The great Transformation

Climate - Can we get our act together?

A book by Alexandra Hamann, Claudia Zea-Schmidt, Reinhold Leinfelder, published by Jacoby&Stuart, 2013, 144 pages, 24 x 17 cm, illustrated, softcover, b/w, ISBN 978-3-941087-23-1.
With drawings by Studio Nippoldt (Robert Nippoldt, Christine Goppel, Astrid Nippoldt), Jörg Hülsmann, Iris Ugurel, Jörg Hartmann
€ 14,95

Awards

  • "Environmental Book of the Month," German Environmental Foundation, March 2013
  • "Climate Book of the Month", German Academy for Children's and Youth Literature, May 2013

Press comments

"A black-and-white comic of a special kind. It is easy to read, yet full of facts and thought-provoking."
– Deutschlandfunk, Cologne


"The great transformation" wants to give courage. Courage to also see change as an opportunity."
– BZ, Berlin

"Reports by government advisors are not necessarily considered light reading. The German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) is therefore publishing its 2011 report as a comic. Each of the nine members guides the reader through a chapter."
– Süddeutsche Zeitung, Christoph Schrader, Munich

"Professors in superhero costumes save the world from the approaching environmental catastrophe! At least almost. In the graphic novel "Die große Transformation: Klima - Kriegen wir die Kurve?" published in February, great scientists and professors explain how we can still stop the approaching environmental catastrophe."
– Unicum, Bochum

"The most important German experts appear as heroes. This is entertaining, clear and cleverly done."
– Geolino Extra, Hamburg

"This highly original book uses cartoon illustrations to present scientific facts alongside a broad range of actions that we can take against climate change. This is an inspirational call for action which directly addresses young readers as the future adult generation."
– New Books in German, London, UK

"Sea levels are rising, fish are dying, soil is eroding, forests are being cut down, the earth is littering. The list of environmental sins could drive you to bury your head in the sand. But to make sure that doesn't happen, the scientific advisory board that advises the federal government on environmental issues has now published a climate comic. "The Great Transformation" ... aims to give courage. Courage to also see change as an opportunity."
– BZ, Berlin, March 2013

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Blog

> "Top-notch science, made universally understandable!"

Climate change can no longer be denied, and if our societies are still to function in fifty years, we must learn to live and do business sustainably. To do this, science, politics and citizens must work together. A council of top-class scientists is advising policymakers on this, and so that we can all have our say too, our volume presents the key scientific statements in comic form in a way that is easy to understand for everyone. In view of climate change, species extinction and resource scarcity, it is becoming increasingly clear that we cannot simply maintain our current lifestyle.

We must drastically reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and learn to manage the economy in a sustainable way. Nine independent scientists who make up the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU), appointed by the German government, have worked out how to do this. In the form of comic interviews with each of them, the report looks at what is fact and what needs to be done from very different angles. For geoscience and climate science, economics and technology, politics and everyday culture must work together to achieve the inevitable major transformation.

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Nine scientists fight climate change as comic book heroes.

  • Hans Joachim Schellnhuber
  • Reinhold Leinfelder
  • Stefan Rahmstorf
  • Dirk Messner
  • Jürgen Schmid
  • Nebojsa Nakicenovic
  • Renate Schubert
  • Sabine Schlacke
  • Claus Leggewie
Book trailer