... a compelling explanation of how the world can stop global warming by reducing greenhouse gas emissions effectively to zero ... Gates has occasionally appeared equivocal about climate and energy policies that he thought could undermine the fight against poverty and illness. However, this book lays out forcefully his understanding that the impact of climate change poses a far bigger threat to lives and livelihoods in developing countries...The book breaks down the sources of these emissions into a few broad categories – making things, plugging in, and getting around – and Gates knows how to frame issues in terms with which everybody should be able to engage, without dumbing down the material ... I think readers will discover from his book that he is a serious and genuine force for good on climate change.

This new volume could not be more timely — it emerges after a year that saw the costliest slew of weather disasters in history, and that despite a cooling La Niña current in the Pacific managed to set the mark for record global temperature ... It is a disappointment, then, to report that this book turns out to be a little underwhelming. Gates — who must have easy access to the greatest experts the world can provide — is surprisingly behind the curve on the geeky parts, and he’s worse at interpreting the deeper and more critical aspects of the global warming dilemma ... it’s perhaps not surprising that he’s still catching up. And yet, his miscalculations are important, because they are widely shared ... One wishes Gates had talked, for instance, with Stanford’s Mark Jacobson, whose team has calculated how almost every country on earth could go to 80 percent renewable energy by 2030. If he had, he might have understood more clearly that the things that really interest him — advanced nuclear power, for instance, where he describes his considerable investments — are more about mopping up: He’s absolutely right that we should be investing in research across a wide list of technologies because we may need them down the line to help scrub the last increments of fossil fuel from the system, but the key work will be done (or not) over the next decade, and it will be done by sun and wind ... it’s wonderful that Gates has decided to work hard on climate questions, but to be truly helpful he needs to resolve to be a better geek — he needs to really get down on his hands and knees and examine how that power works in all its messiness. Politics very much included.

... this is a surprisingly good read. The author’s enthusiasm and curiosity about the way things work is infectious. He walks us through not just the basic science of global warming, but all the ways that our modern lives contribute to it. He offers a primer on farming; transportation; food waste; and concrete, steel, and plastic manufacturing, to name some of the author’s encyclopedic range of concerns ... Gates never questions the assumption that we need to continue to grow the economy and even substantially increase energy use, especially in the developing world. Some will see this as the book’s blind spot. It takes for granted that the environment can be saved without a change in lifestyle and material aspirations, especially in the developed world. ... Climate change, as the author convincingly argues, is the biggest challenge we’ve ever faced.

Gates has crafted a calm, reasoned, well-sourced explanation of the greatest challenge of our time and what we must change to avoid cooking our planet ... What should make Gates’ book compelling to climate-change skeptics however are the concise, straightforward explanations of, for example, how much carbon is produced in the making of electricity and what we can do to reduce that. One conclusion sure to provoke debate is Gates’ contention that to conquer global warming, we need to produce at least some of our electricity from nuclear power, which he notes, is clean and safer than ever ... Gates’ book is high on solutions and low on dire warnings, the staple of many other writings on climate change.

... if you are an Extinction Rebellion devotee, you probably won’t love this book. Far from embracing the trendy idea that the only route out of this is 'degrowth' and the end of capitalism, Gates takes what is fast becoming the most controversial of all paths: pragmatism ... Confronted with a problem like climate change it is tempting to reach for simple solutions ... Gates’s book is gratifyingly free of such delusions ... solutions are what we need right now and if you’re after an approachable book about what needs to happen next, this is a great place to start ... Gates’s book does not hold all the answers, nor is it everyone’s cup of tea. It reads at times like an investment prospectus for some of the companies and technologies in the climate field ... For those who wonder whether there is a way of addressing climate change that doesn’t involve biblical sacrifice and suffering, you could start here by reading this book.

[Gates'] book is not simplistic and is guardedly optimistic ... This clear and reader-friendly 'how-to' book argues that it is important and do-able for the world to live with zero emissions by 2050. Gates is acutely aware of the difficulties in reaching this goal ... How to Avoid a Climate Disaster covers nearly every facet of the problem. The book synthesizes the knowledge of experts in dozens of relevant sciences. Gates presents the problems and potential solutions as complex systems. How to Avoid a Climate Disaster is a primer for every citizen and a checklist for specialists to make sure they have the big picture.

Immensely informative and accessible, this book is a superb primer on the most important challenge facing humanity ... His book is awash in solutions, big and small, already implemented and still on the drawing board. Energy efficient air conditioners, he points out, are readily available ... Gates makes a compelling case that governments have pivotal roles to play in resolving the climate crisis.

In many respects, it can be argued that philanthropist and business leader Gates’ title is moot since the planet is already in the midst of a climate disaster. The strength of his argument for meaningful environmental action lies in the subtitle because solutions for mitigating this crisis do exist, and the innovative thinking required for implementing is an accessible resource ... While Gates’ positions and evidence can skew toward the intellectual at often granular levels, he nevertheless provides illuminating contexts for those perspectives and offers a treatise that is imperative, approachable, and useful.

A persuasive, optimistic strategy for reducing greenhouse emissions to zero by midcentury ... Gates makes a significant contribution to the rapidly growing shelf of books that not only acknowledge climate change, but also propose viable solutions ... Gates moves several steps further in a comprehensible, at times amusingly wonky, text that provides detailed plans. The author relates a compelling vision of what the potential devastation will look like, assessing the scale and range of expected damage, but he is more interested in clearly communicating the multitiered facets of his plan ... Though Gates doesn’t shy away from acknowledging the daunting challenges ahead, his narrative contains enough confidence—and hard science and economics—to convince many readers that his blueprint is one of the most viable yet. A supremely authoritative and accessible plan for how we can avoid a climate catastrophe.

Microsoft cofounder turned philanthropist, is optimistic in this cogent guide to avoiding 'the worst effects of climate change.' ,.. Nonetheless, those looking for an accessible review of how global warming can be countered will find this a handy—and maybe even hope-inspiring—guide.