Carbon Counter: Calculate Your Carbon Footprint by Mark Lynas (Collins Gem £4.99)

Mark Lynas' Carbon Counter is the perfect introductory guide to the subject of the carbon footprint. A compact size at 192 pages, the book is a palatable profile of the issues that surround society's energy emissions and the best ways to go about reducing them.

Carbon Counter opens with a concise introduction to the 'Greenhouse effect', giving the reader a factual rundown of the factors that influence the warming of the Earth. A vast number of facts are made easier to digest by the informal tone the author employs throughout.    Without being patronising, Lynas provides the reader with an explanation of the basic facts surrounding this politically contentious issue, by simply imparting the certainties that define the current state of our climate. The urgency of the matter of global warming is outlined in no uncertain terms, but Lynas also foregrounds the counter arguments in this debate, taking time to unpack common misunderstandings. The book acts as a guide, using simple charts and tables to encourage its readers to think independently in their everyday lives about how they can begin to make a difference to the overall carbon footprint of society.

The following sections of the book assist the readers in calculating their own carbon emissions in their day-to-day lives. A light-hearted tone eases the readers through a matter of colossal importance, helping them to not only calculate their own levels of wastage but also see the ways in which they can reduce them. Lynas gives a succinct discussion to a myriad of concerns. From the best way to encourage energy conservation in the workplace, to ways in which you, too, can produce sustainable energy in your own home, the author offers practical and informative solutions.

Carbon Counter is an interesting, but brief, description of what global warming means for all of us and what we can do to staunch its progress. Obviously, this book cannot possibly convey, let alone tackle, the immensity of this topic in its pocket-sized form, but Lynas' offering goes a long way to convincing the readers that their own efforts can help the overall struggle to combat carbon emissions.