How to Avoid a Climate Disaster: The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need

The book discusses the possible effects of climate change on humans and plants, particularly as those effects relate to our food supply. How might climate change affect animals? Pick a geographical area and research how climate change may affect its native animals—or choose a species that inhabits various regions and examine the effects on it.

Gates asserts that we should focus on eliminating greenhouse gases by 2050 instead of reducing them by 2030. Consider whether you agree and explain why or why not. Detail how we could do both or why we couldn’t.

Some are skeptical about humans’ contribution to climate change, noting that the Earth’s climate has naturally fluctuated throughout time, as in the various Ice Ages. What evidence do scientists cite to show that humans are indeed a major cause of the current climate change?

Gates briefly touches on health issues and climate change. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, health effects may deserve deeper examination. What public health effects do scientists predict may result from climate change? What, if anything, can we do to prevent or reduce these effects?

What are “extreme weather events”? What events of recent years meet the definition? What do you make of related phenomena like rising sea levels and increasing floods, drought, and wildfires? To what extent are these events direct results of climate change—or related to it?

Regarding US politics and climate change, Gates acknowledges only that the situation is fraught. Even so, he devotes two chapters to the role of governments—particularly those of large and powerful nations—in fighting climate change. In the US, however, political dissension is rampant. For example, Trump’s administration pulled out of the 2015 Paris Agreement in 2020, while Biden’s rejoined it in 2021. Amid such political uncertainty, how can the US make a consistent, concerted effort to meet the moment’s urgency and lead climate change efforts? What do you consider the nation’s best way forward, including the extent to which it should hold fossil fuel industries accountable?

Gates cites transportation as the largest US emissions source but in examining measures to get to zero doesn’t discuss public transit. What do you see as its role in the solution? For example, consider whether the US might build high-speed rail systems like China and other countries have. How would such measures affect our energy use?

What is intermittency, and why does it pose such a significant problem for using clean electricity? How does Gates suggest dealing with it?