Before we get into the impacts of climate change and all the
ways they’re already making life on Earth more difficult, we’ll first
discuss what climate change is, how it works, and why humankind is
making it a lot worse.
Depending on how good your science classes were (and how well
you remember them), some of what’s included in this chapter might
be more of a refresher than new information. But the unfortunate
reality is that not everyone has had access to good information.
Science denial is big business. Companies that benefit from it have

14 a hot mess