James Lawrence Powell

New Books

Unlocking the Moon's Secrets: From Galileo to Giant Impact
Oxford University Press, Click cover to order.

Mysteries of the Deep: How Seafloor Drilling Expeditions Revolutionized Our Understanding of Earth History
(temporary cover image)
MIT Press, February 20, 2024

Seven States in Jeopardy as Prolonged Drought Threatens Power Generation: A new report from the federal government brings urgency to a veteran geologist’s longtime warnings about the crippling of the Colorado River. Read here. 10/3/2021

Review

Dead Pool is the best book I know about the current state of the Colorado River and the policy issues facing itDonald Worster. In this 2009 book, I predicted exactly what is happening on the Colorado River today. This did not take a genius, only a scientist who accepted global warming, which the Bureau of Reclamation and western water managers did not. Click the image to order.

Reviews

Probably the most important literary work on climate change.Neil Mackay, Glasgow Herald
A sobering and scary (and fascinating) book--a look at where we're going if we don't quickly get our act together. And it's replete with clues about how we could indeed make the changes that would make this fiction, not prophecy. Bill McKibben
Powell debuts with an alarming, somber vision of catastrophic climate change over the course of the 21st century in this speculative oral history. Powell lays out an intriguing level of detail about the cascading effects of climate change. Fans of climate apocalypse fiction will be chilled by this convincing work. Publisher's Weekly
If the existential threat of climate change keeps you up at night, James Lawrence Powell's The 2084 Report will make you want to do everything in your power to elect leaders who will combat global warming and save our planet. MarieClaire.com
Postcards from the future—dozens of them, as told to James Powell in 2084 by scientists, a doctor, a priest, an ambassador, several politicians, a general, the last person ever born on Tuvalu, and others—found their way to me, demanding my full attention. They reminded me that every day counts. We have much to accomplish.Ed Maibach, GMU

254 Amazon reviews average 4.5/5 stars.
121 ratings on Goodreads average 4.4/5

Reviews

If the hypothesis of the impact is correct (and I am very impressed with the data) it is perhaps the most important hypothesis in the Earth Sciences, with ramifications in other fields, since plate tectonics. This is particularly so for its consequences on the history of peoples over the last 12,800 years. Prof. Ed Keller, UCSB
I recommend the book — it is a fascinating read. The evidence is overwhelming and nicely collected and summarized by Powell.Prof. Marc Defant, Uni. S. Florida
This book was long overdue, and James Powell deserves a thank you from the planet for writing it. Read this book and join the enlightenment.. George Howard
Describes the history of the YDIH masterfully [and] shines a light on the dark side of science. If the YDIH is a paradigm shift, then this book will be a very important contribution to the advancement of science.Allen West
Not a review, but a conclusion by the acknowledged expert on the Pleistocene: "The Greenland platinum peak makes clear that an ET impact occurred close to the onset of the YD." Wallace Broecker (1931 - 2019)

Supplementary Information

Research Publications

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