Hothouse Earth: an Inhabitant's Guide provides a post-COP26 perspective on the climateemergency, acknowledging that it is now practically impossible to keep this side of the1.5C dangerous climate change guardrail. The upshot is that we can no longer dodge thearrival of disastrous, all-pervasive climate breakdown that will come as a hammer blow toglobal society and economy. Bill McGuire, Professor of Geophysical and Climate Hazards, explains the science behindthe climate crisis, painting a blunt but authentic picture of the sort of world our childrenwill grow old in, and our grandchildren grow up in; a world that we catch only glimpses ofin today's blistering heatwaves, calamitous wildfires and ruinous floods and droughts. Bleak though it is, the picture is one we must all face up to, if only to spur genuine action- even at this late stage - to stop a harrowing future becoming a truly cataclysmic one.