Into the Clear Blue Sky, Rob Jackson
Into the Clear Blue Sky, Rob Jackson
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Into the Clear Blue Sky
The Path to Restoring Our Atmosphere

Author: Rob Jackson

Narrator: Sean Patrick Hopkins

Unabridged: 6 hr 58 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 07/30/2024


Synopsis

One of Scientific American and The Times (London)’s Best Books of 2024

From one of the world’s leading climate scientists, a heart- and mind-changing book that offers a hopeful and attainable vision for restoring the atmosphere and ending the climate crisis.

Climate change is here. From the millions displaced by the floods in Pakistan to Californian and Canadian towns incinerated by wildfires, we are experiencing the anguish that climate change causes. Fossil fuels are making the planet unlivable, and they are deadly. We know that we must cut emissions if we are going to limit the catastrophes, but is that enough?

In Into the Clear Blue Sky, climate scientist and chair of the Global Carbon Project Rob Jackson explains that we need to redefine our goals. As he argues here, we shouldn’t only be trying to stabilize the Earth’s temperature at some arbitrary value. Instead, we can restore the atmosphere itself in a lifetime—and this should be our moral duty. Restoring the atmosphere means reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the air to pre-industrial levels—starting with super-potent methane—to heal the harm we have done. Emissions must be cut, first and foremost. But to safeguard a livable planet for future generations, we must repair the damage we have caused.

Jackson introduces us to the brilliant leaders and innovators behind some of the boldest and game-changing climate solutions under development. When it comes to greenhouse gas mitigation, our choices matter, because it is easier to stop emissions from happening than to remove greenhouse gases from the air later. But while mitigation is crucial, no number of solar panels, electric cars, and veggie burgers alone will be enough to halt climate change. Decades of inaction have convinced Jackson that we need to remove greenhouse gases from the air using everything from nature to cutting-edge technologies.

Into the Clear Blue Sky is a heart- and mind-changing book. Guided by one of the leading scientists in this fight and a deeply gifted storyteller, we learn why we should all feel hopeful. One way or another, we will restore the planet together. The question is how, and how long will it take?

About Rob Jackson

Rob Jackson is the Chair of the Global Carbon Project, a Senior Fellow at Stanford’s Woods Institute for the Environment and Precourt Institute for Energy, and a professor of earth science at Stanford University. Through global scientific leadership and groundbreaking research, communications, and policy activities, Jackson’s work has reduced millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions and improved human health, safety, and air and water quality. One of the top five most-cited climate and environmental scientists in the world, he has authored more than 400 peer-reviewed publications, and his writings have appeared in many outlets, including The New York TimesScientific American, and The Washington Post. Jackson lives in Stanford, California.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sam on May 04, 2025

Woof. File this under “cool climate books that highlight ~a dozen~ examples of people fighting hard on climate but then doesn’t address the immense context it’s couched in”. Does it feature some brilliant scientists that are way way smarter than me? Yes!!! Is their work undeniably beneficial? Yes!!!......more

Goodreads review by Socraticgadfly on November 10, 2024

I was going to give it a gentleman's three stars, but, even with James Hansen blurbing it, I can't do that. First, at less than 200 pages of body text, there's not a lot of "there" there. Second, I know that we really need more than one path for different sections of the problem, but within those se......more

Goodreads review by STEPHEN on November 05, 2024

XXXXX ARE WE ENTERING THE HELL-OCENE GEOLOGIC PERIOD, A TIME OF SUFFERING AND WEATHER CALAMITIES?? XXXXX "Restoring the atmosphere [is[ my dream as a climate scientist and the reason I [wrote] this book... The United Nations named the 2020s the 'Decade on Restoration' to repair degraded ecosystems,......more

Goodreads review by Kevin on January 12, 2025

At least Jackson waits until the very end of the book to plunge us into abject despair… I like Jackson’s solutions-oriented approach in this book, even if he’s realistic about their limitations. He qualifies that while individuals are not responsible for solving climate change, every little effort to......more

Goodreads review by John on May 07, 2025

likee most of it but a little unrealistic for many people .Into the Clear Blue Sky Ch1 pollution inequity: people of color and poor bear a higher amount of pollution, need equity Ch2 Gas pollution: gas in house has co2 methane and benzene Ch3 Cows: impossible burgers, plant Based, feed additives to......more


Quotes

"Pace matters in a globe-trotting audiobook that illuminates the scientific basis for climate change. Sean Patrick Hopkins narrates enthusiastically at the right tempo. He also alters his tone ever so slightly when quoting experts. Stanford-based Jackson, chair of the Global Carbon Project, is among the mainstays of those doing hands-on work in ecology: He has marked gas leaks in Washington, DC, witnessed the deaths of river dolphins in the Amazon, and reported on rewilding efforts in Finland and carbon capture in Iceland. Much of his own research concerns how to restore methane levels to pre-industrial levels. Subtitled “The Path To Restoring Our Atmosphere,” this is both a primer for positive action and a warning about what happens if we don’t act."