SOUNDING THE ALARM

The knowledge that carbon dioxide accumulating in the atmosphere creates a “greenhouse” effect has been around for decades, but the idea that it could cause severe problems in our lifetime may have been introduced to popular culture in 1989, when Bill McKibben compiled the evidence and laid it out in his first book, The End of Nature. His speculation about what might happen if emissions were not curbed has proven startlingly accurate. McKibben talks about the release of carbon dioxide and methane, melting sea ice, deforestation and climbing temperatures, all events the world has witnessed in recent years.

Despite being written almost two decades ago, the book is still timely, and it’s a good place to acquire a basic education about climate change issues. Since it was published before widespread media coverage of global warming, it assumes very little working knowledge of the issue and offers clear explanations of the science behind the change.

Reading McKibben’s book makes you wonder: If we knew all this years ago, why weren’t we able to solve the problem before it reached a crisis point? The likely answer is that climate change moves slowly and is hard to measure, McKibben says. “The problem, as with carbon dioxide and the warming, is that there was more theory than observation. Not that anyone had much quarrel with the theory, but political action had to wait for some major scare.”

In the decade following the publication of McKibben’s book, in which he advocates reducing dependence on fossil fuels, the gas–guzzling SUV became the king of cars. It’s safe to say that our head–in–the–sand approach to climate change has brought us to the cusp of a “major scare,” and maybe now we’ll see some political action.

FUELING THE CRISIS

Bill McKibben recommends these two books. According to McKibben, The Heat Is On helped explain why America, alone among industrialized nations, was doing nothing about climate change—the book exposed the disinformation campaign of the big energy companies, and helped to shame them into at least acknowledging the science.

Boiling Point provides a powerful early summary of what was happening to the planet as warming began, and what we needed to do about it. The book makes it clear that global warming is the issue that will define our future—in fact, the issue that will destroy us if we pay it no heed.

Gelbspan makes his case in chapters that examine the collaboration of the government and the oil companies in an effort to mislead the public about the severity of the global waming problem, a claim that has been verified by a 2007 Government Accountability Office report that states ExxonMobil has funneled millions of dollars into a disinformation campaign. He also examines the role the press plays in leaving Americans uninformed about global warming issues, the division between the United States and the rest of the world, the frustration of activists who are trying to raise awareness of climate issues and spur some action, and three proposals that attempt to deal with the issue.

In the final chapter, Gelbspan promotes the idea that in the process of addressing the climate change dilemma, policymakers could also solve a host of other world problems. Though Boiling Point addresses a problem that seems overwhelming at times, the promise and possibilities of facing the challenge make it a hopeful read.

TRAVELOGUE OF CLIMATE CHANGE

It’s easy to ignore climate change—warmer springs and more rain where I live, for instance, hardly seem significant—but in Field Notes from a Catastrophe, journalist Elizabeth Kolbert travels to places where it is all too obvious that a warmer planet is ushering in a new era, one whose effects may soon be irreversible.

Kolbert travels the globe, from Antarctica, where the icebergs are shrinking, to England, where the range of butterflies is expanding in response to climate change, to the Netherlands, where more than a quarter of the country is already below sea level and developing technologies are focused on floating houses and roads. Kolbert talks with people who have little doubt that we are facing massive changes; they are seeing the effects daily and are planning for an altered climate future.

In the final chapter, Kolbert details the success that science achieved in dealing with the ozone hole. The news that chlorofluorocarbons were destroying ozone, which protects the world from ultraviolet rays, was initially greeted with skepticism. President Reagan’s interior secretary Donald Hodel asserted it was not a problem for people who did not go outside often, and suggested that even then, sunscreen and hats would mitigate the effects. Despite this official stance, the use of chlorofluorocarbons has been widely discontinued, and the ozone hole is closing.

Field Notes is eminently readable. Kolbert makes the science engaging and lively, even though the subject matter is grim. Climate change also faces skepticism, but the stakes are much higher. In closing, Kolbert says, “It may seem impossible that a technologically advanced society could choose, in essence, to destroy itself, but that is what we are now in the process of doing.” It’s enough to keep a person awake at night.

AROUND THE GLOBE

In the introduction to The Weather Makers, Tim Flannery sums up resistance to climate change: “Climate change is difficult for people to evaluate dispassionately because it entails deep political and industrial implications, and because it arises from the core processes of our civilization’s success.” In the process of addressing the problems of global warming, he says, there will be winners and losers, and it will be tough for the losers.

Flannery’s book is a tour de force that connects the history, science and politics that have influenced climate change policy across the globe. It’s a connect–the–dots kind of story of how humans have influenced global warming and what it will mean in the future. Flannery lays out the foundation for addressing climate change, whether through politics, industry or personal action.

In closing Flannery argues that personal choice can have a large impact on climate change. My own sense is that the reduction in emissions from switching to fluorescent lights and driving less pales in the face of China’s plans to build dozens of coal–fired energy plants in the next decade. But on the other hand taking action, as Flannery recommends, is a good antidote to despair. The need to reduce carbon emissions by 80 percent in the next few decades will apply to all of us. Insomuch as our consumer choices influence the market, we may be in the driver’s seat—or at least a lot closer to getting our license than we realized—when it comes to climate issues.

Forest Magazine | FSEEE