Renée Hetherington Writer, Scientist, Business Woman, Leader

Books

Cover of Living in a Dangerous Climate: Climate Change and Human Evolution

Living in a Dangerous Climate

Climate Change and Human Evolution

Cambridge University Press · 2012

  • An exciting and fast-paced journey through human and Earth history, showing how a changing climate has affected human evolution and society
  • Provides insights into how humanity might react to the challenge of coming climate change
  • Links science, perspectives of evolution, climate change and economics in a way that is accessible and exciting for the general reader

Living in a Dangerous Climate provides a journey through human and Earth history, showing how a changing climate has affected human evolution and society. Is it possible for humanity to evolve quickly, or is slow, gradual, genetic evolution the only way we change? Why did all other Homo species go extinct while Homo sapiens became dominant? How did agriculture, domestication, and the use of fossil fuels affect humanity’s growing dominance? Do today’s dominant societies — devoted as they are to Darwinism and ‘survival of the fittest’ — contribute to our current failure to meet the hazards of a dangerous climate? Unique and thought provoking, the book links scientific knowledge and perspectives of evolution, climate change, and economics in a way that is accessible and exciting for the general reader.

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Reviews

…[an] ambitious and wide-ranging book… provides a highly readable overview of how environmental change has affected humans from the time Homo species appeared… Highly recommended. D. Goldblum, Choice
…a wide-ranging book with high ambitions… [an] excellent read for the general reader Miriam Belmaker, Reports of the National Center for Science Education
…a very informative and readable tour through the history of humankind and its relations to the climates Natural Hazards Observer
Cover of The Climate Connection: Climate Change and Modern Human Evolution

The Climate Connection

Climate Change and Modern Human Evolution

With Robert G.B. Reid · Cambridge University Press · 2010

  • Helps inform our understanding of and preparation for future climate change by introducing the 3 ‘c’s syndrome: catastrophe, communication and cooperation as impetus for human social evolution
  • Links saltatory evolution and rapid climate change, providing a novel way of thinking critically about human evolution
  • Highlights the influence of saltatory evolution and rapid climate change on human evolution, migration and behavioural change

Growing concern over the potential impacts of climate change on our future is clearly evident. In order to better understand our present circumstances and deal effectively with future climate change, society needs to become more informed about the historical connection between climate and humans. The authors’ combined research in the fields of climate change, evolutionary biology, Earth sciences and human migration and behaviour complement each other, and have facilitated an innovative and integrated approach to the human evolution-climate connection. The Climate Connection provides an in-depth text linking 135,000 years of climate change with human evolution and implications for our future.

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Reviews

Fred Roots, Science Advisor Emeritus, Environment Canada, and Chair of the Canadian National Committee for the UNESCO Man and the Biosphere Programme, describes it as a meticulously researched and very readable account of human biology, prehistory and climate, and calls it a significant contribution to understanding one of the most serious issues of our times.
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