Title:
Slow burn : the hidden costs of a warming world
Author:
Publication Date:
2024
Publication Information:
Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2024]
Physical Description:
ix, 325 pages : illustrations, maps ; 25 cm
ISBN:
9780691221038
Abstract:
Jisung Park encourages us to view climate change through a different lens: one that focuses less on the possibility of mass climate extinction in a theoretical future, and more on the everyday implications of climate change here and now. He shows how climate change headlines often miss some of the most important costs. When wildfires blaze, what happens to people downwind of the smoke? When natural disasters destroy buildings and bridges, what happens to educational outcomes? Park explains how climate change operates as the silent accumulation of a thousand tiny conflagrations: imperceptibly elevated health risks spread across billions of people; pennies off the dollar of productivity; fewer opportunities for upward mobility. By investigating how the physical phenomenon of climate change interacts with social and economic institutions, Park illustrates how climate change already affects everyone, and may act as an amplifier of inequality. Wealthier households and corporations may adapt quickly, but, without targeted interventions, less advantaged communities may not.
Contents:
1. Thinking Fast and Slow about Climate Change -- 2. Physical versus Human Capital -- 3. Where There Is Smoke -- 4. Anecdotes, Data, and the Problem of Causality -- 5. How Heat Hurts -- 6. Temperature and the Wealth of Nations -- 7. Peace and Peace of Mind in a Hotter World -- 8. Climate Change and Economic Opportunity -- 9. Climate Inequality Close to Home -- 10. The Hidden Determinants of Climate Vulnerability -- 11. Never Too Late -- 12. Beyond Silver Bullets -- Conclusion: The Rest of Creation.
Language:
English