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A review by schnoebs13
The 2084 Report: An Oral History of the Great Warming by James Lawrence Powell
5.0
As an author living during the height of climate change, the narrator takes the reader through many of the 100+ interviews he’s conducted to fully grasp what this man-made event has done to the world. Hitting on topics like drought and fire, sea level rise, health, and refugee migration, the reader is provided a glimpse of the scale at which climate change has drastically reshaped every country across the globe to the point of many no longer existing.
For this book to be set just far enough into the future that the full scale of climate change can be felt was an excellent choice by the author. I appreciated how the format of the interview allowed these complex theories of what could happen from climate change to be discussed in a way that logically shows why these outcomes could happen. Additionally, having each of the interviewees start with events that occurred during the 20th century and then mixed in the hypothetical events leading to 2084 really made it seem like they’ve already happened or there’s no other outcome than what was being explained. Even though I knew about a lot of the historical events, there were so many new pieces of climate history that I didn’t know about which helped to provide better background to what was being discussed.
The format of the book into these many different themes of climate change impacts allowed for a really reflective reading experience. I found myself taking a section or two a day depending on the length and then just spending time reflecting on what it said, how actions since this book’s publication might impact the theories discussed, and what these possible outcomes could mean for my own personal future. Even though I was only halfway through at the time, I found that I was already wanting to tell so many people to read this because it seems to me to take a really interesting approach to explaining the topic and hopefully answering some of those questions climate change skeptics are wanting to understand about why they should care.
So far this year, my reading has only been average at best but this book really turned it around for me. I constantly wanted to keep reading to find out what next topic the author was going to discuss but at the same time, take this book as slow as possible to save it. As someone who has studied both environmental science and public policy, I absolutely loved the final discussion in the “A Way Out” section because it’s honestly something I heavily support but is just as much of a touchy topic if not more than climate change. Overall, I completely recommend this book and I’m hoping to maybe get some of my friends and family who aren’t as much in favor on taking action to prevent climate change to read this in hopes that it will open up additional avenues for conversations.
For this book to be set just far enough into the future that the full scale of climate change can be felt was an excellent choice by the author. I appreciated how the format of the interview allowed these complex theories of what could happen from climate change to be discussed in a way that logically shows why these outcomes could happen. Additionally, having each of the interviewees start with events that occurred during the 20th century and then mixed in the hypothetical events leading to 2084 really made it seem like they’ve already happened or there’s no other outcome than what was being explained. Even though I knew about a lot of the historical events, there were so many new pieces of climate history that I didn’t know about which helped to provide better background to what was being discussed.
The format of the book into these many different themes of climate change impacts allowed for a really reflective reading experience. I found myself taking a section or two a day depending on the length and then just spending time reflecting on what it said, how actions since this book’s publication might impact the theories discussed, and what these possible outcomes could mean for my own personal future. Even though I was only halfway through at the time, I found that I was already wanting to tell so many people to read this because it seems to me to take a really interesting approach to explaining the topic and hopefully answering some of those questions climate change skeptics are wanting to understand about why they should care.
So far this year, my reading has only been average at best but this book really turned it around for me. I constantly wanted to keep reading to find out what next topic the author was going to discuss but at the same time, take this book as slow as possible to save it. As someone who has studied both environmental science and public policy, I absolutely loved the final discussion in the “A Way Out” section because it’s honestly something I heavily support but is just as much of a touchy topic if not more than climate change. Overall, I completely recommend this book and I’m hoping to maybe get some of my friends and family who aren’t as much in favor on taking action to prevent climate change to read this in hopes that it will open up additional avenues for conversations.