Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases

The title of the book is a direct reference to reducing greenhouse gases on a year-to-year basis over 30 years. The agenda of most plans is to stop emissions from getting worse or to curb the temperature rise to a point of stability. The ambitious plan of Drawdown is to take this further and reverse the climate change—the changes that will occur on the Earth as the temperatures rises. The 100 solutions summarized in the book are chosen to stop, reduce and continually reduce emissions. To understand the possibility that Drawdown proclaims, the natural greenhouse effect, the impact of fossil fuels on the greenhouse effect, and how this produces global warming are background information to understand and appreciate how the solutions will draw down emissions.

The earth’s natural greenhouse effect allows for life on the planet. The sun’s energy reaches the planet’s...