The experts tell us the world is warming, but why do we care so much about a few lousy degrees? These tales of adventure from remote and remarkable parts of the Earth explore a multitude of ways the world is changing and explain the science behind exactly what those few degrees mean. Scientists share their own stories about falling into crevasses, facing sharks, surviving cyclones, chasing pirates on the high seas, and more. Along the way, they examine critical elements of climate change, including sea ice and glacier melt, rising sea levels, bushfires, collapsing ecosystems, shifting ocean currents, and extreme weather events. With knowledge comes power, and this book makes sense of how and why a warming planet matters.

Featuring a foreword from Dr Karl Kruszelnicki, the anthology includes stories by Philip Zylstra, Andrew Meijers, James Hooper, Olivia Johnson, John Bruno, Katie Holt, Heather Purdie, Aida Cuni-Sanchez, Kevin Trenberth, Ian Allison, Linda Broome, Jemina Stuart-Smith, Todd Capson and Martin Truffer. 

Editor Biography

Wendy Bruere is a writer, editor and freelance adventure journalist. Currently the Assistant Editor of Vertical Life magazine, she has also written for Wild magazine, Great Walks, We Are Explorers, and more. She has published two previous anthologies, including the award-winning More Than It Hurts, which received a Special Jury Mention in the 2021 Banff Mountain Book Competition. The inspiration to create this book came after she struggled to find accessible material on climate science and decided to create the book she wanted to read—engaging scientists’ stories to help an interested layperson like herself to understand the essential concepts behind climate science.