unsettled

Remember playing the Chinese whispers game where a message gets completely out of context and unrelated to the source?  We can laugh at the absurdity of it all, but I urge you to keep this game in mind when reading this book.
 
I know! This book is not a cookbook or one that is full of optimism on how we can reimagine our future, but I decided to delve into this one recently because the title jumped out.  Unsettled.  It’s a word that I would use to describe where we sit these days in our state of 

mind.  Books on climate change do not rate highly on my go to list generally but I am glad to have been drawn to this one as we are continually fed the diet of disaster and doom from our media channels about just how guilty we all are to the plight we find ourselves in and how the farming community are bearing the brunt of the finger pointing.  Here is part of the review from Amazon…

When it comes to climate change, the media, politicians, and other prominent voices have declared that “the science is settled.”  In reality, the long game of telephone from research to reports to the popular media is corrupted by misunderstanding and misinformation.  Core questions ― about the way the climate is responding to our influence, and what the impacts will be ― remain largely unanswered.  The climate is changing, but the why and how aren’t as clear as you’ve probably been led to believe.
 
Fascinating, clear-headed, and full of surprises, this book gives readers the tools to both understand the climate issue and be savvier consumers of science media in general.  Koonin takes readers behind the headlines to the more nuanced science itself, showing us where it comes from and guiding us through the implications of the evidence.  He dispels popular myths and unveils little-known truths: despite a dramatic rise in greenhouse gas emissions, global temperatures decreased from 1940 to 1970.  What’s more, the models we use to predict the future can’t accurately describe the climate of the past, suggesting they are deeply flawed.
 
Unsettled is a reality check buoyed by hope, offering the truth about climate science that you aren’t getting elsewhere―what we know, what we don’t, and what it all means for our future.
 
This book is not for the faint hearted and to be honest there were parts that I just glazed over.  However, it was a satisfying read and as a savvier consumer of science media this can only improve your mental health!
 
Anne Maher