"Sea level rise is one of the central facts of our time, as real as gravity," writes journalist Jeff Goodell (How to Cool the Planet) in the prologue to his latest, The Water Will Come: Rising Seas, Sinking Cities, and the Remaking of the Civilized World. What follows is an urgent, clear-eyed and downright terrifying account of just how poorly prepared humanity is for the degree of sea-level rise most scientists are predicting will occur by the end of the 21st century due to climate change: three feet according to some, as much as nine feet according to others, says Goodell.
Each chapter is scrupulously researched yet written in the clean and accessible style of a journalist who's perfected his craft. In addition to working as a contributing editor at Rolling Stone, Goodell is the author of five other books, two on the subject of climate change. That pedigree has earned him jaw-dropping access to some of the world's most influential people. Here Goodell accompanies Barack Obama to the Arctic and asks him to describe the moment he knew climate change was real. Later, he asks Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York City, whether the time has come "to consider moving people out of low-lying areas of the city." The answers both men give are alone worth the price of the book.
Persuasive, timely and vividly constructed, The Water Will Come might be one of the most essential reads of the year. --Amy Brady, freelance writer and editor