Not the End of the World
Feeling anxious, powerless or confused about the future of our planet? This book will transform how you see our biggest environmental problems – and how we can solve them. It’s become common to tell kids that they’re going to die from climate change. We are constantly bombarded by doomsday headlines that tell us the soil won’t be able to support crops, fish will vanish from our oceans, and that we should reconsider having children. But in this bold, radically hopeful book, data scientist Hannah Ritchie argues that if we zoom out, a very different picture emerges. In fact, the data shows we’ve made so much progress on these problems that we could be on track to achieve true sustainability for the first time in human history. Packed with the latest research, practical guidance and enlightening graphics, this book will make you rethink almost everything you’ve been told about the environment. From the virtues of eating locally and living in the countryside, to the evils of overpopulation, to plastic straws and palm oil, Not the End of the World will give you the tools to understand our current crisis and make lifestyle changes that actually have an impact. Hannah cuts through the noise by outlining what works, what doesn’t, and what we urgently need to focus on so we can leave a sustainable planet for future generations. These problems are big. But they are solvable. We are not doomed. We can build a better future for everyone. Let’s turn that opportunity into reality.
Stats for nerds
8recommend
12mentions
10people
2024–2026years
75% recommend25% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Hannah Ritchie is a quite well reputed writer and data scientist squarely in the climate field. She's written two books on climate and I found the one I read (Not The End of the World) was quite good and data-driven.
You're going to have to make a stronger case that this data is biased towards LLM than that.
- Any good suggestions so far? The best I read was Not The End of The World by Hannah Ritchie from Our World in Data.
- A few of the books that stand out that I've read this year.
Troubled - Rob Henderson. About how Henderson was in state care and wound up at prestigious universities and his thoughts on the world.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/176444107-troubled
Not the End of the World - Hannah Ritchie from 'Our World in Data' about the state of the planet.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/145624737-not-the-end-of...
Dictatorland - Paul Kenyon - About the dictators who have impoverished Africa.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36260719-dictatorland
Magic Pill - Johann Hari - About Semaglutide and how people got fat.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/201319612-magic-pill
On the Edge - Nate Silver - About how seeing the world in terms of risk and expected value can work.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/204236707-on-the-edge
Orbital - Samantha Harvey - Booker Prize winner about people on the ISS and the world.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/123136728-orbital
Build, Baby, Build - Bryan Caplan on why YIMBYism is a good idea. This is a graphic novel. It's really fun.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/181564537-build-baby-bui...
- For anyone interested in the numbers behind how bad beef and deforestation are for the environment, see Hannah Ritchie’s great new book Not the End of the World.
- (+1, insightful)
100% agreed. Along these same lines, the endlessly demoralizing narrative around climate change is likely another big factor.
I think many more people need to read and internalize things like Hannah Ritchie's book "Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet". Highly recommended.
- Please consider reading Ritchie's "Not the End of the World" book I mentioned (or even just a summary).
Of course "awareness" is merely a necessary - and radically insufficient - condition. But a lot CAN be done, and it matters a great deal how MUCH, and how SOON we do them. The typical narrative of "we're completely screwed no matter what [so it doesn't matter what we do]" is both inaccurate and extremely harmful in that it impedes progress.
Acid rain and the ozone layer are a couple relevant examples of real success in global environmental challenges. Climate change is bigger and harder and more complex, but it's NOT "all or nothing". And there is room for -- even urgent need for -- rational optimism, which in turn motivates change of which we are capable.
