We all know that global warming is a problem, but the blizzard of information and misinformation on the subject makes it hard to know what to do. The Hot Topic is the first book to set out the problems and the solutions in a straightforward way - no hidden agenda, no breast-beating, no hair shirts. Science - how the climate is already changing and what the future is likely to bring Adaptation - preparing for the changes we can't stop Technological solutions - new, clean ways to live, travel and keep the lights on Political solutions - the inside track on what it will take to bring the whole world to the same negotiating table, and how to deal with the 'problem' countries - China, India, Russia and the US Personal and local solutions - what you can do and why it will make a difference

'In a world full of misinformation, The Hot Topic is a beacon of clarity' Al Gore, author of An Inconvenient Truth 'A model of clarity, comprehensiveness and, above all, sanity. It truly does find a middle ground in the climate debate - and in the process, probably counts as the single most important book on the subject' New Scientist 'Do we really need yet another mass-market climate-change book? When it is this good, unequivocally yes. ... The Hot Topic has an authoritative clarity that scythes through the junk science and brushes aside the brigades of doom-mongers and overly earnest environmentalists ...The search for a climate-change equivalent of Silent Spring is over' Nature 'King and Walker bring clarity, insight and authority to the subject ... Crucially, this book is not authored by eco-warriors, but by pragmatists, who care about understanding the science, examining the problems, and looking for technological and political solutions' Simon Singh, Daily Telegraph

Gabrielle Walker has a PhD in chemistry from Cambridge University and has taught at both Cambridge and Princeton universities. She is a consultant to New Scientist, contributes frequently to BBC radio and writes for many newspapers and magazines. She presented BBC Radio 4's Planet Earth Under Threat, and lives in London and France. Sir David King, until the end of 2007 the British Government's Chief Scientific Adviser, is widely credited with persuading the UK government to act on climate change and with getting key states (including China, Russia, the USA and India) around the negotiating table. He is Director of the new School for Enterprise and the Environment at Oxford University.