Climate Changed

Starred review from April 28, 2014
After suddenly realizing that he couldn’t coherently discuss climate change because he didn’t understand the underlying science, the author, a French artist and human rights observer, whose previous books include several nonfiction graphic novels, set out to investigate the subject. Framed as a personal exploration, Squarzoni details the issues involved, from the basic principles behind our climate models to the impact that climate change will have on the Earth and humanity; he also examines the well-funded effort to suppress constructive discussions about man’s impact on the environment and evolutionary changes that have masked the effects of greenhouse gases. Squarzoni’s text, skillfully translated by Hahnenberger, is supported by his detailed black-and-white art, which conveys the urgency of the situation without falling prey to despair or nihilism. The book covers a wide range of topics, steering a careful path between the Scylla of oversimplification and the Charybdis of stultifying detail; the result is a work on one of the most important topics of our time that is dense but comprehensible, informative and fascinating.

Starred review from June 1, 2014
French cartoonist-journalist Squarzoni, who practices his craft in the vein of Joe Sacco and Guy Delisle, digs deep into the science, economics, politics, international policies, and ethics that together force cataclysmic climate change into our very near global future. While the experts he interviews throughout this volume present accessible yet technically specific details about how we got where we are and what possible ways ahead are practical, it is by inserting himself and his personal exploration of responsibilities and choices that Squarzoni makes the most demanding call to action: we cannot address as mere individuals the inequities visited on the planet, but without recognizing our personal responsibility, we can't address it culturally or politically in a timely manner. Squarzoni's realistic, black-and-white art presents expressive faces, a geographic range of naturally dramatic landscapes, and the occasional succinct hyperbole, one of the most potent of which riffs on Eddie Adams' iconic 1968 Vietnam War execution photo, here with a gas pump replacing the original handgun. The plethora of contributing experts, a detailed index, and its multifaceted exploration make this required reading for both the general public and subject specialists.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)