Into the Clear Blue Sky

From one of the world's leading climate scientists, a heart- and mind-changing book that offers a hopeful and attainable vision for restoring the atmosphere and ending the climate crisis. Climate change is here. From the millions displaced by the floods in Pakistan to Californian and Canadian towns incinerated by wildfires, we are experiencing the anguish that climate change causes. Fossil fuels are making the planet unlivable, and they are deadly. We know that we must cut emissions if we are going to limit the catastrophes, but is that enough? In Into the Clear Blue Sky, climate scientist and chair of the Global Carbon Project Rob Jackson explains that we need to redefine our goals. As he argues here, we shouldn't only be trying to stabilize the Earth's temperature at some arbitrary value. Instead, we can restore the atmosphere itself in a lifetime--and this should be our moral duty. Restoring the atmosphere means reducing the amount of greenhouse gases in the air to pre-industrial levels--starting with super-potent methane--to heal the harm we have done. Emissions must be cut, first and foremost. But to safeguard a livable planet for future generations, we must repair the damage we have caused. Jackson introduces us to the brilliant leaders and innovators behind some of the boldest and game-changing climate solutions under development. When it comes to greenhouse gas mitigation, our choices matter, because it is easier to stop emissions from happening than to remove greenhouse gases from the air later. But while mitigation is crucial, no number of solar panels, electric cars, and veggie burgers alone will be enough to halt climate change. Decades of inaction have convinced Jackson that we need to remove greenhouse gases from the air using everything from nature to cutting-edge technologies. Into the Clear Blue Sky is a heart- and mind-changing book. Guided by one of the leading scientists in this fight and a deeply gifted storyteller, we learn why we should all feel hopeful. One way or another, we will restore the planet together. The question is how, and how long will it take?

"Long years from now, Rob Jackson's book will be remembered not for its amazing and comprehensive research, nor for its clear and concise explanations of the challenge to our existence and his specific battle plans for survival. Instead, it will be remembered for its heart. Here is a man who, possessing the deepest knowledge about the most dire of consequences, chooses action over paralysis and hope over despair. This is of course, the natural condition of love. My own hope? That Into the Clear Blue Sky is read, and that Rob Jackson is heard." --Rick Bass, author of For a Little While "A fascinating look into some of the cutting-edge climate solutions--and for all its technical savvy, this book ends in the right place, with wonderful glimpses of activists like Rev. Lennox Yearwood and Rose Abramoff, who remind us that without movements, nothing can happen!" --Bill McKibben, author of The End of Nature "Turning a battleship in a sea of molasses is hard. In Into the Clear Blue Sky, Rob Jackson identifies the first essential actions." --James Hansen, Director of the Climate Science, Awareness and Solutions Program at Columbia University

Rob Jackson is the Chair of the Global Carbon Project, a Senior Fellow at Stanford's Woods Institute for the Environment and Precourt Institute for Energy, and a professor of earth science at Stanford University. Through global scientific leadership and groundbreaking research, communications, and policy activities, Jackson's work has reduced millions of tons of greenhouse gas emissions and improved human health, safety, and air and water quality. One of the top five most-cited climate and environmental scientists in the world, he has authored more than 400 peer-reviewed publications, and his research has been covered in many outlets, including The New York Times, Scientific American, and The Washington Post. Jackson lives in Stanford, California.