New Books Network Andreas Malm and Wim Carton, "The Long Heat: Climate Politics When It’s Too Late" (Verso Books, 2025)
Mar 18, 2026
Andreas Malm, associate professor of human ecology and author on fossil fuels and climate politics. He maps political flashpoints as the planet overshoots warming limits. He critiques adaptation mega-projects, carbon removal hype, and solar geoengineering’s political temptations. He warns how techno-fixes can deepen inequality and distract from urgent emissions cuts.
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Climate Futures Are Paths Laid By History
- The Long Heat maps the history of adaptation, carbon removal, and geoengineering as trajectories shaping future climate politics.
- Andreas Malm traces how past investments and ideas create present pathways that make certain techno-political futures more likely.
Overshoot Leaves Only Three Risky Options
- In an overshoot era the realistic non-mitigation options narrow to adaptation, carbon removal, or solar geoengineering.
- Malm argues none can work meaningfully without decisive mitigation because they are shaped by existing fossil-fuel commitments.
French Mega Bassins Squeeze Small Farmers
- France's mega-bassins concentrate water into huge reservoirs and benefit large agribusiness while squeezing small farmers.
- Malm links protests at Saint Celine to evaporation losses and ecological harm from centralized water storage.
