Saving Us - BookWyrm

Paperback, 320 pages

English language

Published by One Signal Publishers.

ISBN:: 978-1-9821-4383-1

(2 reviews)

“A must-read if we’re serious about enacting positive change from the ground up, in communities, and through human connections and human emotions.” —Margaret Atwood, Twitter

United Nations Champion of the Earth, climate scientist, and evangelical Christian Katharine Hayhoe changes the debate on how we can save our future.

Called “one of the nation's most effective communicators on climate change” by The New York Times, Katharine Hayhoe knows how to navigate all sides of the conversation on our changing planet. A Canadian climate scientist living in Texas, she negotiates distrust of data, indifference to imminent threats, and resistance to proposed solutions with ease. Over the past fifteen years, Hayhoe has found that the most important thing we can do to address climate change is talk about it—and she wants to teach you how.

In Saving Us, Hayhoe argues that when it comes to changing hearts and minds, facts are only one …

“A must-read if we’re serious about enacting positive change from the ground up, in communities, and through human connections and human emotions.” —Margaret Atwood, Twitter

United Nations Champion of the Earth, climate scientist, and evangelical Christian Katharine Hayhoe changes the debate on how we can save our future.

Called “one of the nation's most effective communicators on climate change” by The New York Times, Katharine Hayhoe knows how to navigate all sides of the conversation on our changing planet. A Canadian climate scientist living in Texas, she negotiates distrust of data, indifference to imminent threats, and resistance to proposed solutions with ease. Over the past fifteen years, Hayhoe has found that the most important thing we can do to address climate change is talk about it—and she wants to teach you how.

In Saving Us, Hayhoe argues that when it comes to changing hearts and minds, facts are only one part of the equation. We need to find shared values in order to connect our unique identities to collective action. This is not another doomsday narrative about a planet on fire. It is a multilayered look at science, faith, and human psychology, from an icon in her field—recently named chief scientist at The Nature Conservancy.

Drawing on interdisciplinary research and personal stories, Hayhoe shows that small conversations can have astonishing results. Saving Us leaves us with the tools to open a dialogue with loved ones about how we all can play a role in pushing forward for change.

2 editions

pdotb@wyrms.de reviewed Saving Us by Katharine Hayhoe

More optimistic than I'm used to

4 stars

Content warning climate crisis

While the author is a climate scientist, she doesn't spend much time going over the science of climate change, focusing instead on what we can do to tackle it. Much of the book is concerned with how we persuade people who appear to be deniers, but aren't dead set on that path. An interesting point she makes is that denial can originate in a resistance to the solutions, both real and perceived. If this is the case, then providing more and more scientific proof doesn't help -- the answer lies in showing that there are solutions that are actually attractive. Unfortunately I fear this means walking back somewhat from the degrowth/ecosocialist path I'd prefer, and she seems more keen on, say, electric cars than I'd like. Still really good to think more about the psychology of persuasion.

Bodo

rated it

Nov. 25, 2021

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