Humanity's Moment by Joëlle Gergis review - Recording the horrors of a climate to come without losing hope

We have known that human-induced climate change is real for some considerable time. Anyone still disputing this truth in the face of meticulously gathered scientific evidence - such as that comprehensively revealed by Joëlle Gergis - is either disingenuously pursuing their own evil agenda, overwhelmed into wishful disbelief, or perhaps simply a few slices short of a loaf.

Which deeply saddens Dr Gergis, whose poetically nuanced rationality soon dispels the myth of science being impervious to emotion. That is not to say, I hasten to add, that she allows sadness (sometimes to the point of weeping) to interfere with the rigour of her analysis.

In fact, she carefully illustrates the ways in which the strenuous studies of climate science have always - and often to their own disadvantage - leant towards caution. But she doesn't hold back when challenging the difficulty of connecting non-scientific readers with scientific realities by sharing the unavoidably harsh bottom line: If we don't act now "we lock in an irreversibly apocalyptic future".

Dr Gergis is an award-winning climate scientist and writer at the Australian National University. She has served as a lead author for the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and is the author of Sunburnt Country: The History of Climate Change in Australia.

In her words: "The IPCC was established by the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) in 1988, to prepare comprehensive reviews and recommendations to all levels of government on the state of knowledge of the science of climate change; the social and economic impacts, and potential response strategies to minimise disruptions to human and natural systems."

As one of the Australian lead authors involved in the IPCC's Sixth Assessment Report, Dr Gergis was required to "review thousands of peer-reviewed scientific studies and distil their key findings". I was amazed to read that this work is done by volunteers, involving thousands of hours of intense and complex work, together with long-haul overseas travel, all against the background of their day jobs. In Australia, the only funding associated with attending "compulsory in-person lead author meetings is a small government travel allowance to cover economy flights, standard accommodation and basic meals".

Dr Gergis confesses that when she started writing this book, she didn't know how she was going to survive, based on the horror she was recording. She was crafting the complex statistical fabric of climate change into a narrative spanning political, cultural and media vibrations, alongside her own compassionate responses. I can understand the hesitancy.

Earlier, Dr Gergis had found a response to the question asked by Mary Oliver, one of my favourite poets: "What is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?" And the climate scientist's answer? "Everything I can, with all that I have." Climate change is a beast. It will take everything you have. It can crush you.

Holding that thought for a moment, perhaps I can be permitted a brief digression. I often read more than one book at a time (but seldom more than three) and deliberately chose an Irish novel set in 1950s' County Clare (This is Happiness by Niall Williams) as a comforting companion text for our 21st century nightmare. A couple of chapters of redemptive tuition from Humanity's Moment, and then a chapter of whimsical Irish charm from a long-vanished pre-digital way of life. Providing, I suggest, a soothingly appropriate counterpoint.

The climate change data is in. The polar ice is melting, our planet is warming, and the process threatens to become fatally faster. I won't quote statistics here. Suffice to say they are expressed and explained with precision and patience in the book. Dr Gergis has a lively interest in the arts and writes with fluent grace about the ways this has helped her cope with darkness.

As a veteran depressive, I'm doubtful about hope in a scientific context, since it implies that there is little else left. But reading the final chapters of Humanity's Moment with their insights and reflections, on - inter alia - art and creativity motivating progress and reconciling despair, opened a wider view.

We are an innovative and resilient species. Our imagination is a priceless human resource, carbon free, and has never been fully tapped. With the benefits of 21st century technology, and people with the life-affirming dignity and dedication of Dr Gergis, perhaps we can finally gather the collective will to save our planet.

Humanity's moment is now! And this book offers a vital chance to seize it.