The weather makers : how man is changing the climate and what it means for life on Earth

An international best seller embraced and endorsed by policy makers, scientists, writers and energy industry executives from around the world, Tim Flannery’s The Weather Makers contributed in bringing the topic of global warming to national prominence. For the first time, a scientist provided an accessible and comprehensive account of the history, current status, and future impact of climate change, writing what has been acclaimed by reviewers everywhere as the definitive book on global warming. 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. Originally somewhat of a global warming skeptic, Tim... 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 Nino 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. [this Book] 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, [the Author] 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.-dust Jacket. Includes Information On Acidity In Ocean, Air Pollution, Carbon Dioxide, Climate Change, Coal, Coral Reefs, Extinctions, Global Warming, Greenhouse Effect, Greenhouse Gases, Hurricanes, Kyoto Protocol, Montreal Protocol, Oil, Ozone, Plankton, Rainfall, Solar Power, Sunlight, Nuclear Power, Wind Power, Geothermal Energy, The Slow Awakening -- 1: Gaia's Tools -- Gaia -- The Great Aerial Ocean -- The Gaseous Greenhouse -- The Sages And The Onion Skin -- Time's Gateways -- Born In The Deep Freeze -- Making The Long Summer -- Digging Up The Dead -- 2: One In Ten Thousand -- The Unraveling World -- Peril At The Poles -- The Great Stumpy Reef? -- A Warning From The Golden Toad -- Liquid Gold: Changes In Rainfall -- An Energetic Onion Skin -- Playing At Canute -- 3: The Science Of Prediction -- Model Worlds -- The Commitment And Approaching Extreme Danger -- Leveling The Mountains -- How Can They Keep On Moving? -- Boiling The Abyss -- The Pack Of Jokers -- Civilization: Out With A Whimper? -- 4: People In Greenhouses -- A Close-run Thing -- The Road To Kyoto -- Cost, Cost, Cost -- People In Greenhouses Shouldn't Tell Lies -- Engineering Solutions? -- Last Steps On The Stairway To Heaven? -- 5: The Solution -- Bright As Sunlight, Light As Wind -- Nuclear Lazarus? -- Of Hybrids, Minicats, And Contrails -- The Last Act Of God? -- The Carbon Dictatorship? -- Time's Up -- Over To You. Tim Flannery. Originally Published In 2005 By Text Publishing Company, Melbourne, Australia -- T.p. Verso. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [320]-343) And Index. 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 Nio 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. "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. Originally somewhat of a global-warming skeptic, Tim Flannery spent several years researching the topic and offers a connect-the-dots approach for a reading public that has received patchy and misleading information on the subject. Pulling on his expertise as a scientist to discuss climate change from a historical perspective, Flannery also explains how it is interconnected across the planet." "Along with a history of how climate change has shaped our planet's evolution, 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 CO 2 emissions by as much as 70 percent." - jacket