An important book for its time. One too much ignored. ( )

a thought provoking book ( )

It's weird: this is a book where the writing is merely ok, but it threads a very difficult rhetorical needle with aplomb. Gore basically lays out the many facets of the problem: what sources are contributing to the issues, what proposed solutions that do or don't look promising, and then surprisingly delves into the deeper questions of why this crisis even became a crisis at all. It's easily the best one-stop book on global warming, and is remarkably insightful. Even though I knew pretty much all the information he lists, Gore manages to knit it together into a very convincing whole.

Really recommended, especially if you can read it through the fun iPad edition like I did. ( )

This is essentially a coffee-table book -- lots of nice pictures, words, and graphs. It does not appear to be intended to be read straight through, and I didn't, but I think you could. (I mean, I've seen the movie, I actually read "Earth in the Balance," what more does he have to add?) I read the parts that were interesting, about 1/2, which was more than I initially thought it would be. It's a faster read than you think because there are so many pictures. You start on a section to delve into the subject and before you know it, boom, you're finished. So, it's pretty well written.I learned about soil carbon -- I knew there was lots down there, but it's nice to know that someone has looked into the question of "how much." It is a good general reference on global warming and technical ways to address it. He trashes corn ethanol (thanks!), and even notes the contribution of livestock to global warming (thanks!). So Al Gore is actually paying attention, he's not just regurgitating his past comments. What is not here is any substantial discussion of ecological economics or political tactics. He does mention cap and trade and a CO2 tax (which he favors). Also not discussed is any runaway greenhouse effect; peak oil is briefly mentioned. These are things which James Hansen (see "Storms of my Grandchildren") is interested in. ( )

TED Bookclub