Sometime this century the day will arrive when the human influence on the climate will overwhelm all other natural factors. Over the past decade, the world has seen the most powerful El Nino ever recorded, the most devastating hurricane in two hundred years, the hottest European summer on record, and one of the worst storm seasons ever experienced in Florida. With one out of every five living things on this planet committed to extinction by the levels of greenhouse gases that will accumulate in the next few decades, we are reaching a global climatic tipping point. [This book] is both an urgent warning and a call to arms, outlining the history of climate change, how it will unfold over the next century, and what we can do to prevent a cataclysmic future. Along with a riveting history of climate change, [the author] offers specific suggestions for action for both lawmakers and individuals, from investing in renewable power sources like wind, solar, and geothermal energy, to offering an action plan with steps each and every one of us can take right now to reduce deadly CO2 emissions by as much as 70 percent. -Dust jacket. Includes information on acidity in ocean, air pollution, carbon dioxide, climate change, coal, coral reefs, extinctions, global warming, greenhouse effect, greenhouse gases, hurricanes, Kyoto Protocol, Montreal Protocol, oil, ozone, plankton, rainfall, solar power, sunlight, nuclear power, wind power, geothermal energy,