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 enlarge | Author: Bjorn Lomborg
Publisher: Knopf
Category: Book
List Price: $21.00
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Avg. Customer Rating:  90 reviews
Sales Rank: 2339
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 272
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8
Dimensions (in): 7.6 x 4.9 x 1.2
ISBN: 0307266923
Dewey Decimal Number: 363.73874
EAN: 9780307266927
ASIN: 0307266923
Publication Date: September 4, 2007
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| Customer Reviews:
 Global warming is not a planetary emergency May 28, 2008
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
"Cool It" by Bjorn Lomborg
After reading this book, I am persuaded that global warming "is not an immediate planetary emergency that will bring down civilization" (p. 148).
Lomborg is not a climatic alarmist, but neither is he a "climate change denier". He accepts the findings of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that humanity has caused a substantial rise in atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, thereby contributing to global warming. But he rejects some extremist political motivations drawn from the IPCC reports.
Using a benefit/cost approach, Lomborg argues convincingly that limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, as agreed by the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, is a poor bargain, whose global costs of $180 billion annually (0.5% of global GDP) would far exceed its net benefits. That is the main reason why the USA and Australia didn't ratify the treaty, and most signatories are quite unlikely to meet their Kyoto targets.
If one thinks of GHGs as pollutants, it would be reasonable to impelement a modest "carbon tax" of $2 per ton, but anything more would risk adverse economic effects. The quest for a cheap way to reduce GHGs could be and should be pursued by research and development.
However cutting GHG emissions is not the only way to modify the climate. One other idea, of several, is to increase the reflectivity of low-lying clouds by creating more salt droplets from the ocean. It is estimated that this could stabilize temperatures for two percent of the cost of Kyoto. See the "Spiked" online article "Every silver lining has a cloud" for more about this and other alternatives.
If nothing were done to reduce global warming, many of its undesirable effects could be mitigated individually for a far lower cost than Kyoto. And one should remember that global warming also has many beneficial effects.
Lomborg organized the "Copenhagen Consensus", a group of economists who prioritized a number of global initiatives based on their benefit/cost ratios. On a global basis, the best bargains included control of HIV/AIDS, micronutrients to reduce malnutrition, trade liberalization, control of malaria, new agricultural methods and various improvements to water supply and sanitation. Climate control itself was given the lowest priority.
I highly recommend that all serious politicians and concerned citizens read this book.
 The Pope is wrong and Lomborg is lukewarm May 27, 2008
4 out of 16 found this review helpful
People argue about the wrong points including Lomborg. Global warming, increases in diseases, starvation / malnutrition, energy crisis, war, ... all are rooted in overpopulation. The ecosystem of the earth is heavily stressed and solving the polutions problems along with all others is too expensive (this is where Lomborg is luke warm). Solving overpopulation is cheap! Education is easy and requires no new technological advances! As demonstrated by France and Germany when they helped Iran get their population problem back under control a few years back, and, as is evidenced by the recent gains by Thailand to move towards achieving the same. The problem with solving the population issue is that Western financial structures count on cheap labor from the third world ... which is driven by overpopulation. Greed has made us blind! The Pope continues to state that large families are good! Wrong! He is reciting doctrine from 500 years ago without any knowledge of real world issues!
Hype Down May 26, 2008
13 out of 15 found this review helpful
The author, Danish political scientist, Bjorn Lomborg throws some rational thought on the hype surrounding global warming. He points out that global warming is a real problem but he argues that the costs proposed to confront it greatly exceed the benefits postulated by programs such as Kyoto I or II. The book is interesting, informative, lively, often amusing and, happily, short. He covers so many interesting worries, including the disappearing polar bears, the rise in the oceans, the increase in global temperatures, the melting ice and argues that the potential disasters invoked are not likely to be as great as we fear. He argues that we can improve life for most people to a much greater extent at less cost by dealing with starvation, impure water, disease, and poverty using solutions that are already available to us. Even though he doesn't dispute global warming, his point of view has been viciously attacked by supporters of what has become the new mantra. If you saw V. P. Gore's Film, you should read this book and breathe a little easier still doing your best to reduce CO2's. Just don't panic. The polar bear is not going to disappear.
an okay novel, like State of Fear and Congo May 13, 2008
6 out of 33 found this review helpful
although his attempt to base his story in the "real world" would meet more success if he didn't pull his commentary from random web sources and company press clippings. he should do a little more research into the background of his characters too, the sorcerer's apprentice has more real science cred than this hack.
A Reasonable Approach to Climate Change May 10, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
This book is beautifully written, and can easily be read in a few hours.
The general idea the author presents is that while "Global Warming" is
real and problematic, there has been too much apocalyptic material written
spoken and propagated in the media. He is particularly hard on Mr. Gore
whom he feels has (among other things) predicted an unrealistic rise in sea levels. He is also hard on the Kyoto Treaty.
Mr. Lomborg is an economist, not a physical scientist. Many of his arguments
concern costs and benefits. He tends to produce "facts" and "figures" in a somewhat oracular manner - one supposes that the references he provides
substantiate these assertions. This is the price paid for a terse readable presentation.
I tend to agree with the idea that heroic measures to control carbon dioxide emissions are politically difficult if not impossible.
The author prefers to spend the money on other human needs where the benefits seem more in line with the expenditures : clean water, fighting diseases etc.
I found particularly interesting his idea that the benefits of global warming( fewer deaths from cold for example) might offset some of the bad effects. Here the oracular statistics were prominent- how could he state so surely the number of lives saved from hypothermia ?
I will continue to read Lomborg's work which is always interesting.
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