Geopolitics, History and Climate Change: A Personal View

An illustrated world map with countries in bright colors is surrounded by dark clouds against a blue background, subtly hinting at the geopolitics shaping our ever-changing climate.

“To think that we can draw some useful analogies from history dramatically underestimates the novelty and scale of the climate challenge.”[2] “In the contest between geopolitics and sustainable climate policies, the former takes precedence.”[3] Starting in the early 1980s, I have spent my entire professional life studying climate change, as well as teaching, writing and […]

My 1995 ‘Climate Book of the Year’

Close-up of the 1995 edition of "Climate, History and the Modern World," a climate book featuring a black and white image of turbulent water in the background.

Lamb,H.H. (1995) Climate History and the Modern World. (2nd edition). London & New York: Routledge. 433pp. This essay continues my series of monthly posts in which I select one ‘climate’ book to highlight and review from one of the 44 years of my professional career in climate research (starting with 1984, my first year of […]

‘IPCC-envy’: Why do other science-policy issues want an IPCC, and should they?

The academic publisher Sage, have launched a new climate journal, titled ‘Dialogues on Climate Change‘, edited by Dr Rob Bellamy at the University of Manchester. I was invited to write a short essay about the IPCC for the inaugural issue and this has now been published. I reproduce the abstract below: “The UN’s Intergovernmental Panel […]

The cover of the 1993 climate book, "The Global Greenhouse Regime," features purple text on a vibrant yellow background adorned with abstract diagonal lines.

My 1993 ‘Climate Book of the Year’

Hayes,P. and Smith,K.R. (eds.) (1993) The Global Greenhouse Regime: Who Pays? Science, Economics and North-South Politics in the Climate Change Convention. Tokyo/London: UNU Press/Earthscan. 382pp.  This essay continues my series of monthly posts in which I select one ‘climate’...

‘There is no climate niche’

Co-written with colleagues Jan Selby and Wolfgang Cramer, you can read the full essay in the July issue of One Earth … “The idea that there exists a ‘human climate niche’ has become increasingly influential. But this idea rests on flawed and anachronistic determinist premises. It is overly climate-centric in its characterization of the challenges […]