Dana Nuccitelli

Dana Nuccitelli, an environmental scientist who has focused on Climate Change over the past decade, has concluded that the threats posed by human-caused global warming are real. He's clearly supportive of taking steps to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and he explains why the Nations of the world must act together to transition away from fossil fuels and toward renewable energy. That said, there's an implied understanding that the reader will be in agreement with that position, and Nuccitelli doesn't take too much time teaching the basic science behind climate change. What he does do is explain several of the steps which can be taken, and points out that the few scientists who disagree with the mainstream scientists haven't been able to offer alternate accepted theories. On the contrary, he points out that many of the climate science contrarians, while arguing that the "accepted" science is flawed in some way, have been shown to have been wrong on their alternative theories offered in the past. And if, as he states, these "skeptic" scientists have been wrong in the past, and as such have little credibility, then he laments the fact that the media gives them equal weight in the debate in order to demonstrate that they're bringing "balance" to the discussion. He also makes a case that many of the opponents to accepting the science behind climate change tend to be "free-market", small-government, "anti-science" members of Conservative Political Parties. So there's some partisanship, and also some repetition in his writing. But on the whole, Nuccitelli provides a good summary of the most significant points in the "debate". For example, his explanations, such as how cap-and-trade, or a revenue-neutral carbon tax, would be a good step to take now, are clear and easy to understand. He kept the book short and easy to read, without a lot of equations and formulas to process. However, because of that, readers trying to fully understand all the issues behind the climate change / global warming debate may need to grab a textbook, or do some additional outside reading to gain a more in-depth understanding of the scientific issues.… (más)