Earth : the operators' manual / Richard B. Alley.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

The Burning Question. Prepare to come about ; Burning to learn ; Peak trees and peak whale oil -- Learning While We Burn. Fossil fuelish, some telling facts ; Abraham Lincoln or your brother-in-law? ; Red, white, and blue-green ; Canting the kayak ; Why accountants and physicists care about the past ; The moving finger writes ; And having writ, moves on ; The great ice that covers the land ; Kindergarten soccer and the last century of climate ; But my brother-in-law said... ; The future ; Valuing the future -- The Road to Ten Billion Smiling People. Toilets and the smart grid ; Sustainable solutions on the wind ; Sun and water ; Down by the sea, where the water power grows ; Power from the land ; Put it where the sun doesn't shine: nuclear energy and carbon sequestration ; Conservation, why saving energy doesn't mean sitting around in the dark ; Game-changers? Geoengineering, fusion, and... ; Ten billion and smiling.

Explores the history of energy use by humans over the centuries, gives a doubt-destroying proof that already-high levels of carbon dioxide are causing damaging global warming, and surveys the alternative energy options that are available to exploit.