Kate Marvel is a climate scientists. Her book, Human Nature, discusses appropriate reactions to climate change. A number of things that I took from the book was that the science behind climate change is old.
Climate Change And Lots of Digressions
This isn’t a hard science book on climate change. Kate Marvel seeks to make it much more engaging. She uses a lot of stories and random devices, expect to see a lot of scenarios illustrated with imaginary movie scripts. These grabbed me at the beginning, but I must confess by the end I just wanted her to focus on the data a bit more. Marvel has a specific reason for the engaging emotional tone; there is a significant reveal at the end which I won’t share. That did leave me thinking that the digressions made more sense.
The Science Behind Climate Change Is Old
I am not a climate scientist, (or any type of scientist really although we do like to call ourselves marketing scientists because it sounds good). As such, I admit I didn’t have a strong idea of quite how old the ideas behind climate science are. You could easily get the idea that Al Gore got everything going.
Instead, the basic physics of why carbon dioxide causes warming is a Victorian finding. In 1856 Joseph Henry presenting Eunice Foote’s finding.
…increasing carbon dioxide concentrations could increase global temperatures.
Marvel, 2025, page 27
Obviously there has been a lot of progress since, and climate modeling is much more complex than Victorian experiments with glass jars. Still, it is worth bearing in mind that scientists are not just making stuff up. That is what social media is for.
History And Climate
You often hear people mention that all sorts of things impact what is going on in the physical world. It is worth saying that Kate Marvel, indeed I’m pretty sure all climate scientists, know that they are more things happening than just greenhouse gases. One of the most interesting parts of the book is Marvel talking about the possible connection of various historical events to the impact of things like volcanos that messed up the environment by throwing ash into the air. The idea of a famine being created by a natural event hundreds of miles away is a little worrying.
Positive Feedback Is Often Bad
America is the land of positive feedback. (Except in academia obviously). Mostly positive feedback seems to be a good thing. While it can be a bit annoying waiting for a person to get to the important bit after saying how wonderful they think you are. The important bit where they tell you what they really think you are rubbish and that you should change everything. Still, it is usually better when someone polishes the feedback rather than just starting with pointing to your flaws.
In science however positive feedback often isn’t positive. (Think of Malthus’ positive checks on population growth — e.g., war, disease, and famine — so not good.)
…we use the term “positive feedback,” which to normal people means praise for a job well done” to mean “destabilizing process that make global warming worse.”
Marvel, 2025, page 134
Marvel prefers to use the term destabilizing process. Basically a process that spins out of control. That is a worry with climate change, when problems (raising temperatures due to carbon dioxide in the atmosphere) create other problems (e.g., wildfires which release carbon dioxide) which reinforce the initial issue.
Politics And Climate Change
Sadly climate change has become quite politicized. I am pretty sure that the vast majority of people talking, including myself, don’t have sufficient scientific knowledge to truly engage. Still, it is always useful to learn a bit more. The aim doesn’t have to be to become an expert but if nothing else we can all know that the science behind climate change is old and has come through a lot of tests. While projections will change (partly because humans take actions which impact, and can even improve, the outcomes) it does not mean that scientists are coming into work everyone morning without having a long history of testing that aids their thinking.
For more on climate change see Do Americans Believe In Climate Change?, Growth Can Come From Climate Action, The Pope And The Climate Crisis, and Teaching About Climate Change
Read: Kate Marvel (2025) Human Nature: Nine Ways To Feel About Our Changing Planet, Ecco Press
