Climate Changed: A Personal Journey through the Science

Climate change is one of those problems that is so enormous, most people cannot even begin to wrap their minds around. Due to the issue’s sheer magnitude and its complex nature, climate change is a very difficult topic for common people to approach and study. Due to this, many people opt to simply ignore the problems at hand. With this in mind, Phillipe Squarzoni penned his graphic “novel” Climate Changed: A Personal Journey through the Science with the intent of making climate change an accessible and comprehensible subject. He does this by intertwining scientific dialogues with graphic images, personal anecdotes, and interesting analogies.On one level, Climate Changed provides its readers with an overload of scientific information. Squarzoni quotes myriad scientists and researchers to present the reader with all of the research he has come across which he believes is essential for the readers to know. At times, these sections of the book dragged on and felt repetitive. However, I realize that this component of the book is entirely crucial for attaining a clear sense of what climate change truly is and how much it can affect our lives. With that being said, it felt to me that these sections of the book were not necessarily incorporated well with the “graphic novel” concept. Seeing 10 panels in a row of a scientist giving his or her statement about various aspects of climate change looked boring and bland in graphic form. I would not like to see this aspect of the book cut out entirely, though I would like to see the repetitive parts (the parts about nuclear energy and social inequality in a climate-changed world felt excruciatingly long to me) trimmed down a bit, and I would have liked to see a more graphically creative way of blending these sections into the book.On the other hand, there is the “personal journey” aspect of Climate Changed. In these sections of the book, Squarzoni tells his own story of how he approached the idea of writing about climate change. In addition, he talks about the changes that he personally makes in order to help the planet (e.g. limiting himself to one flight per year) and the difficulties that arise from this self-restraint. To me, these sections of the book felt much more visceral for numerous reasons. The graphics and images of his trips to America or his comparisons to movies and novels were much more captivating than merely images of French scientists sitting at a desk and spewing out facts. Additionally, in these sections Squarzoni was able to take difficult topics and break them down to a level which anyone could easily comprehend. He used analogies to a dish being pushed over the edge of a table or a man skydiving sans parachute to really illustrate the direness of this situation. Finally, hearing one man tell of how to make a personal change just seems much more convincing than hearing a scientist present us only with statistics and facts. In the personal journey sections, Squarzoni was truly able to bring this climate change narrative to life and leave an impact on the readers.In the end, there is no definitive answer to the climate change problem. However, this book provides readers with the necessary facts in order to make informed environmentally conscious decisions in life. While I cannot say that Squarzoni or any of the scientists he quotes have convinced me to ditch my car and go live simplistically out in the woods like Henry David Thoreau, I certainly feel inspired to try to make a series of small yet positive changes in life. While Climate Changed may not have been an entirely engrossing read, I would consider it severely important for anyone who wishes to be more aware about the global climate change issue.

I completely support the message of climate change action, and I'm glad there are authors so passionate as to write these sorts of novels about it. It is such important work. In my opinion, there is no issue that is more crucial than this one in our present day and age. I hate to criticize someone who is trying to spread that message, because it is so urgent. That said, however, this isn't much of a novel. I will admit that it's hard to write a science-based novel about climate change, and that's probably why there aren't many graphic novels about global warming: it's simply not a great medium to transmit that message. "As the World Burns" does it in an visceral, if bleak, manner. This novel, on the other hand, tries to present the scientific side of it, and is honestly more boring than anything else. And this is coming from someone who cares quite a lot about climate change. This says nothing to Squarzoni's drawing style-- which is amazing, by the way-- and speaks more to the way he chose to tackle this subject. I didn't see the direction he took this novel in as being very effective.Another reviewer mentioned the panels after panels of scientists talking about climate change, which, admittedly, was very boring and maybe not the best use of the graphic novel medium. What really got to me, though, was how plotless this novel was. Nothing happens besides him reading or talking about climate change, either to the reader or to his wife. This novel is full of pages and pages of graphs and scientists talking. The novel's strong points lie in its use of metaphor to describe the crisis, both visually within the panels and verbally within conversations. For example, the metaphor of slowly, incrementally pushing a plate off of a table with one's eyes closed was a great explanation of feedback loops and ecosystem collapse that I'll probably use myself in the future. That was a high point of the novel. The thing is, there's so much boring filler between these shining moments.I understand why Squarzoni thought it would be effective to show his own journey from ignorance to hopelessness to activism, but it just doesn't make for great reading. As a biologist, I can't help but feel that there are so many important stories about climate change that he could have told, like catastrophic changes in migration patterns of animals, or the loss of species in areas they had inhabited for generations, or the fact that climate change adds further threat to the existence of many already-threatened species. These could have been told very effectively in a graphic novel, and they are issues that that he didn't delve into very much. I appreciate what the author was trying to convey-- the hard science of climate change and the process of the education of a layperson-- but I think there are better mediums for conveying it.

Climate Changed: A Personal Journey Through the Science is an extremely effective piece of work. The reader is along for the ride as Phillippe Squarzoni takes a personal journey to understand an extremely significant and inevitable natural phenomenon called climate change. He weaves details from his own life in with larger topics that are pieces of the complex web of the human effort to curb the effects of climate change. He is doing important work that is arguably as crucial as the scientific work done by professionals, which is effectively making climate change approachable and understandable to people who may find the scientific explanation confusing. The author does not come across as preachy in ways that scientists can be on occasion. He enters the topic with a purely curious and open mind state, which is something everyone should be able to appreciate. It is important to understand that climate change is not something we can ignore or forget about, and Squarzoni takes an extremely complicated idea that takes shape in numerous ways and shows us how it can and will effect us on a personal level. We do not know exactly in which ways as no one can predict the effects of the climate, but he shows us how climate change will become a part of everyday life. We are all a part of this issue, and when one begins to see real, tangible ways that it impacts our day-to-day lives, climate change becomes less of a thing to shrug off and more of a threat to our species’ existence. Even if you do not like his story or approach you still have to appreciate how effective he is at getting his point across.

A bit long, too many talking heads for my taste, but I don't see as much TV as I used to.But needs to fill long passages of facts and theories and such, so provided half panels for TV in slower motion, which I did like.Hoping he gets out a bit more before the next one, which I await eagerly

This graphic novel should be in every high school and college reading list. The hard truth and emotions about cimate change.

Interesting book!

It's a great graphiy novel about climate change,the reasons for it, what could be done, what is and what isn't done. The things we know about climate change do of course change over time but it is still a worth while read through. For thos who might fear it boring, there is no need for that, this is maybe the most captivating way to read about climate change.

Philippe Squarzoni artfully presents the science and the social issues facing climate change. There are some great arguments presented by well respected academics. This book will make you think and hopefully act on climate change.