"The proposal is to update the book Climate Change Science: A Primer for Sustainable Development, published in 2020. When the book was written, the IPCC Assessment Report current at that time was AR5, published in 2014. The current report is AR6 published in 2023. In 2015 the Conference of the Parties was in its pivotal 21st Paris meeting, while the most recent meeting was COP 29, held in Dubai. Most of the book was written before COP21. At COP21 the target global average temperature increase was lowered from 2.0° to 1.5° C, largely at the urging of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS).

The original book is devoted to fundamentals of climate science and does not need revision, although Mutter will update some references and figures as warranted by developments since the initial publication. Some science issues, such as the role of cloud radiative feedback, have progressed and require minor updates. There are two important additions. One is in the area of attribution science--the ability to attribute a weather event like a particular cyclone to global warming. This differs from a description of how all cyclones might differ in the future, which is covered in the original primer, and addresses the question of the extent to which an individual cyclone can be attributed to global warming. Ideas about attribution were emerging when the primer was written, and they are now commonplace in the discussion of extreme events. The second topic is geoengineering. This involves the direct intervention into the climate system to thwart climate change.

One such intervention is termed Solar Radiation Management (SRM) which, in one variant involves increasing the albedo or reflectivity of the upper surface of clouds to diminish the strength of incoming solar radiation reaching the Earth. The most ambitious of the geoengineering approaches is the direct removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, sometimes referred to as negative emissions. Mutter does not discuss the details of various engineering schemes as there are so many as to merit a book in its own right, but focus on the physical principles behind the most commonly advocated methods."-- Provided by publisher.