How Are We Going to Explain This?: Our Future on a Hot Earth

'One of the most important books I've read this year. How Are We Going To Explain This? is a crystal clear treatise on where we are, and what we need to do right now. Especially recommended for those who feel hopeless.' Rutger Bregman, author of Utopia for Realists 'At a time when despair, malign fabrication and partisanship are combining to prevent vital action, How Are We Going To Explain This is a much-needed, joyful, clear and practical companion. Read this - it could save your planet. Give it to your friends and colleagues - it's their planet, too.' A.L. Kennedy 'Shines a light on the path forward with clarity and determination.' Christiana Figueres Architect of the Paris climate agreement, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 2010-2016 'As more of humanity adjusts to living with crises - we need books like this, which tell us what we can do - from small steps to big ones - to find our way to a new normal.' May Boeve, Executive Director 350.org and 350 Action Fund THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER 'There's a new story in the making, one in which the consequences of our actions add up - and every contribution is meaningful.' If climate change is the biggest threat humanity has ever faced, then why are we doing so little? Will the corona pandemic make it worse or better? And where do we go from here? Drawing on the latest climate science, Jelmer Mommers helps you find hope in the midst of the climate crisis. He describes how we got here, what possible futures await us, and how you can help to truly make a difference. 'As a journalist, Jelmer Mommers has broken important stories about how we got in our current climate mess; as a thinker, he shows us there may still be some ways out, if we move with grace and speed. A fine account of where we stand, and where we could go if we wanted to!' Bill McKibben, author, environmentalist, activist and founder of 350.org 'Climate change is a story so often told in the future tense. But Mommers roots it firmly in the present. The problem, the consequences and the solution - right here, right now.' Leo Hickman, editor of Carbon Brief

About the Author :
Jelmer Mommers is a climate journalist based in Amsterdam. He knows most people prefer not to talk or even think about climate change and that is exactly why he wrote this book. Denial and despair are not the only possible responses to the climate crisis. Five years in the making, How Are We Going To Explain This? became a bestseller in The Netherlands. With this revised and updated translation, including responses to the Covid-19 pandemic, Mommers brings his characteristic blend of realism and optimism to the wider world.

Review :
I'm not exaggerating when I say this is one of the most important books I've read this year.' Breezy, easy to read, perky, full of good stories and all done with a brisk summary of the history of ideas As a journalist, Jelmer Mommers has broken important stories about how we got in our current climate mess; as a thinker, he shows us there may still be some ways out, if we move with grace and speed. A fine account of where we stand, and where we could go if we wanted to!' As more of humanity adjusts to living with crises - we need books like this, which tell us what we can do - from small steps to big ones - to find our way to a new normal. Jelmer Mommer's How Are We Going to Explain This provides a unique take on challenge to avert a climate crisis. It provides important insights into our dire situation, but it also sketches out a persuasive path forward. A must-read if you want to know where we stand and what we can and must still do! Clear-eyed and compelling, this book is a much-needed antidote to despair; an inspiration to create the narrative our (grand)children will tell about how we forged a genuinely sustainable world. Read it and make it so! A very interesting and important book, and it's nice that it doesn't depress you Explaining the climate story clearly and convincingly: Jelmer Mommers can do it like no other. This climate book is not only great to read, it also outlines a future that you want to be a part of. Inspiring! The first book on climate that doesn't make you feel like it's too late. There's something we can do, let's see this wonderfully fluently written book. This is the book that needed to be written. Climate change is a story so often told in the future tense. But Mommers roots it firmly in the present. The problem, the consequences and the solution - right here, right now." At a time when despair, malign fabrication and partisanship are combining to prevent vital action, How Are We Going To Explain This is a much-needed, joyful, clear and practical companion. Read this - it could save your planet. Give it to your friends and colleagues - it's their planet, too. If there is a silver lining to the Covid crisis, it is surely that from governments to citizens, we have demonstrated that we can work together for the common good. Jelmer Mommers brilliantly captures the essence of this spirit of the possible and applies it to the elephant in the room - the climate crisis, for which we are rapidly reaching an inflection point. This must-read beautifully argues why we must all act together - and act now - dispelling feelings of lethargy and hopelessness on the way. This is a wonderful and prescient stimulus for all those (the majority) who yearn for a more equitable and sustainable future. Jelmer Mommers' How Are We Going to Explain This is an important contribution to the most existential threat of our day: climate change and environmental collapse. What sets this book apart from others is that the author combines hard science with the narratives necessary to save us. We are taken on a trip from gut bacteria and dancing bees to agricultural practices and CO2 sequestering - the micro and the macro beautifully linked to provide us with the big picture with all its hope and horror. How Are We Going to Explain This is an important contribution to the most existential threat of our day: climate change and environmental collapse. What sets this book apart from others is that the author combines hard science with the narratives necessary to save us. We are taken on a trip from gut bacteria and dancing bees to agricultural practices and CO2 sequestering - the micro and the macro beautifully linked to provide us with the big picture with all its hope and horror. Another great book on climate change: how we got here but most importantly how we get out of the mess we have created. Shines a light on the path forward with clarity and determination. "We have to dream bigger, as Jelmer Mommers does. The likely warming of the next few decades can make the future look practically unlivable. But we will find ways to live in it, perhaps even thrive. Mommers helps us see how-how we might remake the world, secure that future, and above all stop seeing the present as a conceptual cage constricting our hopes rather than a husk to leave behind." A welcome reminder that there are things we can do to heal the planet that go beyond useless half-measures.