Includes bibliographical references (p. [326]-348) and index.

Gaia -- The great aerial ocean -- The gaseous greenhouse -- The sages and the onion skin -- Time's gateways -- Born in the deep freeze -- Making the long summer -- Digging up the dead -- The unraveling world -- Peril at the poles -- 2050: the great stumpy reef? -- A warning from the golden toad -- Liquid gold: changes in rainfall -- An energetic onion skin -- Playing at Canute -- Model worlds -- The commitment and approaching extreme danger -- Leveling the mountains -- How can they keep on moving? -- Boiling the abyss -- The pack of jokers -- Civilization: out with a whimper? -- A close-run thing -- The road to Kyoto -- Cost, cost, cost -- People in greenhouses shouldn't tell lies -- Engineering solutions? -- Last steps on the stairway to heaven? -- Bright as sunlight, light as wind -- Nuclear Lazarus? -- Of hybrids, minicats, and contrails -- The last act of God? -- 2084: the carbon dictatorship? -- Time's up -- Over to you -- Postscript -- Afterword -- Afterword to the paperback edition -- Climate change checklist -- Green power.

An outline of the history of climate change, how it will unfold over the next century, and what we can do to prevent a cataclysmic future. The author also 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.