Robert Dautray played a major role in France’s scientific and military history, notably as the “father” of the French H-bomb. He is a member of the French Academy of Sciences.
Long renowned as a prospectivist, Jacques Lesourne was formerly a professor of economics and industrial statistics at France’s National Arts and Crafts Conservatory.

“About forty years ago, scientists began to call our attention to a slight rise in the Earth’s average temperature, which they attributed to the greenhouse effect caused by carbon and other gas emissions produced by human activities. Little by little, a consensus was reached within the scientific community, which now largely recognises the phenomenon. Today, hardly a day goes by when the media do not evoke the issue.
“Yet outside a specialist sphere, it is not easy to master the essential data concerning global warming, a vast and complex issue that demands an understanding of four subjects: science, technology, economics and geopolitics. And the problem at stake is that the experts in these four areas do not always understand one another.
“We have written this book in order to provide the general public with a global understanding of the issue,” write Robert Dautray and Jacques Lesourne.


• A thorough examination of current scientific data concerning the evolution of climate change and related phenomena.

• A new approach to global warming, from various angles: economic, social and geopolitical.

• An analysis of various forms of energy technology and of the prospects they hold.

• A global presentation of the issues involved that is fully accessible to the general reader.
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