The Weather Makers retells, with new material, a scientific argument we know so well it's becoming a truism. Indeed, if the sheer number of countries to have ratified the Kyoto Protocol on global warming is any indication, the world is in almost uniform agreement about the trouble we could face if we don't do something to check the quantities of carbon dioxide we're hurling into the atmosphere. The differences seem to arise in deciding how quickly and best to tackle the problem. And then, of course, there are nations such as Australia and the USA, which have refused to ratify the agreement. Tim Flannery, author of The Weather Makers quotes President Bush as saying he wants " 'more certainty' before acting on global warming".
Flannery is director of the South Australian Museum, a leading environmental commentator and campaigner, and has several fine books to his credit, including The Future Eaters, a history of humanity's use of its ecology, to which The Weather Makers is, in many ways, a parallel text. The book is in five parts: a history of Earth's climate; how that climate is changing; the science of detecting and predicting change; our current state and the attitudes of our leaders; and "The Solution".
Flannery is no fence sitter. He believes serious changes must be made to the way we generate energy, and cites a stream of evidence pointing towards the inexorable increase in the proportion of CO2 in our atmosphere. However, he also quotes his opponents and some of the fringe-dwellers whose take on climate change is sometimes subordinate to other agendas.
The Weather Makers is an absorbing if often depressing read.
The author is a fine writer with a compelling story to tell about one of the most contentious issues ever faced by humanity: on one hand, that the thick layer of greenhouses gases we're creating will, within a century or two, make Earth uninhabitable; on the other, that we know so little about our climate's evolution, we can only guess about the effects of greenhouse gas accumulation.
"The Solution" reviews the major alternative energy sources, including wind, hydroelectric, geothermal and nuclear power. But Flannery contends that responsibility for initiating change lies with individuals as well as governments. You and I and the chap over there can make a real difference by looking after our own neck of the woods, and there's a "Climate Change Checklist" (and lots of websites and other references) to help us toe the line. Now, how about turning off those unnecessary lights?
