A Hopeful Guide to Solving Climate Change — in 50 Questions and Answers

Clearing the Air

This book is such a pleasure. Each question snaps another piece of the jigsaw puzzle satisfyingly into place, presenting a big picture that is vivid, accurate and hopeful. I learned so much

TIM HARFORD, author of How To Make The World Add Up

Thank goodness for Hannah Ritchie and her clear, data-led optimism. An essential myth-busting primer on climate actions for everyone navigating the blizzard of confusing opinions and misinformation around the defining issue of our time

If there were a Nobel Prize for clear thinking, Hannah Ritchie would have my vote. She doesn’t just cut through the noise — she vaporizes it. With a scientist’s rigor and a storyteller’s grace, she shows us what the data actually says about the biggest challenges of our time. Her work is essential reading for anyone who still believes facts can change minds and optimism can change the world

Dr Hannah Ritchie is Senior Researcher in the Programme for Global Development at the University of Oxford. She is also Deputy Editor at the highly influential online publication Our World in Data and has been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Statistical Society. Her research appears regularly in the New York Times, Economist, Financial Times, BBC, WIRED and New Scientist. In 2022, Ritchie was named Scotland's Youth Climate Champion and New Scientist called her 'The woman who gave COVID-19 data to the world'. In 2024, she was selected by Prospect magazine as one of their 'Top 25 Thinkers'.

'We urgently need Hannah Ritchie' GUARDIAN 
'Hannah Ritchie does for the environment what Hans Rosling did for health' BILL GATES 
 
We can’t afford to delay climate action, but with all the shouting and disagreement it’s hard to know where to turn. In her new book, bestselling environmental star Hannah Ritchie answers 50 key climate questions once and for all, clearing the air so we can get on and fix things. 
 
With so many conflicting headlines out there, it’s tough to sort fact from fiction when it comes to climate change and the solutions we need for a cleaner future. 
 
The first piece of good news is that data scientist Hannah Ritchie is here with answers, and the steps we need to take now. Using simple, clear data, she tackles questions such as, ‘Is it too late?’, ‘Won’t we run out of minerals?’ and ‘Are we too polarised?’. The second piece of good news: the truth is way more hopeful than you might think. 
 
We’re at a critical moment for our planet, and getting the facts straight is step one. But even more crucial is feeling hopeful about what we can do next. The third piece of good news? We already have many of the solutions we need to create a more sustainable planet for future generations. 
 
Clearing the Air is your essential guide whenever you’re feeling lost or overwhelmed about climate change. Dive in, get informed and be part of building a better world for everyone. 
 
PRAISE FOR NOT THE END OF THE WORLD: 
 
'A book for anyone who finds it difficult to believe in a better future' THE TIMES 
'An inspiring data-mine which gives us not only real guidance, but the most necessary ingredient of all: hope' MARGARET ATWOOD 
'Shines with positivity' RUTGER BREGMAN 
'Unmissable' TIM SPECTOR

Hannah Ritchie

An inspiring data-mine which gives us not only real guidance, but the most necessary ingredient of all: hope

This is a book for anyone who finds it difficult to believe in a better future. It’s the most uplifting book I’ve read all year

An unmissable myth-busting book to save our planet – read it

The most uplifting book I’ve read this year… A call for action which is also an antidote to gloom

Invigorating, inspiring, often surprising

Full of pragmatic, hopeful solutions . . . We urgently need her and people like her – optimists who’ll say: you know what, we can turn this around; look at these numbers, look at these solutions

With comprehensive data and sometimes counterintuitive conclusions, Hannah Ritchie does for the environment what Hans Rosling did for health . . . I hope people around the world read this book, understand our planet isn’t a lost cause, and get inspired to help fix it

A ray of hope…This is a deliberately upbeat take on a huge problem and Ritchie’s enthusiasm for the challenge is infectious

It shines with practicality and positivity . . . Let's get it into the hands of as many policy makers, politicians and fellow citizens as possible

A welcome breath of fresh air… In clear, businesslike writing, she [Ritchie] deftly debunks sensationalist stories, helping us better understand the hard numbers

I love Hannah Ritchie... I love this book. I emerged from it feeling hopeful, which is a high-priced commodity these days

That all is not lost and that there is hope is the main message to take away from this well-argued, well-evidenced book

Full of “radical hope” digging behind the doomsday predictions to find out ways we can and will make the world a better place

There is real peril in our widespread failure to understand just how much human lives have been improved through societal efforts . . . As Ritchie demonstrates, a better future for both people and planet is possible and even achievable

It is rare to find a book covering climate change with such an optimistic message . . . An admirable feat . . . a highly readable guide to fixing the planet

Ritchie dismantles many of the worst predictions of ecological doomism, lays out clearly what is already happening, and what tools we have available to us to halt the worst environmental destruction

Ritchie makes it clear that progress is already happening... Now, we must keep that momentum going

Such a clear-eyed view of the state we're in

TIM HARFORD, author of How to Make the World Add Up

A refreshing perspective on the problems that the world faces, providing plenty of optimism while not sugar-coating the deep structural challenges at the root of it all

Data is a superpower. Let Hannah Ritchie show you the world as it really is. Then go out and change it for the better

A refreshingly upbeat guide to achieving sustainability

Ritchie has learned well from Rosling and [her book is] among the most accessible I have read. She faces down the doom-mongers by assessing the evidence on seven distinct but overlapping crises

Is there any room for hope amid the doomladen headlines about the environment? Emphatically yes, argues data scientist Ritchie

An antidote to the hyper-pessimism that pervades climate discourse

A magnificent, data-rich report on the climate crisis and its economic impact in 2024. It has a place in every conversation about environmentalism and how people, companies and countries should plan for the future

The perfect book to start your new year reading on a hopeful footing

Some deny there are environmental problems, others deny that we can solve them. Hannah Ritchie reveals that they are both wrong

JOHAN NORBERG, author of In Defense of Global Capitalism and Progress

The surprising message in the data is that human civilization is far along toward solving planetary problems

STEWART BRAND, founder of Whole Earth Catalog and author of Whole Earth Discipline

A refreshing antidote to the onslaught of negative climate news

This book will transform how you see our biggest environmental issues and how we can solve them

Inspiring and conversation-starting in equal measure

A book everyone should read if they think it is all doom and gloom

A bracing, optimistic response to our planet’s various environmental crises

Surprising facts, dangerous myths and hopeful solutions for our future on planet Earth

This book will transform how you see our biggest environmental problems – and show how together we can solve them. 
 
** THE SUNDAY TIMES TOP TEN BESTSELLER ** 
 
'Truly essential' MARGARET ATWOOD 
‘Inspiring' DAVID WALLACE-WELLS 
‘Shines with positivity’ RUTGER BREGMAN 
‘Unmissable' TIM SPECTOR 
 
------------------------------------------- 
 
We are bombarded by doomsday headlines that tell us the soil won't be able to support crops, fish will vanish from our oceans, 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. The data shows we've made so much progress on these problems, and so fast, that we could be on track to achieve true sustainability for the first time in history. 
 
Packed with the latest research, practical guidance and enlightening graphics, this book will make you rethink almost everything you've been told about the environment, from the virtues of eating locally and living in the countryside, to the evils of overpopulation, plastic straws and palm oil. It will give you the tools to understand what works, what doesn't and what we urgently need to focus on so we can leave a sustainable planet for future generations. 
 
These problems are big. But they are solvable. We are not doomed. We can build a better future for everyone. Let's turn that opportunity into reality. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
 
‘A book for anyone who finds it difficult to believe in a better future’ THE TIMES 
 
‘I hope people around the world read this book, understand our planet isn’t a lost cause, and get inspired to help fix it’ Bill Gates 
 
A STYLIST BEST NON-FICTION 2024 * A GUARDIAN BIGGEST FICTION AND NON-FICTION FOR 2024 * A FINANCIAL TIMES, SCOTSMAN, PROSPECT AND NEW SCIENTIST BOOK OF THE YEAR* A WATERSTONES ‘BOOK YOU NEED TO READ IN 2024’

Hannah Ritchie

Praise for Not the End of the World

An inspiring data-mine which gives us not only real guidance, but the most necessary ingredient of all: hope

This is a book for anyone who finds it difficult to believe in a better future. It’s the most uplifting book I’ve read all year

An unmissable myth-busting book to save our planet – read it

An inspiring data-mine which gives us not only real guidance, but the most necessary ingredient of all: hope

This is a book for anyone who finds it difficult to believe in a better future. It’s the most uplifting book I’ve read all year

An unmissable myth-busting book to save our planet – read it

An inspiring data-mine which gives us not only real guidance, but the most necessary ingredient of all: hope

This is a book for anyone who finds it difficult to believe in a better future. It’s the most uplifting book I’ve read all year

An unmissable myth-busting book to save our planet – read it

Books by Hannah Ritchie

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter