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  • How to Avoid a Climate Disaster

  • The Solutions We Have and the Breakthroughs We Need
  • By: Bill Gates
  • Narrated by: Wil Wheaton, Bill Gates
  • Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (1,717 ratings)
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How to Avoid a Climate Disaster

By: Bill Gates
Narrated by: Wil Wheaton, Bill Gates
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin. 

Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, shares what he has learnt in more than a decade of studying climate change and investing in innovations to address climate problems. He explains how the world can work to build the tools it needs to get to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions - investing in research, inventing new technologies and deploying them quickly at a large scale. Gates is optimistic that the world can prevent the worst impacts of the climate crisis. 

This is a visionary and inspiring book by one of the world's most celebrated public figures. 

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. 

©2020 Bill Gates (P)2020 Penguin Audio

What listeners say about How to Avoid a Climate Disaster

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I feel wiser

The positive:
It's great to read a book by an author who writes dispassionately and with passion. Too often this topic is approached with either excess cynicism or misanthropic pessimism, often by activists with unfeasible demands. The book's premise could be summed up as 'Climate change is a big problem, but we might be able to solve it and here's how..."

The negative:
For my English ear Wil Wheaton sounds like he's an intern at the Fisher Price school of Emphasis. Some may find his delivery rewarding; full of boyish enthusiasm. Perhaps the accent is similar to a Robert Downy Jr. flavour of American? To me it sounds like a patronising school teacher attempting to explain to a recalcitrant toddler, for the tenth time, the right way to sit on a loo seat.

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14 people found this helpful

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Fox says how best to secure the henhouse

Bill Gates has got lots of statistics and proposes that the oligarchs solve the problems they're greed has created he's willing to do anything but relinquish intellectual property rights
This man has tinkered in world health and now probably killed millions by stopping Oxford University from removing Intellectual property rights for its vaccine 😩 what a ass hole! Save your money buy a different book or read green parties platform

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13 people found this helpful

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Shut up Wesley

Good book, well argued, well preformed, but I almost didn't buy it when I realised I'd have to listen to noises coming out of Will Wheaton's stupid face.

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13 people found this helpful

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Potentially fascinating; ruined by the narrator

I'd been looking forward to listening to this book and now look forward to buying the Kindle version and reading it.

I'll be returning the audiobook, though, because I can't listen to another word of the faux-comic narrator, Wil Wheaton. His performance is totally misjudged. It's as if he looked through the content and thought: this needs more comedy stylings. So every third or fourth sentence is delivered as if a punchline to a joke. It's incredibly distracting.

Was Simon Vance or someone a bit more capable not available to do this?

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Excellent!

Great read for anyone interested in climate change and it’s potential solutions. Gates has been applying his considerable mental and monetary efforts to this area for some time and this book gives a brilliant overall view of the problems we face. Clear factual arguments cut through the noise and highlight that we need to think bigger in our solutions. Informative and entertaining.

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Expected a lot more

As this book has been promoted by many people I admire, my hopes that it would be great were high. However as someone who follows these topics very closely, I am disappointed. Many things have been discussed at a superficial level and some facts just not up to date. Maybe good for general reading, but don't expect much nuance.

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Not enough personal information

More time is spent on discussing the heights that bridges should be designed at than on the importance of encouraging personal changes. Gates underplays how people can contribute to solving this problem and instead seems like a broken record at times listing technologies required. It is a potentially dangerous attitude that is unrequired right now as the world seems to be gaining momentum on combatting climate change. There are better books on the subject.

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struggled to get engaged

I enjoy data heavy books, facts and figures are a great way for understanding a situation. unfortunately they're never great as audiobooks. that said it's a great subject and some really insightful ideas.

I did struggle with Will Wheaton though, I like him and he's a great science communicator, but the way he emphasised words and parsed sentences made it sound like he was trying to explain the subject to younger individuals than perhaps those that will read this book

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Good information, complete, but far too verbose

One would expect Bill Gates to have a good grasp of his subject, but he could get his message across in about half as many words.

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Essential reading

This is a well written and thought provoking book. Gates does a great job of boiling down a potentially complex topic to make it accessible and easily memorable, in a pithy and meaningful way. He is also not afraid to admit his own shortcomings when it comes to climate change.

The climate change problems and implications are presented clearly, as well as many of the potential solutions. Many of the required changes will require willingness from government and big business, but he also highlights the things ordinary people can start doing today to help directly, as well as change the behaviour and attitudes of politicians and CEOs.

I certainly learned a lot while reading, as well as an increased sense of empowerment over my own contribution to climate change.

It’s efforts like this from someone as well known and influential as Bill Gates that could make a real difference as we try to tackle climate change. This is a problem that needs to be solved, and Bill Gates has a plan.

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