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Bjorn Lomborg: False Alarm (Hardcover, 2020, Basic Books) 2 stars

Hurricanes batter our coasts. Wildfires rage across the American West. Glaciers collapse in the Artic. …

Misleading content

1 star

The author has already been criticized in the past for his view on climate change which he published in The Skeptical Environmentalist. This book claims to be heavily sourced and represent the actual scientific consensus, which the author claims is not accurately represented by the media. The main claim of the book is that people will adapt to climate change and that it will be cheaper than reducing carbon emissions. However, its sources seems to be cherry-picked, and the general conclusion seems to be inconsistent with the IPCC reports from 2014, which I trust to represent the scientific consensus much more than some non peer-reviewed book. The book uses as example studies making the hypotheses of no adaption being used as face-value by the media, but it is not representative of all of the media's dealings with climate change. For example most risk estimations in the IPCC reports show both the risk and the potential for adaptation. Some of the claims regarding coastal flooding and its mortality are also contradicted by the WHO. Victims of floods have increased in the recent years. The book fails to address the migrations that will arise due to climate change and many other factors where adaptation will be much tougher than just buying AC, for example the IPCC mentions droughts, and lower food productivity.