Peter Brannen’s The Story of CO2 Is the Story of Everything is a magisterial work of non-fiction: detailed, highly informative, easy to follow without being dumbed down, well-structured, wide-ranging, and engaging. Just an overall fantastic read.

Brannen walks us methodically through the entire history of Earth from literally the very beginning, because as he says in the introduction, “the truly cosmic nature of our current climate crisis can only be understood in the context of deep Earth history.” And so we begin at the Big Bang, move quickly to Earth’s formation, then into its earliest time periods, and from there we move forward age by age and eventually century by century, sometimes slowly sometimes quickly depending on points being made with regard to carbon’s impact on the planet and (eventually) its life forms. Much of the exploration is done through the prism of entropy and the way energy moves through the planetary system, both naturally such as by hurricanes or photosynthesis through most of the planet’s history and then through humanity’s use of coal/fossil fuels.

This is the thread that runs throughout the work and ties all the disparate elements and time periods together, lending it an effective sense of unity and making it all hold together in the reader’s mind. And there are a lot of elements here, as Brannen ranges far afield, not in any digressive sense but more along the lines of showing us how everything (and I mean everything) is connected. So we learn about plate tectonics, unitary continents, clouds, volcanoes, the change in oxygen in our atmosphere, comet impacts, major and minor extinction events, the change in plant life over time, the shift in carbon usage within photosynthesis, ocean currents, the move from hunter-gatherer systems to agriculture, domestication of animals (especially the horse), the Nazi war machine running down, the Industrial Revolution, human evolution, mastery of fire, imperialism, and the list goes on. All of it tied to carbon’s impact. It sounds like it should be overwhelming ,but it is not, not at all. Instead it is fascinating, mesmerizing, and stimulating as the interconnectedness of it all comes into sight. I’ve rarely felt so widely and fully informed on a topic in terms of context.

The end point, of course, is the warning we’ve been ignoring for decades now — that our sudden blast of carbon into the atmosphere, which though less than has been ejected before is now occurring in a much, much, much, more concentrated time period is leading us to a series of tipping points that can potential bring human modern civilization down (not humans — he is not calling this an extinction event). This is no rant or diatribe, and anyone who thinks this is about “global warming” is grossly simplifying and distorting this scientific and social history. As noted above, Brannen is methodical and patient, building a deep and abiding understanding with occasional dips into our current danger, before towards the end dealing with climate change more directly, though not at any great length and in any self-righteous fashion (and in fact, he is critical of those who argue for “the world” to draw down energy or people in general to cut back, pointing out for instance that for poorer countries, increased energy use goes not to huge SUVs or backyard water fountains but to hospitals and food. As he says, “these ae not luxuries.” Refusing them that would be a gross act of immorality.

As for what to do about it, things get a bit depressing there. Brannen concisely dismisses (with explanation) a number of suggested paths to bring our carbon emissions down (cutting back energy growth, geoengineering, etc.) and ends up, in a highly relatable expression, where a lot of us probably are: “in summary, we’re in deep shit.” He ends, however, somehow, on a somewhat hopeful (or at least, not hopeless) note.

Beyond the content, Brannen is an excellent writer and stylist. It’s one of best written non-fiction books I’ve read in some time. Always clear, always engaging, sometimes lyrical, always precise, often making use of good metaphors/analogies, often returning back to earlier points to keep things coherent but without becoming repetitive. Really, it’s just an overall excellent work of non-fiction and one I can’t recommend enough.

This book is a history of carbon dioxide and how it interacts with life and the planet, starting all the way at the beginning of life and ending with modern times.

I saw this on Netgalley and I was intrigued so I asked for a copy. I’m glad I did because this book was fascinating. It covers the start of life, different mass extinctions, different ice ages, different time periods and the life involved in them, the rise of humanity, and the state of humanity and the environment today. I can tell this was well researched. There was so much in this that I didn’t know about before and I loved learning about it. This book is very well written in my opinion and very readable.

Overall I greatly enjoyed this and highly recommend it for nonfiction fans/readers of all ages.

Despite the long title, intensity of the writing style and density of the information, if you only read one science book this year, read THIS ONE. Brannen's writing is incandescent, entertaining, witty, informative and terrifying. There is a lot of information to absorb. But his research is incredibly thorough and his writing so fascinating the segues are a pleasure and not a distraction. What you will learn from this single volume could be compared to a reasonably stocked bookstore shelf about climate, geology, CO2, with a little paleontology and human behavior mixed in for good measure. Fascinating. Brilliantly executed. This book is a super-powered laser burning through the chaff of confusion and denial. If you like his previous book, The Ends of the World, then you will devour this one.

This book is an in depth discussion about CO2 and the role it plays in the creation, maintenance and the future destruction of our planet. This was a very dense novel with a lot of information to parse. It was quite interesting and I enjoyed reading the history of the molecule. I will say this book would benefit from some illustrations of what is being discussed. There are a few references to illustrations which I couldn't tell if there were supposed to be pictures that weren't compatible with digital reading. I think I would have had an easier time reading if I had a physical copy to flip through.

Overall a pretty informative, interesting book. 3/5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.