Bill McKibben, Editor. The Global Warming Reader: A Century of Writing About Climate Change. Penguin Books. Toronto. 2011.
Starting with Svante Arrhenius' article from 1896, the author has assembled over 30 articles. You can also find endnotes and links to more detailed information.
You will find the book structured in three parts: science, politics and impact. Among reprints of published articles you find the text from speeches and a few sets of photographs. The sections on politics and impact hold many fascinating concepts and well-composed ideas, as well as one from James M. Inhofe.
Early in the anthology, Arrhenius' writing is difficult to read. Callendar's writing starts to become easier to read (it's from 1938). You rapidly enter postmodern time after you read Revelle and Seuss (from 1957) where you will find easier flow and reading.
Articles particularly fascinating to me follow. Excerpts follow after.
- On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground, Svante Arrhenius 1896
- The Artificial Production of Carbon Dioxide and Its Influence on Temperature, G. S. Callendar 1938
- Carbon Dioxide Exchange between Atmosphere and Ocean and the Question of an Increase in Atmospheric CO2, during the Past Decades
- Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim? James Hansen, Makiko Sako, Pushker Kharecha, David Beerling, Robert Berner, Valerie Masson-Delmotte, Mark Pagani, Maureen Raymo, Dana L. Royer, and James C. Zachos 2008
- From The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems, Van Jones and Ariane Conrad 2008
- To Really Save the Planet, Stop Going Green, Mike Tidwell 2009
- Climate Rage, Naomi Klein 2009
- This is Fucked Up -- It's Time to Get Mad, and Then Get Busy
- The Green Generation, Adrienne Maree Brown 2007
- The Population Myth, George Monbiot 2009
- Global Warming Twenty Years Later: Tipping Points Near, James Hansen 2008
- Speech at Klimaforum, Mohamed Nasheed 2009
- John 5:1-9, Sally Bingham 2010
- Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action, The Evangelical Climate Initiative 2006
- An Abrupt Climate Change Scenario and Its Implications for United States National Security, Peter Schwartz and Doug Randall 2003
- Climate Change and Agriculture, Vandana Shiva 2011
- The Darkening Sea: What Carbon Emissions Are Doing to the Ocean, Elizabeth Kolbert 2006
- Nepal's Farmers on the Front Line of Global Climate Change, John Vidal 2006
On the Influence of Carbonic Acid in the Air upon the Temperature of the Ground, Svante Arrhenius 1896
A simple calculation shows that the temperature should attain the same values as in the arctic regions would rise about eight to nine degrees Celsius, if the carbonic acid increased to two and a half or three times its present value.
(Near 1900: 274 ppm CO2. 2019: 415 ppm CO2. 2019 is 1.5x 1900)
The Artificial Production of Carbon Dioxide and Its Influence on Temperature, G. S. Callendar 1938
Pressure of CO2 in the air at normal barometric pressure estimated for 2100: 3.46 parts per 10,000 [Table I]
(3.46 parts per 10,000 is 346 ppm, surpassed in the 1990's rather than 2100)
Carbon Dioxide Exchange between Atmosphere and Ocean and the Question of an Increase in Atmospheric CO2, during the Past Decades
Estimates by the UN [United Nations] (1955) indicate that during the first decade of the twenty-first century fossil-fuel combustion could produce an amount of carbon dioxide equal to twenty percent of that now in the atmosphere...
(2000 to 2010 estimate - is that 20% of 315 ppm a 63 ppm increase estimated in one decade?)
Target Atmospheric CO2: Where Should Humanity Aim? James Hansen, Makiko Sako, Pushker Kharecha, David Beerling, Robert Berner, Valerie Masson-Delmotte, Mark Pagani, Maureen Raymo, Dana L. Royer, and James C. Zachos 2008
Paleoclimate evidence and ongoing global changes imply that today's CO2, about 385 parts per million, is already too high to maintain the climate to which humanity, wildlife, and the rest of the biosphere are adapted.
From The Green Collar Economy: How One Solution Can Fix Our Two Biggest Problems, Van Jones and Ariane Conrad 2008
Our cause needs fewer enemies and more friends ... [t]he change we seek is so complex that no one person can understand everything that must be done ... Imagine if [current] jobs-- plus new ones created for people who are currently unemployed-- were largely working in fields and professions that uplift human dignity and honor the Earth.
To Really Save the Planet, Stop Going Green, Mike Tidwell 2009
We all got into this mess together. And now, with treaty talks underway internationally and Congress stalled at home, we need to act accordingly. Don't spend an hour changing your light bulbs. Don't take a day to caulk your windows. Instead, pick up a phone, open a laptop or travel to a U.S. Senate office near you and turn the tables: "What are the ten green statutes you're working on to save the planet, Senator?"
Climate Rage, Naomi Klein 2009
Climate debt is not a matter of charity. [Lidy Nacpil]
This is Fucked Up -- It's Time to Get Mad, and Then Get Busy
Kids are leading the fight all over the world-- they have to live on this planet for another seventy years or so, and they have every right to be pissed off.
The Green Generation, Adrienne Maree Brown 2007
In each space there is more action than I've ever seen before by young people from impacted communities who have the privilege of being awake to what's happening and are looking for people the move the front line of their sustainable visions forward against all odds.
The Population Myth, George Monbiot 2009
A paper published yesterday in the journal Environment and Urbanization shows that the places where population has been growing fastest are those in which carbon dioxide [emission] has been growing most slowly, and vice versa.
...
[t]he raft that's really caught my eye is made by Wally Yachts in Monaco. The WallyPower 118 (which gives total wallies a sense of power) consumes 3400 litres per hour when travelling at sixty knots. That's nearly one litre per second. Another way of putting it is 31 litres per second.
...
People breed less as they become richer, but they don't consume less; they consume more. As the habits of the super-rich show, there are no limits to human extravagance. Consumption can be expected to rise with economic growth unti the biosphere hits the buffers. Anyone who understands this and still considers that population, not consumption, is the big issue is, in Lovelock's words, "hiding from the truth." It is the worst kind of paternalism, blaming the poor for the excesses of the rich.
Global Warming Twenty Years Later: Tipping Points Near, James Hansen 2008
The difference is now that we have used up all slack in the schedule for actions needed to defuse the global warming time bomb.
Speech at Klimaforum, Mohamed Nasheed 2009
In all political agreements you have to be prepared to negotiate. You have to be prepared to compromise; to give and take. That is the nature of politics. But physics isn't politics. On climate change, there are things on which we cannot negotiate. There are scientific bottom lines that we have to respect.
John 5:1-9, Sally Bingham 2010
[W]e are standing at the edge of two worlds, the one that God created and the one that humans are making. The one that humans are making is not sustainable. It may be a matter of life and death. It is just that serious. ... Crisis can and often does mean danger, but it also is an opportunity, and we mustn't waste this opportunity. We have the chance to do what few generations have had, and that is to come together as a unified force with a regenerated view of the human purpose on earth.
Climate Change: An Evangelical Call to Action, The Evangelical Climate Initiative 2006
The earth's natural systems are resilient but not infinitely so, and human civilizations are remarkably dependent on ecological stability and well-being. It is easy to forget this until that stability and well-being are threatened.
An Abrupt Climate Change Scenario and Its Implications for United States National Security, Peter Schwartz and Doug Randall 2003
With at least eith abrupt climate change events documented in the geological record, it seems that the questions to ask are: When will this happen:? What will the impacts be? And how can we best prepare for it? Rather than: Will this really happen?
Climate Change and Agriculture, Vandana Shiva 2011
Navdanya's work over the past twenty years has shown that we can grow more food and provide higher incomes to farmers without destroying the environment and killing our peasants. ... Navdanya's study on climate change and organic farming has indicated that organic farming increases carbon absorption by up to fifty-five percent and water holding capacity by ten percent, thus contributing to both mitigation and adaptation to climate change. Biodiverse organic farms produce more food and higher incomes than industrial monocultures. Mitigating climate change, conserving biodiversity and increasing food security can thus go hand in hand.
The Darkening Sea: What Carbon Emissions Are Doing to the Ocean, Elizabeth Kolbert 2006
If you're talking about mugging little old ladies, you don't say, 'What's our target for the rate of mugging little old ladies?' You say, 'Mugging little old ladies is bad, and we're going to try to eliminate it.' You recognize you might not be a hundred percent successful, but your goal is to eliminate the mugging of old ladies. And I think we need to eventually come around to looking at carbon-dioxide emissions the same way. [Ken Caldeira]
Nepal's Farmers on the Front Line of Global Climate Change, John Vidal 2006
Western countries can control their emissions but to mitigate the effects will take a long time. Until then they can help countries like Nepal to adapt. But it means everyone must question the way they live. [Gehendra Gurung]