“A Brief History of the Earth’s Climate” by Steven Earle, PhD

It took me a long time to make my way through this book and I'm not sure a lot of it sunk in. (Pretty sure this is a me problem and not a problem with the book itself.) The main impression I came away with is that, as Steven Novella is fond of saying about everything, "it's complicated." Whereas the previous climate book I read made everything simple and easy to understand (possibly overly so), this book really dug into the details. 

Earle explains that many things have an impact on the earth's climate: 

1. The Sun is getting hotter. This certainly serves to warm the climate, but it has been happening very slowly, over an immense timeframe (billions of years). There are also shorter-term solar variations (sunspots) but their effects on the climate have been minimal. 

2. Continental drift has caused changes in albedo (which is basically how "reflective" the earth is, which in turn has an effect on global temperatures.

3. Volcanoes release greenhouse gases, but the overall effect of a typical volcanic eruption is actually cooling of the climate due to release of sulphur dioxide (which converts to sulphuric acid or sulphate aerosols, which can remain in the atmosphere for months to years, blocking the sun).

4. Milanković cycles (variations in the Earth's orbit and tilt) also affect the climate, but these changes occur over thousands (or hundreds of thousands) of years. 

5. Ocean currents are important for redistribution of warmth around the world, and disruptions in these currents are both an indication that climate change is occurring, and a cause of greater temperature extremes (hot areas get hotter and cold areas get colder). The El Niño Southern Oscillation causes short-term increases and decreases in global temperatures, but they don't explain the recent continuous upward trend over time. 

6. Comets or asteroids hitting the earth have caused climate changes and extinctions in the past (and could do so again some day). Some organisms die from the impact, many more from the following radiative heat and resulting wildfires, and even more from the persistent clouds of soot that could cause a few years of darkness, then several more years of cold and dry conditions, followed by acid rain, then extended warming as a result of all the greenhouse gases caused by the fires. 

Bottom line; many factors impact the earth's climate. But there is one factor that has had a more precipitous impact in the shortest period of time: the human being and its related activities. None of the 6 issues listed above can explain the current trend of global warming (think hockey stick graph, which starts with normal climate variations but quickly switches to an incredibly steep rise in atmospheric greenhouse gases due to industrialization). Furthermore, based on ice core records, the Earth should actually be in a cooling trend, but it is certainly not. 

The last chapter of this book was my favorite: what can I personally do about climate change? That's what I've been trying to figure out for years. The recommendations of this book fell squarely between Greta Thunberg-style sacrifices (don't eat meat or dairy, don't buy new things, and don't fly) and those of the Green New Deal (individuals can't have an impact--it's up to governments). Earle gave a lot of suggestions (if not overly-specific ones):

• Decrease consumption of beef (dairy too, to a lesser extent)
• Walk, bike, or take a bus more. Drive and fly less. Get an electric car next time you buy one.
• Lobby your government and power company to generate cleaner electricity. 
• Get photovoltaic solar panels. 
• Set your thermostat lower in winter and higher in summer. 
• Wash clothes in cold water (and not every single time you wear them)
• Only run the dishwasher when it's full
• Take shorter showers.
• Waste less food, and compost what is unavoidably wasted
• Recycle.
• Don't replace your phone or computer as often (due to high "embodied emissions"--in other words, these things take a lot of energy to make).

I'd thought I would probably get rid of this book after reading it, but I came to the opinion that it is a good reference. I doubt I would ever read it all the way through again, but it will be useful if I ever have a question about a particular aspect it covers--I can just re-read that chapter.

Full disclosure: I wrote this blog post on an airplane. Fail!

“A Visit From the Goon Squad” by Jennifer Egan

When I mentioned to Sam that I was reading A Visit From the Goon Squad, he asked me if I was going to blog about it. I'm pretty sure I looked at him as if he were crazy. Isn't that a given by now? I'm reading it. Of course I'm going to blog about it. But when I realized his reason for asking, it made perfect sense: Sam already blogged about this book, coming up on ten years ago. And, of course, he did an impeccable job, so I really want to end my post by saying, "Yeah, what he said." But I know that I at least need to mention that I really enjoyed reading this book as well--as much as, if not more than, Candy House. I think my only problem is now I want to re-read CH!

“The Memory of Animals” by Claire Fuller

I can’t remember how it was that I recently heard Claire Fuller has a fifth book out (although I can hazard a guess: Instagram has just recently become A Thing for me, and I follow @writerclairefuller), but I do remember the progression of my thoughts when I realized this: first, YAY! Next, it came out in 2023 and I’m just now hearing about it?? (Notice the placement of the word "recently" in my first sentence. It doesn't modify  "has a fifth book out." It modifies the "heard.") Then, oh… it’s a pandemic novel about a vaccine trial… well, ok, it’s still Claire Fuller. And, hm, interesting cover, but OK. 

So I placed an order right away, and started reading the minute it arrived, and. Well. I absolutely loved it. I'm almost afraid to say how much I really loved it, because I want Sam to read it and I don't want him to have unrealistically elevated expectations, because I want him to love it as much as I did. So maybe I should shut up about how good it was? (Because of course, you know, Sam is one of the nine people who reads this blog.) And also there was a conversation scene which, for me, rang false, so the book isn't absolutely perfect. (Sorry, Claire!) But I just loved the shared experience (pandemic) made alien (vaccine trial) with the scifi element thrown in (which, based on Fuller's first four books, I would not have expected) AND it was a really compelling story and I just wanted to read and read and read. Plus, octopuses! Or octopi? Octopodes? Anyway, there seems to be a lot of those about these days (see Remarkably Bright Creatures by Shelby Van Pelt, which I haven't read, and The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight, which doesn't come out until early next year although I'm looking forward to reading it). (Three is a lot, right?)

I think if you liked Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, or Birnham Wood (yes, I'm talking directly to you, Sam--you, who loved both of those books!) you will like this one as well. I think you just need to ignore the fact that it's about a pandemic (as did I) and the fact that it's about a vaccine trial, and you will quickly recognize that it's just such a good story. Instead of reminding you of all the worst parts about COVID, this story is entirely its own thing. 

Reading this made me want to read Station Eleven (Sam read the book and thought it was great; we watched the tv series together and found it very compelling, but for me there was just too much pandemic going on in real life to think I might want to read about one). It ALSO made me want a SEQUEL! Claire Fuller seems like the opposite of an author who would write a sequel but I Just Want More. 

“The Sea” by John Banville

After my earlier (and only) experience with John Banville, you might think I wouldn’t go back for more. But you would be wrong. I mean, Snow had already proven to me that Banville was a good writer, even if I didn't like the subject matter; and Sam assured me that The Sea was worth a read. 

And it was. I definitely liked Sea better than Snow. (Heh, that's literally true as well as literarily true!) And it certainly didn't hurt that when I started reading it, we were at the seaside (hence the lovely photo . . . wish we were still there).  

The Sea is one of those stories that is simultaneously about an old(ish) man and his current life, as well as that same man's experiences as a boy. Max Morden grew up spending his summers by the sea, although his family could only afford to stay in a wooden chalet (which must not be as nice as it sounds in my head). One seaside summer he befriended the Graces who were renting a cottage called the Cedars, and Old Max (grieving the death of his wife) tells us bit by bit about that summer as experienced by Young Max.

The story was powerful and intense, but in a remote way. Max somehow seemed an observer of his own grief—and as a result, so (mercifully) was I, by a further degree of separation. The book did not make me cry (and I did not have to fight it). The same was true (although perhaps less surprisingly so, since it was distant past), for his childhood experiences. But just because it wasn't a tearjerker doesn't mean it wasn't good. (Besides, you know me--if a book is not emotionally manipulative, that's a positive quality in my mind.) It had that great literary unfolding that I so enjoy, along with a few twists. So what if I guessed one of the them (of identity) before the end--I didn't guess the other (of love). 

“How to Change Your Mind” by Michael Pollan

What a long, strange trip it’s been. But . . . mostly just long. I’ve literally been reading this book for months. (Full disclosure: this was my bathroom book. So I only read it in short nibbles.)

This is journalist Michael Pollan's book about psychedelic drugs. Most of his other books (none of which I've read) are about food and eating, so this one seems a bit of a departure, but I assume the tone and treatment are similar. 

I really loved the title of this book, which to me indicated a guide on becoming more open-minded. Of course, I knew (because it's right there on the cover) that it was about psychedelics, so I assumed it wouldn't be the most socially acceptable guide to follow. But the reality wasn't the book I really wanted to read. I just couldn’t care less about the history of psychedelic research (and that seems to take up most of the book). I would have been more interested in reading about details of, or experiences with, microdosing (which, while mentioned, was definitely a minor topic). So, not that I regret reading this book by any means, but I will be glad to get started on a new bathroom book.