The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth

From Barnes & Noble

Since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, humans have become weather makers. As we fuel our activities, we create ozone-destroying chemicals and greenhouse gases that have altered global weather patterns and increased the potential for extreme weather events. Tim Flannery's The Weather Makers lays out not only a riveting history of how climate change has shaped our planet's evolution but a bracing scenario of catastrophes brewing in the future.

Publishers Weekly

Mammologist and paleontologist Flannery (The Eternal Frontier), who in recent years has become well known for his controversial ideas on conservation, the environment and population control, presents a straightforward and powerfully written look at the connection between climate change and global warming. It's destined to become required reading following Hurricane Katrina as the focus shifts to the natural forces that may have produced such a devastating event. Much of the book's success is rooted in Flannery's succinct and fascinating insights into related topics, such as the differences between the terms greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change, and how the El Ni o cycle of extreme climatic events "had a profound re-organising effect on nature." But the heart of the book is Flannery's impassioned look at the earth's "colossal" carbon dioxide pollution problem and his argument for how we can shift from our current global reliance on fossil fuels to a hydrogen-based economy. Flannery consistently produces the hard goods related to his main message that our environmental behavior makes us all "weather makers" who "already possess all the tools required to avoid catastrophic climate change." Agent, Kim Witherspoon. (Mar.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Library Journal

A self-described skeptic of global warming, Flannery (The Eternal Frontier) took several years to research the issue himself. The result is this sobering look at climate change and our planet's future within the next few decades. Writing for ordinary readers, Flannery pulls no punches and details four possible outcomes that depend on how soon-or late-we can get serious about addressing global warming and take concrete steps to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. While grim, this book is not entirely hopeless. Flannery makes specific suggestions for action, such as investing in renewable power sources like solar, wind, and geothermal energy. Jared Diamond's Collapse offers a greater depth of historical perspective on how human actions on the enviroment lead to the collapse, or success, of societies. But Flannery's powerful warning is a quick-start guide that will inspire readers to make a difference by changing their environmental behaviors. An essential purchase for both academic and public libraries.-Gloria Maxwell, Penn Valley Community Coll. Lib., Kansas City, MO Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

An authoritative yet accessible presentation of the scientific evidence that climate change is happening; a clear delineation of what global warming has done and could do to life on our planet; and an urgent call for action. According to environmentalist and naturalist Flannery (The Eternal Frontier, 2001, etc.), human beings are the weather makers, and while there is still time to reduce the impact of global warming, failure of this generation to do so will lead to a climate-change-driven Dark Ages and the collapse of civilization. For the non-specialist, he deftly untangles the meanings of "greenhouse effect," "global warming" and "climate change" as he explains their connections and illustrates the importance of the atmosphere to earth's well-being. The present age, sometimes called the Anthropocene, or age of humanity, which began some 8,000 years ago, is, according to Flannery, showing signs of turning ugly. He documents the ecological changes that have already taken place in polar regions and on coral reefs, the species extinctions, altered rainfall patterns, rising sea levels and extreme weather events-all from temperature rises of only 0.63 of a degree, one-fifth to one-tenth of what is expected in this century. Turning to the political sphere, he examines the Montreal Protocol, which reduced emissions of CFCs, and the Kyoto Protocol, which attempts to reduce carbon dioxide and other greenhouse emissions but was not ratified by the United States or Australia. He looks at the role of government, scrutinizes the relationship between government and industry and charges that the fossil-fuel industry willfully misrepresents the dangers of climate change. Finally, Flannery discussesvarious power technologies-wind and solar, nuclear and hydrogen-that would reduce carbon-dioxide emissions from fossil fuels, and he conjectures about what their economic and social impact might be. His closing chapter spells out specific steps that individuals can take to substantially reduce carbon-dioxide emissions. A powerful and persuasive book, sure to provoke strong reaction.