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The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth
Sometime this century the day will arrive when the human influence on the climate will overwhelm all other natural factors. Over the past decade, the world has seen the most powerful El Niño ever recorded, the most devastating hurricane in two hundred years, the hottest European summer on record, and one of the worst storm seasons ever experienced in Florida. With one out of every five living things on this planet committed to extinction by the levels of greenhouse gases that will accumulate in the next few decades, we are reaching a global climatic tipping point. The Weather Makers is both an urgent warning and a call to arms, outlining the history of climate change, how it will unfold over the next century, and what we can do to prevent a cataclysmic future. Along with a riveting history of climate change, Tim Flannery offers specific suggestions for action for both lawmakers and individuals, from investing in renewable power sources like wind, solar, and geothermal energy, to offering an action plan with steps each and every one of us can take right now to reduce deadly CO2 emissions by as much as 70 percent.
357 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2001
About the author
Tim Flannery
106books376followersTim Flannery is one of Australia's leading thinkers and writers.
An internationally acclaimed scientist, explorer and conservationist, he has published more than 130 peer-reviewed scientific papers and many books. His books include the landmark works The Future Eaters and The Weather Makers, which has been translated into more than 20 languages and in 2006 won the NSW Premiers Literary Prizes for Best Critical Writing and Book of the Year.
He received a Centenary of Federation Medal for his services to Australian science and in 2002 delivered the Australia Day address. In 2005 he was named Australian Humanist of the Year, and in 2007 honoured as Australian of the Year.
He spent a year teaching at Harvard, and is a founding member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, a director of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, and the National Geographic Society's representative in Australasia. He serves on the board of WWF International (London and Gland) and on the sustainability advisory councils of Siemens (Munich) and Tata Power (Mumbai).
In 2007 he co-founded and was appointed Chair of the Copenhagen Climate Council, a coalition of community, business, and political leaders who came together to confront climate change.
Tim Flannery is currently Professor of Science at Maquarie University, Sydney.
An internationally acclaimed scientist, explorer and conservationist, he has published more than 130 peer-reviewed scientific papers and many books. His books include the landmark works The Future Eaters and The Weather Makers, which has been translated into more than 20 languages and in 2006 won the NSW Premiers Literary Prizes for Best Critical Writing and Book of the Year.
He received a Centenary of Federation Medal for his services to Australian science and in 2002 delivered the Australia Day address. In 2005 he was named Australian Humanist of the Year, and in 2007 honoured as Australian of the Year.
He spent a year teaching at Harvard, and is a founding member of the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, a director of the Australian Wildlife Conservancy, and the National Geographic Society's representative in Australasia. He serves on the board of WWF International (London and Gland) and on the sustainability advisory councils of Siemens (Munich) and Tata Power (Mumbai).
In 2007 he co-founded and was appointed Chair of the Copenhagen Climate Council, a coalition of community, business, and political leaders who came together to confront climate change.
Tim Flannery is currently Professor of Science at Maquarie University, Sydney.
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February 10, 2020
A very compelling and in-depth narration about the climate crisis that we are currently facing. Even though it is quite outdated (He wrote this in 2004) and anyone reading it today, who follows climate science closely, would possess much greater knowledge on the topic. A ton of discoveries and revelations have been made since then. Nevertheless, it does provide a wealth of information that is rooted at the very beginning of the climate crisis and the basics will always be the same.
The book is a descriptive encyclopedia of sorts, and Tim goes to great lengths to talk about the minutest creatures who will be affected by climate change. Whoever knew that the Stratosphere was so fragile, and that even a few degrees of change could literally call the shots on the sexes of a certain species of turtles and alligators? Who knew that ocean currents mix up the water from 5 miles below with the water above, infusing them with oxygen so that nutrients which shallow dwelling species depend on, come up to the surface? Who knew that less winter rain could sound the death knell for a certain species of toads?
Moth eggs hatch up to 3 weeks earlier than their food is ready; butterfly ranges have extended from the original habitat by 150 miles; the tree line is moving higher and higher each year; CO2 loving fast-growing tree species are dominating slow-growth species, and subsequently killing off the insects and birds that depend on them; crabs and other crustaceans are unable to make their carbonate shells due to acidifying oceans; and many much more.
Tim further elucidates in detail how the developed world knew all along, about the ramifications of global warming from as early as 1985, but kept playing for time, in order to further their own agendas and selfishly develop their own economies; all while playing a hogwash game of "carbon credits" (which does absolutely NOTHING to tackle the climate crisis). Lastly, he talks about how the insurance industry will be the first to implode, the first domino to fall, after which the real true color, the ugly side of our fabricated, unsustainable system, starts to reveal itself, as one after another, the rest of the dominoes fall.
The book is a descriptive encyclopedia of sorts, and Tim goes to great lengths to talk about the minutest creatures who will be affected by climate change. Whoever knew that the Stratosphere was so fragile, and that even a few degrees of change could literally call the shots on the sexes of a certain species of turtles and alligators? Who knew that ocean currents mix up the water from 5 miles below with the water above, infusing them with oxygen so that nutrients which shallow dwelling species depend on, come up to the surface? Who knew that less winter rain could sound the death knell for a certain species of toads?
Moth eggs hatch up to 3 weeks earlier than their food is ready; butterfly ranges have extended from the original habitat by 150 miles; the tree line is moving higher and higher each year; CO2 loving fast-growing tree species are dominating slow-growth species, and subsequently killing off the insects and birds that depend on them; crabs and other crustaceans are unable to make their carbonate shells due to acidifying oceans; and many much more.
Tim further elucidates in detail how the developed world knew all along, about the ramifications of global warming from as early as 1985, but kept playing for time, in order to further their own agendas and selfishly develop their own economies; all while playing a hogwash game of "carbon credits" (which does absolutely NOTHING to tackle the climate crisis). Lastly, he talks about how the insurance industry will be the first to implode, the first domino to fall, after which the real true color, the ugly side of our fabricated, unsustainable system, starts to reveal itself, as one after another, the rest of the dominoes fall.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 23, 2011
This book should be considered a climate change "classic": it excellently elaborate the science behind the climate-regulating functions of the Earth's atmosphere, the delicate balance of it and how human's thirst for growth is threatening to destroy that balance, with catastrophic consequences. The book covers many facets of the issue, from the science to the politics, which makes it a one stop shop for all things climate change.
Flannery's writing is beautiful and lucid: it is infused with a romanticism for all things nature similarly to what one would find in the works of eighteenth century botanists and biologists (he quotes a lot of Wallace). His prose has a literary quality to it, particularly as he ascribed the atmosphere as "The Great Aerial Ocean" and the "life blood of Earth". All this makes for a great page turner, unexpected for a book packed with so much scientific details.
Considering that this has been published in 2005, it is pretty ahead in voicing the concerns later adopted by the likes of the IPCC report in 2007 and the Stern review. All that delivered in bits and chunks that are digestible to the average reader. Some of the details are outright fascinating: the many layers of the atmosphere, the kinetic quality of its interaction with all living being on earth and the delicate balance at which its climate-regulating functions hinges. Flannery also managed to deconstruct the cliches surrounding climate change and has brilliantly explained the sources of uncertainty in climate modeling.
Having said that, it does have some clear pitfalls. Its ambitious scope makes it difficult for Flannery to cover the aspects outside his strength as a scientist, such as the economics and politics of it, in great depth. In fact, towards the end of the book I felt there was a lot of redundancy regarding his take on the global politics of emission reduction efforts and particularly his ideas of a post-Kyoto Protocol deal.
The alarmist tone to the last few chapters can also be off-putting. Flannery himself conceded to the uncertainty of the science, yet he is trapped into heralding various catastrophic projections of 2050 as the world's certain future. The book really dragged towards the end because of the author repeatedly stopped in his tracks to remind readers that time is running out and that action needs to be taken. Even a believer like me does not respond too well on too much climate crusading.
Finally, a minor but annoying bit has to be the finality with which he starts his last few chapters, which really makes it feel like the book was never going to end. Chapters titled with "Last Steps on the Stairway to Heaven", "The Last Act of God", "Time's Up" made it seem like I had arrived at the end of the book, yet when upon finishing them, I was dismayed to find that there were more chapters to go through (what, another chapter?).
But, still, this book comes recommended to anyone who wants to get a better grasp at the issue. Even in the current flood of information on climate change, any reader would find the book highly insightful as well as enjoyable.
Flannery's writing is beautiful and lucid: it is infused with a romanticism for all things nature similarly to what one would find in the works of eighteenth century botanists and biologists (he quotes a lot of Wallace). His prose has a literary quality to it, particularly as he ascribed the atmosphere as "The Great Aerial Ocean" and the "life blood of Earth". All this makes for a great page turner, unexpected for a book packed with so much scientific details.
Considering that this has been published in 2005, it is pretty ahead in voicing the concerns later adopted by the likes of the IPCC report in 2007 and the Stern review. All that delivered in bits and chunks that are digestible to the average reader. Some of the details are outright fascinating: the many layers of the atmosphere, the kinetic quality of its interaction with all living being on earth and the delicate balance at which its climate-regulating functions hinges. Flannery also managed to deconstruct the cliches surrounding climate change and has brilliantly explained the sources of uncertainty in climate modeling.
Having said that, it does have some clear pitfalls. Its ambitious scope makes it difficult for Flannery to cover the aspects outside his strength as a scientist, such as the economics and politics of it, in great depth. In fact, towards the end of the book I felt there was a lot of redundancy regarding his take on the global politics of emission reduction efforts and particularly his ideas of a post-Kyoto Protocol deal.
The alarmist tone to the last few chapters can also be off-putting. Flannery himself conceded to the uncertainty of the science, yet he is trapped into heralding various catastrophic projections of 2050 as the world's certain future. The book really dragged towards the end because of the author repeatedly stopped in his tracks to remind readers that time is running out and that action needs to be taken. Even a believer like me does not respond too well on too much climate crusading.
Finally, a minor but annoying bit has to be the finality with which he starts his last few chapters, which really makes it feel like the book was never going to end. Chapters titled with "Last Steps on the Stairway to Heaven", "The Last Act of God", "Time's Up" made it seem like I had arrived at the end of the book, yet when upon finishing them, I was dismayed to find that there were more chapters to go through (what, another chapter?).
But, still, this book comes recommended to anyone who wants to get a better grasp at the issue. Even in the current flood of information on climate change, any reader would find the book highly insightful as well as enjoyable.
July 29, 2010
Heatwaves, hurricanes, flooding, drought, extinction. No-one can accuse Tim Flannery of understating the effects of global warming. And there's no doubting his passion for the subject. Once sceptical about climate change, he's now a fully-paid up member of the global warming warning brigade. His chapter headings alone - "Peril at the Poles", "The Carbon Dictatorship", "Boiling the Abyss" - signal that he's nailed his colours to the mast. And those colours are all green.
Not so long ago, climate change was confined to the inner reaches of scientific journals. Now it’s front page news. Hardly a day passes without another instance of wild weather being blamed on global warming. Flannery believes the changes we’ve seen in weather patterns, seasons, biodiversity and, above all, rising global temperatures have a single, man-made cause. Fossil-fuelled industrial development is the villain of the piece - from coal-fired power stations to the infernal combustion engine. So busy have we been in pillaging the Earth‘s resources that it’s only when the planet started fighting back that we woke up to the terrible consequences.
Of course, he’s aware that not all agree with this argument, and so he sets out to support it with an avalanche of evidence. At times, the reader risks being engulfed by statistics, and some of the scientific vocabulary requires both a deep breath and a running jump. Even so, Flannery’s genuine concern for all forms of life on the planet shines through.
But he has to tread carefully. Scary talk about runaway warming, may lead his readers to conclude that it's too late to do anything. Or, as Irving Berlin didn't write: there may be trouble ahead, but let's face the music and turn up the heating. Flannery insists the problem is still soluble, but tackling it will take action by every government, every business and every gas-guzzling, trash-tipping, pollution-pumping one of us.
After braving 200 pages of bleak prognostications, it’s a relief to reach an environmental success story. Flannery calls the 1987 Montreal Protocol the world’s first victory over a global pollution problem, and without it life on Earth would have been in deep trouble. A hole in the planet’s ozone layer risked exposing us to dangerous ultra-violet rays from the sun. The Montreal agreement banned the fluorocarbons that were eating away at this layer, and there are now hopeful signs that the hole is healing.
Despite this good news, Flannery insists prevention is always better than cure, a view that’s reinforced when turning his fire on the energy sector. Just as the tobacco industry spent many decades in denial about the link between smoking and lung cancer, he says, energy companies have been similarly sluggish in facing up to the impact of fossil fuels on the environment. But while he’s scathing about the automobile, Flannery appears resigned to the increasing volume of air traffic and believes aircraft will continue to spew carbon into the atmosphere long after other forms of transport have gone green.
At one point in this book, Flannery speculates that researchers investigating the impact of climate change on mountain regions may have given up because it was all too depressing. It's an odd observation, but if true, who could blame them? Global warming may be a hot topic, but talk of imminent catastrophe is enough to send anyone running for the prozac.
Yet, far from being alarmist or defeatist, Flannery is a convincing advocate of the need for urgent action. Perhaps, if enough of us heed his warning, a Tim Flannery of the future might be able to write a book telling the story of how we saved the planet.
Not so long ago, climate change was confined to the inner reaches of scientific journals. Now it’s front page news. Hardly a day passes without another instance of wild weather being blamed on global warming. Flannery believes the changes we’ve seen in weather patterns, seasons, biodiversity and, above all, rising global temperatures have a single, man-made cause. Fossil-fuelled industrial development is the villain of the piece - from coal-fired power stations to the infernal combustion engine. So busy have we been in pillaging the Earth‘s resources that it’s only when the planet started fighting back that we woke up to the terrible consequences.
Of course, he’s aware that not all agree with this argument, and so he sets out to support it with an avalanche of evidence. At times, the reader risks being engulfed by statistics, and some of the scientific vocabulary requires both a deep breath and a running jump. Even so, Flannery’s genuine concern for all forms of life on the planet shines through.
But he has to tread carefully. Scary talk about runaway warming, may lead his readers to conclude that it's too late to do anything. Or, as Irving Berlin didn't write: there may be trouble ahead, but let's face the music and turn up the heating. Flannery insists the problem is still soluble, but tackling it will take action by every government, every business and every gas-guzzling, trash-tipping, pollution-pumping one of us.
After braving 200 pages of bleak prognostications, it’s a relief to reach an environmental success story. Flannery calls the 1987 Montreal Protocol the world’s first victory over a global pollution problem, and without it life on Earth would have been in deep trouble. A hole in the planet’s ozone layer risked exposing us to dangerous ultra-violet rays from the sun. The Montreal agreement banned the fluorocarbons that were eating away at this layer, and there are now hopeful signs that the hole is healing.
Despite this good news, Flannery insists prevention is always better than cure, a view that’s reinforced when turning his fire on the energy sector. Just as the tobacco industry spent many decades in denial about the link between smoking and lung cancer, he says, energy companies have been similarly sluggish in facing up to the impact of fossil fuels on the environment. But while he’s scathing about the automobile, Flannery appears resigned to the increasing volume of air traffic and believes aircraft will continue to spew carbon into the atmosphere long after other forms of transport have gone green.
At one point in this book, Flannery speculates that researchers investigating the impact of climate change on mountain regions may have given up because it was all too depressing. It's an odd observation, but if true, who could blame them? Global warming may be a hot topic, but talk of imminent catastrophe is enough to send anyone running for the prozac.
Yet, far from being alarmist or defeatist, Flannery is a convincing advocate of the need for urgent action. Perhaps, if enough of us heed his warning, a Tim Flannery of the future might be able to write a book telling the story of how we saved the planet.
June 14, 2023
One of the better books on climate change I've read. It's a little outdated now, but still relevant of course. It is clear, not too long, not too nitty-gritty. I actually realised a few things from this book that I hadn't before, and I read a lot about these problems. I will definitely borrow the author's other books from the library!
April 21, 2023
O mundo já nem vai numa caminhada para o abismo, vai numa autêntica corrida desenfreada direto à destruição e eu não sei como é que vamos conseguir parar isto.
Livro interessantíssimo sobre o aquecimento global e o futuro da vida na Terra.
Livro interessantíssimo sobre o aquecimento global e o futuro da vida na Terra.
August 27, 2016
For some time before I read this book I had been interested in the science behind global warming. I listened with amazement to experts and pseudo-experts of all kinds offer their expertise on the subject to the public. I absorbed, but rarely participated in, the frequent debates that came my way at work, social gatherings, and on talk radio and TV. During this time I tried to keep an open mind on the subject - realizing that humans possibly could have an effect on the global climate, but wanting to be convinced, one way or the other, before actually taking a stand on the subject.
A few things that struck me during this time of observation and casual investigation were 1) Those who adamantly deny the possibility of man having any effect on global climate were uneducated about it or primarily ideologically driven, 2) The vast majority of the skeptics (those who have scientific expertise on the subject and insist that the data is inconclusive and that we need more time to analyze the data) are almost invariably funded or supported by industries who have much to lose in the short term if public opinion fails them, and 3) the nearly voiceless community of climate scientists overwhelmingly concurs on the major aspects of the theory.
Realizing that there must be something to this theory, I finally decided to become more educated about it. I researched many books and authors, and eventually I decided thatThe Weather Makersby Tim Flannery would be a very good starting point. I must say that I was not disappointed. A large amount of the book deals with how climate change is affecting various species of plants and animals worldwide. Personally, I found this very informative and appropriate since we have long known that all organisms on this biosphere are inter-related. When significant problems occur to numerous species humans are eventually going to suffer some consequence.
The author explains the science behind this subject very well; I believe most readers will comprehend it. Of course, more detail could have been provided, but, as it is, a good balance is achieved.
Overall, the book left me in a mild state of gloom. Knowing the prevalence of ignorance in the world, and the forces at work to keep people that way by spreading lies, deceit, and uncertainty made me feel that our unsustainable civilization as we know it is doomed to gradually spiral downward. We all owe it to ourselves and future generations to educate ourselves on this subject.
A few things that struck me during this time of observation and casual investigation were 1) Those who adamantly deny the possibility of man having any effect on global climate were uneducated about it or primarily ideologically driven, 2) The vast majority of the skeptics (those who have scientific expertise on the subject and insist that the data is inconclusive and that we need more time to analyze the data) are almost invariably funded or supported by industries who have much to lose in the short term if public opinion fails them, and 3) the nearly voiceless community of climate scientists overwhelmingly concurs on the major aspects of the theory.
Realizing that there must be something to this theory, I finally decided to become more educated about it. I researched many books and authors, and eventually I decided thatThe Weather Makersby Tim Flannery would be a very good starting point. I must say that I was not disappointed. A large amount of the book deals with how climate change is affecting various species of plants and animals worldwide. Personally, I found this very informative and appropriate since we have long known that all organisms on this biosphere are inter-related. When significant problems occur to numerous species humans are eventually going to suffer some consequence.
The author explains the science behind this subject very well; I believe most readers will comprehend it. Of course, more detail could have been provided, but, as it is, a good balance is achieved.
Overall, the book left me in a mild state of gloom. Knowing the prevalence of ignorance in the world, and the forces at work to keep people that way by spreading lies, deceit, and uncertainty made me feel that our unsustainable civilization as we know it is doomed to gradually spiral downward. We all owe it to ourselves and future generations to educate ourselves on this subject.
May 27, 2018
As someone who studies climate policy in grad school, I found The Weather Makers to be by far the most comprehensive book I've read on climate change. In a brisk 300 pages, Tim Flannery spans the ecology of climate change and its devastating effects on biodiversity, its geological context (and how this is different than previous ages), the atmospheric models that inform our understanding of its impacts, the history of international climate negotiations, and the pros and cons of alternatives to fossil fuels.
This impressive scope has both positive and negative aspects. On the one hand, I can't think of a better single book for someone to quickly get up to speed on climate change: Flannery truly tells a story with each chapter of the book, and manages to combine engaging writing with in-depth detail in many sections. On the other hand, such a broad range in a short 300 pages is bound to not cover all subjects in equal depth. While Flannery provides a lot of rich detail on how climate change is affecting both terrestrial and marine life (he is an ecologist by training) in the first 100-150 pages, his sections on energy technologies and policy are fairly thin. For example, he introduces and summarily dismisses carbon capture and storage as one option to reduce emissions in all of 2 pages; regardless of your opinion on the technology, it surely merits a closer look. However, this book can at least provide some overall "big picture" context to help situate where more specific news articles or books fit.
Overall, this was a very informative book, and fun to read. Highly recommended for anyone who wishes to learn more about climate change and the imperative to act now.
This impressive scope has both positive and negative aspects. On the one hand, I can't think of a better single book for someone to quickly get up to speed on climate change: Flannery truly tells a story with each chapter of the book, and manages to combine engaging writing with in-depth detail in many sections. On the other hand, such a broad range in a short 300 pages is bound to not cover all subjects in equal depth. While Flannery provides a lot of rich detail on how climate change is affecting both terrestrial and marine life (he is an ecologist by training) in the first 100-150 pages, his sections on energy technologies and policy are fairly thin. For example, he introduces and summarily dismisses carbon capture and storage as one option to reduce emissions in all of 2 pages; regardless of your opinion on the technology, it surely merits a closer look. However, this book can at least provide some overall "big picture" context to help situate where more specific news articles or books fit.
Overall, this was a very informative book, and fun to read. Highly recommended for anyone who wishes to learn more about climate change and the imperative to act now.
January 24, 2012
Humanity is at (or has already passed) an historical crossroads. By the end of the 21st century (possibly by the middle of it) enormous changes in the earth's climate and ecosystems will have precipitated equally momentous changes in human society, our economic systems, and in civilization itself.
My personal list of writers who have made significant contributions to the scientific, environmental and societal aspects of what we are heading for include people such as Lester R. Brown, Bill McKibben, Richard Heinberg, Fred Pearce, Elizabeth Kolbert, and John Michael Greer.
Of course the Australian Tim Flannery is also on this list. Like Bill McKibben, Flannery's writings span a wide range of subjects. His Wiki article describes him as a mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist and global warming activist, and notes that he was named the 2007 Australian of the Year.
The Weather Makersis one of Flannery's most influential books, and although the story of climate change is moving fast, the book (at seven years of age) is probably still worth reading. There is a great breadth of material covered, from descriptions of the earth's atmosphere and ecosystems, to the physical/chemical mechanics of greenhouse gases, climate modelling, and the sorts of outcomes that can be imagined. The index is pretty good, and the notes to each of the 35 chapters should allow an interested reader to track down up-to-date data and research on most of the topics.
In fact, as I've been looking at it in writing this review, it occurs to me that perhaps I should reread parts of it!
My personal list of writers who have made significant contributions to the scientific, environmental and societal aspects of what we are heading for include people such as Lester R. Brown, Bill McKibben, Richard Heinberg, Fred Pearce, Elizabeth Kolbert, and John Michael Greer.
Of course the Australian Tim Flannery is also on this list. Like Bill McKibben, Flannery's writings span a wide range of subjects. His Wiki article describes him as a mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist and global warming activist, and notes that he was named the 2007 Australian of the Year.
The Weather Makersis one of Flannery's most influential books, and although the story of climate change is moving fast, the book (at seven years of age) is probably still worth reading. There is a great breadth of material covered, from descriptions of the earth's atmosphere and ecosystems, to the physical/chemical mechanics of greenhouse gases, climate modelling, and the sorts of outcomes that can be imagined. The index is pretty good, and the notes to each of the 35 chapters should allow an interested reader to track down up-to-date data and research on most of the topics.
In fact, as I've been looking at it in writing this review, it occurs to me that perhaps I should reread parts of it!
January 6, 2009
Although the last thing most people need is another 'downer' book about how the climate is spiraling out of control towards disaster, this book manages to deliver more science than opinion and actually offers some reasonable tips on how we can still make a difference if we take the right steps.
March 31, 2009
This book is excellent and terrifying. Tim Flannery is a working Australian scientist (mammologist & paleontologist) -- not a journalist -- who lays out the history and science of climate change, likely scenarios for the future, the politics of climate change (both good and bad), and at the very end, provides a manifesto for ways to reduce our carbon output individually. The species he studies have been deeply impacted by climate changes to date, which means that global warming is not just something he decided to write a book about, but has been interested in for years, and that depth of interest is evident in the depth of evidence in the book.
When I think of climate change, I think of many things but most of them are in the past 10 years: the hurricane season of 2005, the '8 of the 10 warmest years of the millennium are in the past decade,' ice shelf breakups in the polar regions, and so on. Flannery cites evidence that we've been seeing impacts for 'much' longer (in human terms), ranging from the drying of the Sahel starting in the 1960's, the extinction of frogs and other amphibians in the 1980's -- and the scary part is that human greenhouse gas emissions have risen dramatically since those impacts started.
So as not to make the book a complete downer, Flannery finishes with both a hopeful note -- the story of the Montreal Protocol to ban CFCs (which caused the 'ozone hole') and how that seemed so hopeless in the early 1980's but actually came about and is now having a positive impact -- and an action list for individuals to reduce their carbon impact. I think I am less hopeful than he as regards our ability to pull off such a large-scale change in our behavior, but it's an important aspect of the book to make it not all doom-and-gloom.
Alas, this book is best written for people who believe (at some level) that humans are responsible for climate change. If you think that climate change is a hoax perpetuated by the liberal media and a scientist's conspiracy, well, this book is full of scientific citations. Of course, I don't think anything will convince the denialists until their house goes underwater for good.
June 3, 2010
If, like most people, you have been drifting along, vaguely aware that there might be something called global warming and that it might have some not so good consequences, but you haven't really taken the time to work out how serious it is and whether or not it is something that you could or should do something about... then do yourself, the rest of us, and the animals and plants with which we share the world a favor and read this book. It is short, easy to understand, based on personal experience and solid research, and is guaranteed to shock you out of your slumbering complacency (if you are one of those aforementioned drifters).
"The Weather Makers" isn't perfect, but it is effective, and that, for most potential readers, is more important. Once aware, awake, and concerned, then you can find other books that marshal the scientific evidence more carefully and comprehensively (if you still have questions about how bad global warming could become and what catastrophic effects it will have), or which give you a wider set of recommendations as to what you can do personally or what needs to be done collectively (if you are ready to take action), but you need to wake up to the danger first.
So read this book and if it works for you then recommend it further to several friends (who should recommend it further to various of their friends... and so on). There may be better reasons to start a chain-letter than waking up to the risks of global warming, but if so, I don't know what they might be.
Note: this review is for the 2005 edition which has apparently been reissued and updated extensively in 2010. I'll post a review for the updated version once I've read it. There's also a young adult edition of this book that was published in 2010.
"The Weather Makers" isn't perfect, but it is effective, and that, for most potential readers, is more important. Once aware, awake, and concerned, then you can find other books that marshal the scientific evidence more carefully and comprehensively (if you still have questions about how bad global warming could become and what catastrophic effects it will have), or which give you a wider set of recommendations as to what you can do personally or what needs to be done collectively (if you are ready to take action), but you need to wake up to the danger first.
So read this book and if it works for you then recommend it further to several friends (who should recommend it further to various of their friends... and so on). There may be better reasons to start a chain-letter than waking up to the risks of global warming, but if so, I don't know what they might be.
Note: this review is for the 2005 edition which has apparently been reissued and updated extensively in 2010. I'll post a review for the updated version once I've read it. There's also a young adult edition of this book that was published in 2010.
September 1, 2017
Un saggio scritto benissimo da un grande scienziato e divulgatore su un argomento molto complesso. La problematica del riscaldamento climatico è estremamente attuale ma è difficile scegliere le fonti da cui trarre informazioni oggettive e serie, non condizionate da questioni politiche ed ideologiche. Consiglio questo testo alle persone che hanno un pò le idee confuse sull'argomento ma che hanno intenzione di comprendere al meglio questo grande problema che condizionerà sicuramente le nostre vite future. I capitoli, brevi ma allo stesso tempo ricchi di informazioni, toccano tutti i principali aspetti del cambiamento climatico, dai meccanismi che regolano i cicli biogeochimici del nostro pianeta a tutti gli elementi forzanti che hanno alterato questi processi, fino alle soluzioni che dovremo intraprendere al più presto per scongiurare la catastrofe. "Come queste sfide suggeriscono, noi siamo la generazione destinata a vivere nella più interessante delle epoche, perchè ora noi siamo i padroni del tempo, e il futuro della biodiversità e della civiltà dipendono dalle nostre azioni"
December 12, 2016
Chiar daca urasc sa dau cu imprumut carti, asta chiar va rog sa mi-o cereti.
July 12, 2009
A lucid overview, though it definitely zooms around a lot, in time, space and in its considerations of the different facets of the climate change problem. Two specific comments:
Was interesting to see how much Flannery quotesAlfred Russel Wallace,ofThe Malay Archipelago The land of the orang-utan and the bird of paradise a narrative of travel with studies of man and nature.I've never read later Wallace, understanding that his later works devolve into weird late-Victorian spiritualism. But Flannery rescues his writing on the atmosphere, on "the Great Aerial Ocean", and recommends his last great workMan's Place In The Universe,"full of insights that resonate with an environmentally aware twenty-first century". So it's on my too-read list.
Flannery concludes his book with a call to action. And it's a reasonably effective call-to-action too. Inspired by that, let me ask this question to all my Singapore friends. Given how much sunshine we get, why is that solar water heaters are so little used in Singapore? I've asked architects and contractors this question, and they say, oh, no, too expensive, no good, etc. And I haven't pushed. But really, what's the deal? In so many other places around the world they are very common. Athens, Chengdu, etc.
Was interesting to see how much Flannery quotesAlfred Russel Wallace,ofThe Malay Archipelago The land of the orang-utan and the bird of paradise a narrative of travel with studies of man and nature.I've never read later Wallace, understanding that his later works devolve into weird late-Victorian spiritualism. But Flannery rescues his writing on the atmosphere, on "the Great Aerial Ocean", and recommends his last great workMan's Place In The Universe,"full of insights that resonate with an environmentally aware twenty-first century". So it's on my too-read list.
Flannery concludes his book with a call to action. And it's a reasonably effective call-to-action too. Inspired by that, let me ask this question to all my Singapore friends. Given how much sunshine we get, why is that solar water heaters are so little used in Singapore? I've asked architects and contractors this question, and they say, oh, no, too expensive, no good, etc. And I haven't pushed. But really, what's the deal? In so many other places around the world they are very common. Athens, Chengdu, etc.
December 15, 2019
I don't normally put much stock in blurbs, but the cover of Tim Flannery'sThe Weather Makers(2006) that I read has a blurb from Bill Bryson. In this case, it is a surprisingly reliable indicator. Though not as cheerful (hardly surprising given the content) as Bryson'sShort History of Nearly Everything,there is something of Bryson's approach here. Flannery tackles the science in a clear, engaging, and methodical manner. There's a summary of Gaia theory, an overview of geological epochs and eras, a look at different species that are threatened by (or that have already gone extinct thanks to) climate change. Readers will learn about climate models, ice sheets, greenhouse gases, the carbon cycle, sulphur dioxide and a whole bunch more. It's interesting to to read about the proposals Flannery considers here. The only thing I would have thought to find but didn't is a consideration of a vegetarian diet. I'm not sure this is the most memorable climate change book I've read, but if someone were to ask me for just one book on this subject to read to get a sense of climate science, I'd probably recommend this one.
*Update from 2019: there is a follow up toWeather Makers,entitledAtmosphere of Hope.I'd recommend reading the two books together since they're both so short and engaging, but the follow up speaks to more recent science, technology, and policy.
*Update from 2019: there is a follow up toWeather Makers,entitledAtmosphere of Hope.I'd recommend reading the two books together since they're both so short and engaging, but the follow up speaks to more recent science, technology, and policy.
March 7, 2009
Thought provoking, easy to read book with a compelling history of the climate changes around the globe. This book was more comprehensive than I thought it would be.
I am not a scientist. Before reading this book I kind of understood the terms “greenhouse effect”, “global warming”, etc. After reading this book I feel like I truly understand these terms and so much more about our climate and all the factors that influence it.
Flannery notes what is being done now and by whom – which countries are making changes to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and which ones are making the problem worse. He presents excellent suggestions for slowing global warming and the advantages/benefits to everyone (countries, people, animals, etc).
Global warming is having profound effects around the world.
I am not a scientist. Before reading this book I kind of understood the terms “greenhouse effect”, “global warming”, etc. After reading this book I feel like I truly understand these terms and so much more about our climate and all the factors that influence it.
Flannery notes what is being done now and by whom – which countries are making changes to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and which ones are making the problem worse. He presents excellent suggestions for slowing global warming and the advantages/benefits to everyone (countries, people, animals, etc).
Global warming is having profound effects around the world.
February 25, 2009
Covers an astonishing breadth of scientific information, mostly fairly well explained for the layman without being condescending. I felt it was somewhat scattered in its presentation and occasionally crossed the line into sensationalism. Would have liked a more thorough section on what actions individuals can take (besides writing our elected representatives) - it seemed like the book set us up for all these horrible things that can happen because of climate change, but all the things that need to be done have to be done on a global level, so all we can do is hope that our nation's leaders get their acts together in time.
For more book reviews, visit my blog,Build Enough Bookshelves.
For more book reviews, visit my blog,Build Enough Bookshelves.
April 24, 2008
Inconvenient truth in expanded detail is an apt description for this book. The book format can include a lot more information than a movie so if you want to know more about global warming than what is in Al Gore's movie, this is a good place to start. The author is from Australia so that country gets more coverage than one would otherwise expect. Nevertheless, the subject of global warming is well covered. The book was first published in 2001 and updated in 2006 so it may becoming a bit dated in a quickly expanding subject area.
March 5, 2014
A great layman summary of the evidence that is suggestive of global climate change, with an even more cursory argument for why we can still be optimistic if we act now.
I found tidbits very interesting - there was evidence presented I had not heard about before. But most of it was not quite in depth enough for my taste. A perfect introduction for someone who knows nothing about global warming, and a cursory understanding (if any) of the physical sciences.
I found tidbits very interesting - there was evidence presented I had not heard about before. But most of it was not quite in depth enough for my taste. A perfect introduction for someone who knows nothing about global warming, and a cursory understanding (if any) of the physical sciences.
April 5, 2019
Lectura obligatoria para comprender hasta qué punto los seres humanos estamos cambiando el clima de nuestro planeta. El autor presenta la obra en un lenguaje ameno y fácil de entender para los que no somos muy técnicos en esa área del conocimiento, además como muchos podríamos llegar a pensar (yo incluido), no nos muestra una perspectiva del todo fatalista; incluso nos brinda herramientas y consejos de cómo y qué podemos hacer nosotros para ser el cambio que queremos ver en el mundo.
August 3, 2011
A good general introduction to climate change. Even though it is now a few years old it still holds up well. Flannery writes succinctly and well about a difficult scientific subject.
His section on the sheer impossibility on carbon sequestration for instance is a joy to read. Not a word wasted and the coal industry fantasy is shot down in flames.
His section on the sheer impossibility on carbon sequestration for instance is a joy to read. Not a word wasted and the coal industry fantasy is shot down in flames.
July 16, 2022
Un semnal de alarmă foarte bine documentat și argumentat legat de schimbările climatice care distrug planeta minut de minut. Cartea descrie în amănunt riscurile pe care le avem în față, dar oferă și soluții ușor de adoptat de către fiecare individ responsabil în parte, dacă dorim ca Terra să fie acasă și pentru generațiile următoare.
May 16, 2020
Alweer een boek van enkele jaren geleden en alweer over een zeer actueel thema.
Het laatste deel, waarin oplossingen en gedragsveranderingen worden voorgesteld, is ondertussen wat gedateerd. De rest van het boek staat er nog steeds. Dit is misschien wel het beste overzicht van het klimaatprobleem dat ik al heb gelezen.
Het laatste deel, waarin oplossingen en gedragsveranderingen worden voorgesteld, is ondertussen wat gedateerd. De rest van het boek staat er nog steeds. Dit is misschien wel het beste overzicht van het klimaatprobleem dat ik al heb gelezen.
May 30, 2020
Excellent book about the hows, whys, and what-ifs of climate change. Some of the data is a little outdated at this point, but it still provides a solid argument with great supporting evidence.
The science in this book is accessible to a wide variety of readers, including both those new to the concept of climate change, and those who are well versed in the topic.
The science in this book is accessible to a wide variety of readers, including both those new to the concept of climate change, and those who are well versed in the topic.
July 8, 2008
We are doomed.
December 28, 2019
scary and important reading
May 24, 2020
Wow. Terrifyingly still relevant. A call to action that any policy maker and influencer should read.
April 13, 2024
Interesting!
May 27, 2020
“It is among those nations that claim to be the most civilised, those that profess to be guided by a knowledge of the laws of nature, those that most glory in the advance of science, that we find the greatest apathy, the greatest recklessness, in continually rendering impure this all-important necessity of life.” Alfred Russel Wallace, Mans Place in the Universe, 1903
“If humans pursue a business-as-usual course for the first half on this century, I believe the collapse of civilisation due to climate change becomes inevitable.” Tim Flannery
It is petrifying to me that this remarkable book was written over 15 years ago now. It is such a dire warning of the future to come, the future that has already arrived, that I am enraged anew at the total lack of action taken to try and halt the steady march of annihilation. This is a brilliantly accessible and compulsively readable book, packed with science and concrete examples of the disastrous impacts we are having on the planet, as well as providing a fascinating section about climate change over the Earths history. This really is an urgent, desperate call to arms, a rallying cry to international policy-makers, the general public, governments and industries. And yet, in the time since this book was published the situation has become even more critical.
The science is so clear, and has been clear for decades and decades now. When Tim Flannery wrote this book, he was banking on the idea that we still had time to halt and reverse the deadly impacts of our fossil fuel addiction. That time has passed. He writes about a group of research scientists at the Hadley Centre who found that "by 2050 human influence on the planet will have surpassed all natural influences...therefore we will have no more climatic ‘acts of God’, only human-made climate disasters....we are looking at deadly heat waves, extreme droughts, starvation, threatened health due to an increase in diseases, extreme rainfall and flooding, changes in wave patterns and frequent storms, shrinking, sinking continents"....and still governments allowed the greenhouse gases to accumulate in the atmosphere.
Flannery adopts the Gaian view of our planet which basically just says that everything on earth is intimately connected to everything else, like organs in the body. In such a system, pollutants cannot simply be shunted out of sight and forgotten, and every extinction is seen as an act of self mutilation. He argues that this Gaian world view predisposes its adherents to sustainable ways of living, but that our modern world had fatally attached itself to the reductionist world view which sees human actions in isolation. With the complex science of feedback loops, magic gates, telekinetic atmosphere - we know that this interconnected view of the world is right. Severe damage to one part of the ecosystem in one part of the world, can in turn, affect a whole other ecosystem on the other side of the world. Our actions have consequences that will be impossible to reverse.
It is astounding to me that countries still insist on extracting fossil fuels and pumping CO2 into the atmosphere. As we all know, the major danger of CO2 is just how long-lived it is - staying in the atmosphere for 200 years or so, which means we are already committed to a vast amount of climate change, even if we halted carbon emission completely from today. Shockingly, the rate of increase in carbon emissions since 1800 is at least 10 times faster than anything detected for the past 300 million years. There is no known precedent. The IPCC stated a year ago that if we don't reduce our CO2 emissions by 50% before 2030, we are looking at the possibility of cascading tipping points that takes us to hothouse Earth; a point in time where there is no need for human beings to keep warming the planet—it’ll do it itself.
Are we on track to half our emissions? Absolutely not. In fact, many governments are now trying to push that date back to 2050. And Flannery dedicates a whole section to the IPCC, which of course is vitally important as the one respected paper on climate change that has the power to alter environmental policies. But he also notes its major drawbacks; which is just how watered down the science is. It goes through a long involved process of being vetted by scientists and every country in the world (including those with a vested interest to carry on extracting oil) that the figures stated in it are absurdly cautious, if not outright lies. As Wallace-Wells said in his fantastic book, the Uninhabitable Earth: "It is worse, much worse than you think."
Flannery outlines the impacts that were already being seen when he wrote this book - enormous bleaching of the coral reefs, the extinction of hundreds of species of animals, the increase in world temperatures, the increased frequency of extreme weather events, susceptibility to droughts...and we can see the impacts now. Major weather events are now the norm. And pandemics....
Flannery levels extreme criticism at the two worst offenders in emission - The US and Australia. What is so utterly ridiculous about these two countries is that they stand to lose so much from the changing climate. In terms of extreme weather events the US already has the most varied weather of any county on earth with more intense tornados, flash floods, thunderstorms, hurricanes, blizzards...with a massive increase in these events, they stand to lose so much more money than they would lose now by investing in a greener future. Australia too suffers a lot, some areas around Alice Springs had already heated by more than 3 degrees, and were experiencing more intense cyclones, floods etc, not to mention the destruction of their greatest attraction - The Great Barrier Reef. For two nations so severely disadvantaged by the effects it is nonsensical that they pursue the path they are on and continue to put fat profits over the fate and health of their people.
We live in a world now where only the obscenely wealthy cosseted few will survive the future climate collapse by retreating to some refuge (e.g Peter Thiel in his New Zealand hole, billionaires in bunkers in South Dakota, Musk and Branson hiding out on Mars) but the vast majority will perish. Those in power continue on a route of the murder and genocide of the poorest populations - and now, the entire world.
I highly recommend this book for a detailed history of climate change which is brilliantly comprehensible even for those who baulk at science and graphs, and want to be spurred on to take action against those in power who are committed to the extinction of all living things on this planet.
“If humans pursue a business-as-usual course for the first half on this century, I believe the collapse of civilisation due to climate change becomes inevitable.” Tim Flannery
It is petrifying to me that this remarkable book was written over 15 years ago now. It is such a dire warning of the future to come, the future that has already arrived, that I am enraged anew at the total lack of action taken to try and halt the steady march of annihilation. This is a brilliantly accessible and compulsively readable book, packed with science and concrete examples of the disastrous impacts we are having on the planet, as well as providing a fascinating section about climate change over the Earths history. This really is an urgent, desperate call to arms, a rallying cry to international policy-makers, the general public, governments and industries. And yet, in the time since this book was published the situation has become even more critical.
The science is so clear, and has been clear for decades and decades now. When Tim Flannery wrote this book, he was banking on the idea that we still had time to halt and reverse the deadly impacts of our fossil fuel addiction. That time has passed. He writes about a group of research scientists at the Hadley Centre who found that "by 2050 human influence on the planet will have surpassed all natural influences...therefore we will have no more climatic ‘acts of God’, only human-made climate disasters....we are looking at deadly heat waves, extreme droughts, starvation, threatened health due to an increase in diseases, extreme rainfall and flooding, changes in wave patterns and frequent storms, shrinking, sinking continents"....and still governments allowed the greenhouse gases to accumulate in the atmosphere.
Flannery adopts the Gaian view of our planet which basically just says that everything on earth is intimately connected to everything else, like organs in the body. In such a system, pollutants cannot simply be shunted out of sight and forgotten, and every extinction is seen as an act of self mutilation. He argues that this Gaian world view predisposes its adherents to sustainable ways of living, but that our modern world had fatally attached itself to the reductionist world view which sees human actions in isolation. With the complex science of feedback loops, magic gates, telekinetic atmosphere - we know that this interconnected view of the world is right. Severe damage to one part of the ecosystem in one part of the world, can in turn, affect a whole other ecosystem on the other side of the world. Our actions have consequences that will be impossible to reverse.
It is astounding to me that countries still insist on extracting fossil fuels and pumping CO2 into the atmosphere. As we all know, the major danger of CO2 is just how long-lived it is - staying in the atmosphere for 200 years or so, which means we are already committed to a vast amount of climate change, even if we halted carbon emission completely from today. Shockingly, the rate of increase in carbon emissions since 1800 is at least 10 times faster than anything detected for the past 300 million years. There is no known precedent. The IPCC stated a year ago that if we don't reduce our CO2 emissions by 50% before 2030, we are looking at the possibility of cascading tipping points that takes us to hothouse Earth; a point in time where there is no need for human beings to keep warming the planet—it’ll do it itself.
Are we on track to half our emissions? Absolutely not. In fact, many governments are now trying to push that date back to 2050. And Flannery dedicates a whole section to the IPCC, which of course is vitally important as the one respected paper on climate change that has the power to alter environmental policies. But he also notes its major drawbacks; which is just how watered down the science is. It goes through a long involved process of being vetted by scientists and every country in the world (including those with a vested interest to carry on extracting oil) that the figures stated in it are absurdly cautious, if not outright lies. As Wallace-Wells said in his fantastic book, the Uninhabitable Earth: "It is worse, much worse than you think."
Flannery outlines the impacts that were already being seen when he wrote this book - enormous bleaching of the coral reefs, the extinction of hundreds of species of animals, the increase in world temperatures, the increased frequency of extreme weather events, susceptibility to droughts...and we can see the impacts now. Major weather events are now the norm. And pandemics....
Flannery levels extreme criticism at the two worst offenders in emission - The US and Australia. What is so utterly ridiculous about these two countries is that they stand to lose so much from the changing climate. In terms of extreme weather events the US already has the most varied weather of any county on earth with more intense tornados, flash floods, thunderstorms, hurricanes, blizzards...with a massive increase in these events, they stand to lose so much more money than they would lose now by investing in a greener future. Australia too suffers a lot, some areas around Alice Springs had already heated by more than 3 degrees, and were experiencing more intense cyclones, floods etc, not to mention the destruction of their greatest attraction - The Great Barrier Reef. For two nations so severely disadvantaged by the effects it is nonsensical that they pursue the path they are on and continue to put fat profits over the fate and health of their people.
We live in a world now where only the obscenely wealthy cosseted few will survive the future climate collapse by retreating to some refuge (e.g Peter Thiel in his New Zealand hole, billionaires in bunkers in South Dakota, Musk and Branson hiding out on Mars) but the vast majority will perish. Those in power continue on a route of the murder and genocide of the poorest populations - and now, the entire world.
I highly recommend this book for a detailed history of climate change which is brilliantly comprehensible even for those who baulk at science and graphs, and want to be spurred on to take action against those in power who are committed to the extinction of all living things on this planet.
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