Climate research, from the natural to the social sciences, is confronted with the grim reality of rising global greenhouse gas emissions, new record global mean temperatures, and soaring fossil-fuel engagements vis-à-vis major ambition and implementation gaps concerning adequate political responses. Given the availability of profound knowledge about the causes and consequences of the unfolding climate crisis for decades, Dana R. Fisher's book Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action is not merely a pointed summary of the latest findings in social science climate and based on many years of research but a thorough expression of despair and hope. Despite all evidence that suggests hopelessness to be the most rational emotion, the book seeks to counter this with “apocalyptic optimism” (18). The theory of change, described as “AnthroShift,” is presented as an analytical tool but also as a form of hope that responding adequately to the climate crisis, even though in micro steps, is possible.

Following the introduction and by drawing on multiple sources, Chapter 2 presents a mosaic of failure by analyzing the flaws of international climate policymaking and national politics in the United States, which rather hinder the plausibility of change further undermined by the fossil-fuel industry. Against these dynamic