Not the End of the World
How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet
by Hannah Ritchie · first published 2024
80% recommend20% neutral
Why HN recommends it
A data-driven, optimistic look at climate and sustainability from Our World in Data's head of research. Praised for its numbers and clear argument for a sustainable future, it suits readers wanting evidence over doom.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
Feeling anxious, powerless or confused about the future of our planet? This book will transform how you see our biggest environmental problems – and how we can solve them. It’s become common to tell kids that they’re going to die from climate change. We are constantly bombarded by doomsday headlines that tell us the soil won’t be able to support crops, fish will vanish from our oceans, and that we should reconsider having children. But in this bold, radically hopeful book, data scientist Hannah Ritchie argues that if we zoom out, a very different picture emerges. In fact, the data shows
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If you haven't heard of it yet, I have been enjoying a recently released book about this: "Not the End of the World" by Hannah Ritchie: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/hannah-ritchie/not-...
on “To make a fortune, target bored young men who want to make a fortune” ↗For anyone interested in the numbers behind how bad beef and deforestation are for the environment, see Hannah Ritchie’s great new book Not the End of the World.
on “Tracking Illicit Brazilian Beef from the Amazon to Your Burger” ↗…year. Troubled - Rob Henderson. About how Henderson was in state care and wound up at prestigious universities and his thoughts on the world. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/176444107-troubled Not the End of the World - Hannah Ritchie from 'Our World in Data' about the state of the planet. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/145624737-not-the-end-of... Dictatorland - Paul Kenyon - About the dictators who have impoverished…
on “Ask HN: What were the best books you read this year?” ↗Any good suggestions so far? The best I read was Not The End of The World by Hannah Ritchie from Our World in Data.
on “Edward Burtynsky's monumental chronicle of the human impact on the planet” ↗Hannah Ritchie is a quite well reputed writer and data scientist squarely in the climate field. She's written two books on climate and I found the one I read (Not The End of the World) was quite good and data-driven. https://hannahritchie.com/ You're going to have to make a stronger case that this data is biased towards LLM than that.
on “Does that use a lot of energy?” ↗An even better book recommendation (if you like the article) is "Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet" by Hannah Ritchie. Hannah Ritchie is head of research for ourworldindata.org; the book grew very directly out of the linked article.…
on “The world is awful. The world is much better. The world can be much better” ↗> At planet scale nothing will ever get better than: dig hole, pump oil, burn oil Until the alternatives are cheaper. I would recommend you to read: Not the End of the World, Hannah Ritchie
on “Xkcd: Greenhouse Effect” ↗…Along these same lines, the endlessly demoralizing narrative around climate change is likely another big factor. I think many more people need to read and internalize things like Hannah Ritchie's book "Not the End of the World: How We Can Be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet". Highly recommended.
on “Is Economic Deprivation the Real Cause of the Adolescent Mental Health Crisis?” ↗Please consider reading Ritchie's "Not the End of the World" book I mentioned (or even just a summary). Of course "awareness" is merely a necessary - and radically insufficient - condition. But a lot CAN be done, and it matters a great deal how MUCH, and how…
on “Is Economic Deprivation the Real Cause of the Adolescent Mental Health Crisis?” ↗> biodiversity is collapsing This is not the conclusion of the book Not the End of the World by Hannah Richie. As with many things, things are not so simple/binary.
on “The world is awful. The world is much better. The world can be much better” ↗That is a result, not an action. There's a book that came out recently - "Not the End of the World" by Hannah Ritchie - that starts by digging into a two-pronged definition of the concept of "sustainability", where the first prong is about meeting the needs of current generations, and the second prong…
on “Taking CO2 out of the air would be an expensive way to fight climate change” ↗In an extract from her book Not the End of the World, data scientist Hannah Ritchie explains how her work taught her that there are more reasons for hope than despair about climate change – and why a truly sustainable world is in reach
on “I thought most of us were going to die from the climate crisis. I was wrong” ↗