Book Description
An inspiring celebration of courageous American innovators who are transforming the way we protect and care for the world we live in.
The environment, and the movement that grew up to protect it, is under attack--concerted and purposeful. Yet the need for solutions to pressing environmental problems grows more urgent each day. Teresa Heinz Kerry and Senator John Kerry traveled across the country in a national campaign to see at first hand how these issues unite people across party and ideological lines. From the San Juan Basin to the Gulf of Mexico to the South Bronx, from mothers on Cape Cod to Colorado ranchers, they found a vibrant coalition of people and communities deploying ingenuity, technology, and sheer will power to save the world they know and love. Now, in this passionate and personal book, Senator John Kerry and Teresa Heinz Kerry shine the spotlight on an inspiring crosssection of these new environmental pioneers.
The book combines intensive research with keenly observed personal experiences to present a portrait of Americans devoted to the natural diversity and spectacular uniqueness of our country. It also includes an extensive guide on where and how readers can get involved.
Customer Reviews:
May A Republican Say Something?.......2007-10-06
Senator Kerry, this is one of the best books I've read in a long time, and I read a lot of books. The common sense, lack of passion, and optimism did my old heart good. Since I'm not as optimistic as you, I believe if we're to come out of this tailspin that my party has put us in, your approach, not mine, is the key. As a Vietnam veteran who was shot down twice in Vietnam 1968-69, I hope you understand that the Swift Boat guys were exploited by sociopaths. The weak minded simply cannot refuse even the briefest moment in the limelight. They well forsake God and country without hesitation. Supporting you in 2004 has turned out to be one of the smartest things I have ever done. Believe me, it wasn't easy. It temporarily cost me the goodwill of friends and family. Thousands of Americans are still cheering Bush and Cheney not even aware that all their savings may be wiped out before these two leave office. Saudi Arabia on this very day--10/06/2007--has refused to cut interest rates in lockstep with the US Federal Reserve for the first time, signaling that the oil-rich Gulf kingdom is preparing to break the dollar currency peg in a move that risks setting off a stampede out of the dollar across the Middle East. As you know, Israel has already refused aid (free money) in Dollars. When Americans turned their backs on International laws, they turned their backs on God's laws as well. The price for doing so will be incomprehensible for most. Another book, please.
Required Reading.......2007-08-08
The material in this book should be put in the public's face daily via media, billboards, etc. It should be required reading. Every mother should understand that a disposable diaper takes 500 years to biodegrade (and as those chemicals in the diaper biodegrade, they pollute and cause potential carcinogens).
I would not call the book "bipartisan" as per some of the other reviews, and I think its bashing of the Bush administration (even though I am not a fan) detracted from the overall book. However, it is important reading; it had an impact on my behavior.
Stories of Hope.......2007-08-02
I was a little skeptical with this book being written by John Kerry. I wasn't sure what to expect. It gives some really good stories of everyday people who just wanted to make a change for the better. They weren't any sort of extremists or hippies. Just people with common sense and the determination to stand up for their right to live in a clean world.
KERRY gETS IT RIGHT.......2007-06-18
Kerry analyzes today;s environmental experts and gets it right. The book is passionate, well researched, spot on and well written. I was pleasantly surprised.
I think Kerry was at his best early in the book when he evaluated some of the current plans for saving the Earth. He got a little off track as the book progressed, then veered back on track in the last 100 pages.
I highly recommend this book for anybody who cares about the planet. Also recommended: "Earth In The Balance" by Al Gore. Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit
Encouragement for activism.......2007-06-09
This book is both inspiring and upsetting. Inspiring for the stories of success in opposing pollution and degradation of the environment and restoration to a more healthy one. It is upsetting to read of the abuses and pollution creating dangerous places to live.
It is a call to action that we all need to consider. I got many good ideas about issues I hadn't thought about and it made me think about my local situation. It's good to know people have won battles and corrected abuses.
Book Description
This latest installment in the P.I.G. series provides a provocative, entertaining, and well-documented expose of some of the most shamelessly politicized pseudo-science we are likely to see in our relatively cool lifetimes.
Customer Reviews:
Trolls.......2007-10-12
This book is not only false, but completely irresponsible. The people who wrote this book are probably just a bunch of trolls who are in a tizzy because they don't want to give up their SUV's or their money they are earning from oil.
Good Book.......2007-10-01
It's about time someone brought to light the other side of the story. A must read for liberals.
Exceedingly one-sided attempt to suggest warming is beneficial and/or not man-made.......2007-09-23
The issue of global warming has long been in the news. From the perspective of Australia the issue is critical, as rainfall in my home city of Melbourne has declined by forty percent in the past eleven years. Such a decline is totally unparalleled in the 150 years of instrumental record.
At the same time, the northwest of Australia has seen dramatic increases in rainfall ever since the late 1960s, so much so that seven of its eight wettest years (since 1885) have occurred since 1995.
In this context, even though able usually to listen to anybody (actually, I generally dislike moderate views because they tend to be wishy-washy) it is not possible for me to take most of the claims made by Horner seriously.
Horner's contention, basically, is that global warming is either not man-made or will in the long-term benefit human society. As to the first point, he greatly exaggerates the proportion of greenhouse gases that is naturally occurring. For instance, my prior knowledge of science tell me that it impossible that more than minute quantities (like, say, a few grams per year) of sulfur hexafluoride or other exceedingly potent fluorine-containing greenhouse gases could be naturally produced each year. Because there is no natural sink for them, natural production of fluorine-containing greenhouse gases in the quantities asserted by Horner would inevitably turn the Earth into an inferno with temperatures hot enough, say, to melt copper. He also understates the proportion of other greenhouse gases that are man-made, notably carbon dioxide where emissions from combustion are far greater than those from biological decay, fires, volcanoes and oceanic release.
Horner's viewpoints about the extent and effects of global warming are also very poorly done. For instance, he suggests that increases in global temperatures have been due to closures of stations in the Russian Arctic. As a person with knowledge of how mean temperatures for an area are calculated, I know well that is unlikely unless every single station in Arctic Russia was closed (which is not what he says): the few that remain would be always given greater weight owing to the large areas they represent and the closures would not affect the average. Although he rightly asserts that the Southern Hemisphere is warming much less than the Northern, my knowledge of Australian climatology suggests this is almost certainly due to the large increases in rainfall that have occurred not only over pastoral areas of Western Australia but also in similar latitudes of South America. Large increases in rainfall naturally lead to reduced temperatures because it has become much cloudier. For example, 2000, whilst the fifth warmest year on record globally, was one of the coolest on record in pastoral areas of Western Australia owing to general record-breaking annual rainfall. In areas of Australia that have dried out, there has been as much warming as in the Northern Hemisphere.
Horners' idea about the question of "global cooling" is similarly weak. The issue rose form the fact that it was thought upon studying previous glacial-interglacial cycles where 10,000 years of interglacial were followed by 90,000 years of glacial that we were near the end of the Holocene and that the next ice age was due to begin soon. Recent data show that we are moving towards an era of longer - but cooler - interglacials (and relatively shorter, less cold glacial periods).
Horner's other chief thesis is that warming always benefits civilisations. He cites the effects of the Medieval Warm Period upon European civilisation as an example - for instance the settlement of Greenland by the Norse and its ending with cooling and the Little Ice Age. However, there is little evidence that this rule holds in hotter and more fragile environments. For instance, the Hohokam of Arizona declined after reaching a peak in the eighth century just before the Medieval Warm Period, and some Mesoamerican societies also declined from the ninth century, apparently due to climate change. In any case, because many areas that are major agricultural regions today were not farmed in the Middle Ages, comparisons are not possible.
Horner's viewpoint that reducing greenhouse emissions would be immensely costly is also impossible to accept. Government welfare to polluting corporations is extremely large, as are budgets for building utterly unnecessary freeways. These could easily be completely redirected to supporting renewable energy and public transit at great benefit to everybody except some exceedingly powerful vested interests in car and fossil fuel corporations. Although Horner is actually right in saying the US' per capita emissions show greater decline than Europe's, the difference is not significant and if it reflects anything at all, it is probably the greater willingness of Americans to accept less comfortable lifestyles.
The way in which Horner accepts only the evidence that suits his viewpoints is really the worst kind of science you will ever see. It recurs time and time against throughout this book and for this reason alone I would not recommend "The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming".
What the media won't tell you about this farce called globla warming.......2007-09-22
This book covers all the stuff you need to know to become informed about so called global warming. Yes the climate does change but it is cyclic not due to man made causes!!!! The powers that be that worship this religion are only in it to pick your pockets and gain power!!!
It is a fallacy that man is causing this to the degree that the greens and the great Goreacle want you to believe.
Read this and become informed to put to rest the misinformation that they want you to believe.
Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming is Well Written.......2007-09-22
The Politically Incorrect Guide to Global Warming answers the unscientific and alarmist notions by Al Gore and the environmentalists. The book proposes reasoned thought instead of arm-waving and rhetoric. It proposes that no science is "settled" and everything is still open to question and should be studied in order to improve the human condition. The human condition can be improved by studying the previous history of the planet,finding out how the environment changed and adapted through time and various challenges. Tne human condition cannot be improved by adopting some apocalyptic measures thought out at 2 A.M. and not reexamined in the light of day.
Average customer rating:
|
Our Changing Planet: An Introduction to Earth System Science and Global Environmental Change (3rd Edition)
Fred T. Mackenzie
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Social Services & Welfare
| Poverty
| Current Events
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Regional
| Geography
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Geography
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Geology
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Animal Ecology
| Ecology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Conservation
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Ecology
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Geology
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Nonfiction Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Science Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Outdoors & Nature
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Technical Writer's Companion
-
Financial Accounting: Information for Decisions
-
Flight in America: From the Wrights to the Astronauts
-
General Aviation Law
-
Aviation And the Law, 4th ed
ASIN: 0130651729 |
Book Description
This book offers a general, interdisciplinary discussion of global environmental change oriented toward the non-specialist in science. The unifying theme of the book is consideration of aspects of both natural and human-induced global environmental change. The two part organization according to this distinction allows for easy reading on specific topics. This book is useful for anyone interested in learning more about Earth's systems.
Book Description
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.
Customer Reviews:
A tale of global warming that gave me chills.......2007-09-20
Tim Flannery's "The Weathermakers" is not only an eloquent plea for the industrialized world to deal with the problem of climate change, but provides the science needed to understand this huge and vital topic. The book is spooky great fun too, with frights and chills enough to get the attention of any thrill seeker. Except that the thrills here come from contemplating near-irreversible global cataclysms that would wipe out humanity or make life darned near intolerable for us.
Flannery is terrific at making difficult science easy to understand, without dumbing it down or condescending to his audience. This was greatly aided by the narrator of the audio book, Drew De Carvalho, whose wide-eyed Aussie delivery was akin to the joy and wonder of that other fine Down-under naturalist, Steve Irwin. Flannery discussed the Earth's tumultuous climactic past, using data obtained from tree rings and ice cores, to paint a picture of a dynamic planet whose climate and biota have varied wildly over its existence. Glaciers advance and retreat. Gargantuan upwellings of methane overwhelm the biosphere. Oceans rise and fall hundreds of feet. Changes in atmospheric gases permit or debar shellfish from secreteing the carboniferous husks that pull CO2 out of the atmosphere. The message: what Earth has done, it can do again.
Flannery does a wonderful job of explaining the large weather phenomena known to most laymen -- carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, changes to the Gulf Stream, warming trends, etc. But he is equally good at describing the lesser-known but important elements that factor into climatic equations. I was not aware that transpiration -- the release of moisture from Amazonian trees -- was a main cause of precipitation in the region. I had never heard of clathrates, huge fields of methane-infused ice that underlie the oceans. And I had never thought of climate change literally chasing certain heat-sensitive species up into alpine regions, until they run out of room and become extinct. Flannery is also wonderful at explaining the feedback loops that, once triggered, can accelerate certain climatic trends. Air conditioning powered by burning coal can increase levels sulfur dioxide in rain, acidifying the oceans, making it harder for shellfish to secrete shells, thus leaving more CO2 in the atmosphere, causing further warming and leading to the need for more AC, and so on.
Climate change to Flannery is not a theoretical possibility, but a certainty whose effects are visible today. He tells of the now-extinct South America Golden Toad, whose habitat was fed by moisture in low-lying clouds, being wiped out when a Pacific ocean hot spot caused mist-giving clouds to form just slightly higher up the mountainside than usual. His tale of the bleaching of the reefs like Great Barrier Reef -- in which huge swaths of coral reefs ejected their symbiotic algae, then bleached and die in a single season -- was frightening and sad. His discussion of the measurable changes in salinity in the Gulf Stream -- changes that could imperil its flow with deleterious effect on climate -- was terrifyingly plausible. Most chilling of all, Flannery's telling of the planet's near-miss with significant ozone depletion (due to industry's fortuitous use of chlorine rather than hyper-reactive bromine in aerosol cans and refrigeration systems) underscored how easy it is for humanity to fatally foul our nest without even realizing we are doing it.
The book is alarming, but not alarmist. It does not seek the cheap thrill of scaring us to sell copies, but to educate and forewarn. Flannery is not afraid to call out the human practices that are warming our planet. Transportation needs (which account for 30% of CO2 emissions), accelerating burning of carbon-rich fossil fuels, and shortsighted self-interest are high on the list of culprits. Flannery points the finger at the big coal-gorging countries in the world -- the US and Australia among them -- for significant criticism. Neither does he spare the industrial giants who use deceit, misinformation and political contributions to steer politicians (and the public) away from limiting profitable, planet-damaging enterprises.
I came away from the book with a new appreciation for the complexity and the fragility of the Gaia -- the living organism that is the Earth. "The Weathermakers" increased my appreciation of the path on which we have put our world. If Flannery's descriptions and predictions are true, our fossil-fuel-burning habits have already committed us to significant extinctions of species and significant discomfort for ourselves. As Flannery states, future generations will curse ours if we see the looming problem and fail to take action to correct it. Flannery is hopeful (else, why write such a book?) about our ability to turn things around. He evaluates technological and political solutions to the problems he poses, which not all will like, for carbon-low solutions include wind, geothermal, solar and (gasp!) nuclear power generation. And Flannery dismisses certain hopeful technologies like hydrogen and biomass. Flannery is also hopeful that past global cooperation -- of the type that limited the production of ozone-killing CFCs -- will be repeated, as human beings band together to save their world.
"The Weather Makers" is a wonderful book that can open your eyes to the complexity of our world, of the difficulties of addressing climate change without wrecking economies, and of our responsibility to pass our planet, reasonably intact, to our children. Its stacks of facts can sometimes numb the mind, but they are the data needed to combat ignorance and deceit one often encounters when trying to persuade our friends and neighbors about the possibility of anthropogenic climate change.
Disappointed.......2007-08-07
I bought the book on the basis it would be an objective and well structured argument explaining how scientists had negated natural influences on climate change - Milankovich cycles, solar activity and plate tectonics - and isolated the anthropogenic influences.
However, I discovered the book is written in a mildly hysterical tone common to environmental activists. If you want to read a scientific account of climate change and how human activity is affecting the climate, read the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report.
Boo Hoo.......2007-07-27
"Well done China for improving the lives of your citizens" This is one of the many quotes that you will NOT find it Tim Flannerys book. Others include "Before the industrial revolution, average life expectancy was about 36 years of age" and finally "You can't make an omlette without breaking a few eggs". However if you want to know how every living thing on the planet would be better off if we disapeared, you are on the right track.
Thought provoking!.......2007-07-25
This book is great reading in conjunction with Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth. The author convincingly demonstrates that global warming is real, and that terrible consequences loom ahead if nothing is done about it.
I was very surprised to read how the Australian government bullies its neighboring islands in the Pacific Ocean. Many of the Pacific Islands nations are doomed to sink under water as the ocean level rise, yet they are bullied by the Australian government into inaction. Like individuals, nations are selfish and have no regard for other nations if it does not suit their purposes. This notion angered me. Unless the citizens of the world take action to fight global warming and CO2 emissions, governments, motivated by self-interest, will be very slow to act, if at all.
Many of the themes in the book were already familiar to me, especially after reading An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore. One new concept was about hydrogen power. According to the author, hydrogen power is not the solution to global warming since to produce hydrogen power fossil fuels must be burnt. He proposes the use of electric, solar, nuclear and wind power which are all available and affordable.
The author also laments all the animals that became extinct due to global warming. For example, a frog, newly discovered by science, carries its newborn in its stomach. When ready to give birth, it regurgitates its babies. This is the only known species to do so, yet soon after its discovery, it became extinct due to our environmental carelessness. Many other species of animals, insects, and plants are becoming extinct.
Maybe when we learn to stop killing each other we can finally take care of our environment. Does that mean that our root is evil and that nothing can be done to save our planet?
The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth.......2007-07-24
Concise, easy to read, and right to the point. Everything anyone would want to know about how man is changing the climate and what one could do to alleviate their impact in this process. Each individual is responsible for their own actions and we MUST slow the global warming process or the 21st century will see catastrophic environmental changes. A must read book for information that could save the future of the planet and its inhabitants.
Average customer rating:
- Readable text- odd images
|
Resources of the Earth: Origin, Use, and Environmental Impact (3rd Edition)
James R. Craig ,
David J. Vaughan ,
Brian J. Skinner , and
David Vaughan
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Real Estate
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Geology
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Natural Resources
| Nature & Ecology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Conservation
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Ecology
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Living on the Land
| Ecology
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
| Architecture
| Hunting & Fishing
General
| Conservation
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Geology
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Ecology
| Biological Sciences
| Sciences
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
Earth Sciences
| Sciences
| New & Used Textbooks
| Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Business & Investing
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Outdoors & Nature
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Professional
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Science Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Earth Structure: An Introduction to Structural Geology and Tectonics
-
Basic Methods of Structural Geology
-
Encounters with the Archdruid
-
Coal: A Human History
-
Hubbert's Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage
ASIN: 0130834106 |
Book Description
Extensively illustrated, balanced, broad-based, and up-to-date, this book explores the nature and critical issues of all major types of earth resources--energy, metallic, nonmetallic, water, soil--and the impacts that resource usage has on the earth environment. It provides geologic background of resource formation and occurrence of most of the various types of resources; offers an international perspective; discusses resources not only from the scientific point of view, but also from the point of economic, political, historical considerations; and considers how the extraction and use of the resources creates impacts--local or global, immediate or delayed, visible or invisible, singular or cumulative. Minerals: The Foundations of Society. Plate Tectonics and The Origins of Mineral Resources. Earth's Resources Through History. Environmental Impacts of Resource Exploitation and Use. Energy from Fossil Fuels. Nuclear Power and Alternative Energy Sources. Abundant Metals. The Geochemically Scare Metals. Fertilizer and Chemical Minerals. Building Materials and Other Industrial Minerals. Water Resources. Soil as a Resource. Future Resources. For anyone interested in earth resources.
Customer Reviews:
Readable text- odd images.......2006-10-29
I enjoyed reading about natural resources in this textbook format, and have gone back to re-read chapters repeatedly. I found this text's approach much more enjoyable and enlightening than my prep school or college geology studies. However, the page layout of the images seemed amateurish:some photographs images were distored to fit the page.
Book Description
Shattered Consensus: The True State of Global Warming convincingly demonstrates the remarkable differences between what we commonly read about global warming and what is really happening. Nine chapters describe major problems with computer simulations of future climate that are the basis for wrenching policies being proposed by world leaders. Anyone who reads this book will come away with a new appreciation of the complexity of the climate issue and will question the need for expensive policies that are likely to have little or no detectable effect on the planet's temperature. Published in cooperation with the George C. Marshall Institute.
Customer Reviews:
The inconvenient truth about An Inconvenient Truth .......2007-08-06
I highly recommend this book. But I suspect that this book will not appeal to most readers. There's none of the intense hyperbole that infects both global warming fanatics and many of their deniers. There are no grand apocalyptic scenarios that garner such strong public appeal. No terrifying future, no living on the brink of disaster. Only quiet nuanced science from those who spend their life in research. One suspects that the politics of global warming has now superseded the science and sad to say, when politics enters the room, truth shuffles its way into the background. This is unfortunate since there are many things about the environment with which we should be concerned - not the least being our consumption of non renewable resources. My fervent hope is that we can move past the exaggerated apocalypse of global warming while addressing the necessary issues of the environment - i.e., the rest of the environment aside from climate change.
In this case of Shattered Consensus, all ten contributors are scientists and experts in their field. Each chapter, and scientific report, covers a separate and distinct aspect of climate. This is really a collection of reports, not a coherent "story". Each contributor has their own style, some being more accessible than others. They present the science as they understand it and in that regard the average reader may find the information dry, or indeed undecipherable. Most of the ten authors include a short conclusion which may be helpful for those unwilling to plow through the science. Nonetheless the reader is left in the end overwhelmed not by the certainty of any position, but by the staggering uncertainty in all aspects related to this Earth's climate. Our ability to measure past trends in climate are dependent on woefully scant data. Our ability to project future trends have no unambiguous models yet. In fact, the variability of the results of the different models are so big as to render them basically useless for anything other than further research. They certainly shouldn't be used to make definitive statements as to future trends. The effects of CO2 are still highly uncertain with some models suggesting no impact and some observations linking CO2 to an indicator of climate change not a driver - i.e., CO2 changes as a result of climate change, not the other way around. Much more research is needed to understand why these discrepancies are observed. Even if global warming is happening, and even if CO2 is at least partly to blame, the impact of global warming in some scenarios is actually beneficial to not only humans, but to some species. Indeed, in all of Earth's history through warming and cooling periods, some species benefit and other lose.
The reader is left with the question, since scientists tell us that the unknowns vastly outweigh the things that are known about climate, what should our policy decisions making framework be based on. Is seems to me that we need to base it on what is known. Air quality, water quality, land use, availability of non renewable resources, are all things we can measure and for which policies can be made. Having a single enemy (CO2, in this case) is certainly more appealing and simple for the average consumer to understand. But simple is not always best.
It should be noted that none of these scientists is involved in the petroleum industry (a favorite disclaimer by those wanting to discredit the validity of anyone critical of global warming science). Some have even been involved in the IPCC directly (the UN Intergovernmental protocol on climate change). Scientists are by nature a conservative lot. A hypothesis lasts as long as the next set of experiments that disprove it, or tenuously as long as further experiments continue to confirm it. Most scientists don't seek a public profile and most are uncomfortable playing the role of a nay-sayer, especially in the face of such publicly popular resources as Al Gore's an Inconvenient Truth. I will rely on the scientific truth to work its way to the surface. I just hope we don't waste too much in the way of public funds on chasing windmills when there are so many important issues in this world that need attention.
Consensus? Right........2007-04-18
This book perfectly illustrates how there is dissent in the thinking of many climate scientists, showing information that proves there is no consensus, or at least none as to the overall causes, specific effects and actions to take on "anthropogenic global warming".
It's like the AAAS's 'Science' magazine publishing an op/ed in their "Essays on Science and Society" section by Naomi Oreskes (Associate professor of history and director of the Program in Science Studies at the University of California at the time). In that piece, it was reported an analysis was made of abstracts in the ISI database under science and with the phrase "global climate change" in them. The keywords specified in the op/ed 3 times were "climate change" (In another issue of 'Science' that was corrected to "global climate change". I would include that, but you have to join AAAS to get to it.) Her closing paragraph in the essay uses the words "anthropogenic climate change".
Although she takes quite a while to say it, in two or more convoluted paragraphs, she claims consensus because of the actions of some organizations; that we can prove statements and reports by the AMS, AGU, AAAS and others don't downplay legitimate disenting opinions, thus proving a consensus. I'm not sure I follow that train of logic, but there you go.
So, how does she "prove" it? By grabbing those publications that are in the ISI database that are in the science section and have abstracts that have the words "global climate change" in the abstract. Do those contradict what the organizations say? No? Consensus!
Not in ISI database? Not in science section? No abstract? Doesn't have "global climate change" in the abstract? Not looked at.
She does make two interesting points in her closing paragraph, although the two have nothing to do with each other. I've broken the paragraph into the two points; while the first is true, the second is not anything she's proven in the op/ed (although it seems she's hoping we will think so):
1. Many details about climate interactions are not well understood, and there are ample grounds for continued research to provide a better basis for understanding climate dynamics. The question of what to do about climate change is also still open.
2. But there is a scientific consensus on the reality of anthropogenic climate change. Climate scientists have repeatedly tried to make this clear. It is time for the rest of us to listen.
That op/ed, Richard Lindzen's op/ed in the WSJ and her rebuttal op/ed in the Washington Post, as well as letters between Roger Pielke Jr and her printed in 'Science' give even more light on the entire issue of the lack of a consensus and the lengths the cult of global warming will go to to keep everyone thinking there is. This book goes a long way towards fighting the misconceptions, and is an excellent strike in the battle against global warming propaganda.
[...]
Down with Globaloney.......2007-04-03
Point-by-point rebuttal of the fallacy of ''global warming''/''climate change'' brought about by human endeavors. Puts paid to AlGores' Oscar-winning docufantasy. Yes, all of us anti-global warming folks are in the pay of Giant Oil and the moral equivalent of Holocaust deniers. NOT!!! Your belief in half-baked computer models (as opposed to real-life atmospheric happenings) and over-blown do-gooder falsehoods doesn't make ''global warming'' a catastrophic happening.
Sample of Scientific Discussions.......2007-03-14
Interesting series of papers on topics of ongoing discussion regarding global warming. The title is a bit overblown, but I guess it matches the assumption, so often printed over and over in the media, that there is a consensus on global warming (or more correctly, human-caused global warming). There's lots of citations given and places to dig into this as deep as you want. I particularly like the part about trying to develop some sort of heat balance between the earth's surface, the various layers in the atmosphere, and the universe to which the earth radiates heat, and all the unexplained measurement error and missing information associated with that.
There was allusion to the plans to try to "Command and Control" the world's economy, based on averting global warming, basically concluding that nothing we can do will change the outcome much anyway, at least in any predictable way. It makes one wonder if the global warming phenomena is being used as a pretext to try "Command and Control" again. This book does not really get into that, but does give a taste of endless unresolved topics associated with global warming.
religion of enviromentalism challenged.......2007-03-01
any book that challenges to apriori assumptions of the enviromentalist religious dogma of man made global warming is needed. Al Gore and his celebrity loving, psuedo scientific friends need to be mocked for their hypocrisy and stupidity
Book Description
Long known for her insightful and thought-provoking political journalism, author Elizabeth Kolbert now tackles the controversial and increasingly urgent subject of global warming. In what began as groundbreaking three-part series in the New Yorker, for which she won a National Magazine Award in 2006, Kolbert cuts through the competing rhetoric and political agendas to elucidate for Americans what is really going on with the global environment and asks what, if anything, can be done to save our planet. Now updated and with a new afterword, Field Notes from a Catastrophe is the book to read on the defining issue and greatest challenge of our times.
Customer Reviews:
Eloquent But Only Notes.......2007-10-09
The title of this book is apt: Field Notes. Whether the word Catastrophe is equally apt, or merely good salesmanship, can be left undecided for the moment. Chapter by chapter, Ms Kolbert has written honestly and earnestly. Chapter 2, for instance, recounts the historical development of the concern over global warming, clearly and fairly, in a mere nine pages. Chapter 3 outlines the recent studies of glaciers, and the possible implications of those studies, with equal brevity and clarity. Chapter 1 sets a passionate tone for the whole book, confronting the fearful sense of global warming at the level of villagers whose lives are already impacted; I have kayaked many times in the Seward Peninsula region, over a span of 25 years, and I've personally felt the real urgency that Ms. Kolbert reports. Each chapter of the book is in fact an essay unto itself. Ms. Kolbert is a front-line journalist, not a climatologist. That is the source of her stylistic clarity, obviously, and of her daring in reporting on the crisis at multiple levels. It also makes her vulnerable to the dogmatic deniers of anthropogenic climate change, as is colorfully exhibited in the several ranting one-star reviews on this page.
This is the University of Washington common book for 2007-8.......2007-10-04
The University of Washington has selected this book as its "Common Book" for the 2007-2008 academic year. That means each of the UW's 10,000+ incoming freshman this year have received a copy of the book and are reading it.
An Extraordinary Work: Important and Readable.......2007-09-23
`Field Notes From a Catastrophe' is Elizabeth Kolbert's masterpiece of conciseness and clarity explaining current climate change science and the political obstacles (read the US, Republicans, and Bush Administration in ascending order) to getting serious about attacking the problem. Originally published in 2005, the paperback version has an afterword written in 2006.
Kolbert takes a journalist's approach to explaining the climate change phenomenon (the book began as a series in the New Yorker). She takes the reader to Shishmaref, Alaska an island village rapidly becoming an untenable place to live due to climate-induced sea ice changes, to the North Slope, to the great Greenland ice shield and she brings the story down to a human scale.
Kolbert also leads the reader through the science of global warming making understandable seemingly arcane topics like "dangerous anthropogenic interference" (DAI), which is basically the point where something truly major goes haywire. Kolbert brings the joy of learning to the reader, until one ponders the potential consequences of what she lays out for us. Perhaps most disturbing is the evidence she marshals that the climate has already changed. For example, the climate has warmed sufficiently to allow numerous butterfly species to migrate to new previously too cold locations and to cause the extinction of certain frog species.
Scientists do not, of course, understand everything about climate change (indeed, it is in the very nature of science that an endpoint of total knowledge is never achieved). Those political and economic forces (primarily in the United States) that benefit from the status quo latch on to the uncertainties to create doubt among the public and forestall action. Her interviews with Bush administration officials strike an odd note - they stonewall with robotic incantations. While Europe and most of industrialized world has acted, the US has dithered, delayed, and denied.
Kolbert explains why scientists conclude that it is virtually certain that under the current `business as usual' approach, greenhouse gas concentrations will reach a level that causes massive coastal flooding, large scale extinctions, and crop failures leading to starvation (DAI). These outcomes will not be evenly distributed and are likely to fall heaviest on the poorest countries. Scientists do not, however, know what level of greenhouse gas concentration will cause these impacts. The Bush administration uses that uncertainty as a reason to do essentially nothing and Congress too has failed to force any action.
Kolbert's book inspires the reader to search out even more current information (NOAA's Arctic Change web site is one good source). And the news is alarming. This stuff is not just a tree hugger's paranoid delusion: global heating is happening, it is happening now, and it is getting worse faster than anticipated.
Kolbert's book is a work of journalism (and given the rapidly changing reality, journalism is probably the best source of information) that informs on both the science and the politics of climate change without stridently hectoring the reader. Kolbert presents the facts. The reader would have to be a dim bulb indeed not to get the picture.
Absolutely the very highest recommendation. Kolbert's Field Notes From a Catastrophe deserves more than 5 stars.
Some very misleading reviews here.......2007-08-09
Reviewer T. Ferrell says "The author comes from an assumption that climate was once stable and has recently become unstable. She states this directly several times and it is the overall impression she intentionally leaves."
I'm not sure if the reviewer didn't actually read the book or is deliberately trying to smear it, but Kolbert states many times that the climate has changed in the past.
This is clearly written sober account of global warming and the effects it is having, and will have, on the environment. An excellent, concise read.
Climate has never been "stable".......2007-07-04
While the book was well written as prose, it was intellectually myopic. The author comes from an assumption that climate was once stable and has recently become unstable. She states this directly several times and it is the overall impression she intentionally leaves. Certainly climate change has an effect on people, flora and fauna, but that does not mean that you ignore the fact that there are winners with climate change as well as losers. Example, as the globe warms agriculture moves north expanding into areas previously too frigid to support farming. No mention of this?
But it is not that she just focuses just on the losers. She glosses over issues that might complicate her simple thesis that man is responsible for climate change as "not understood." This is the explanation she gives for example when discussing how atmospheric CO2 was historically low during the ice ages and was high during periods of warming. This is "unknown." She simply ignores the fact that the worlds oceans hold most of the planets CO2 both directly as an absorbed gas, its concentration being directly related temperature. She also ignores the carbon bank in phytoplankton. I believe she does this because it would bring into question her simple thesis. What warmed or cooled the worlds oceans before man was on the scene.
This is a problem for me because a wider view of climate change would reveal the true issues. At one point in time the earth was a snowball entirely covered with ice. At another point in our past the oceans were much higher and the poles were nearly devoid of ice. If global climate has always been in flux do we now propose that man should control the world's climate? If so, what is the best climate? Is it the best thing to have a sizeable portion of the worlds surface are covered in ice or too cold to support agriculture? Who decides? If man does control the weather is the only way to do it to cut back on fossil fuel useage? The author appears to believe so. Does the entity who controls climate take responsibilty for the weather and its effects? A freeze occurs in a temperate agricultural region. Is this now someone's fault?
It's very easy to look who loses with climate change. It is much more difficult to consider the bigger picture. I was not impressed by this book.
Book Description
Global warming is the story of the twenty-first century. It is the most serious issue facing the future of humankind, and American energy and environmental policy is driving the whole world down the path of global catastrophe. Hell and High Water is nothing less than a wake-up call to the country. It is a searing critique of American environmental and energy policy and a passionate call to action by a writer with a unique command of the science and politics of climate change.
We have ten years, at most, to start making sharp cuts to our greenhouse gas emissions or we will face catastrophic consequences. The good news is that there is something we can do—but only if the leadership of the U.S. government acts immediately and asserts its influence on the rest of the world—in particular such emerging powers as China and India—to join an international effort to stop global warming.
Joseph Romm, an expert in the science, business, and politics of climate change, lays out a plan of action that involves:
- reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 50 percent by midcentury
- adopting a California-style energy-efficiency effort nationwide
- embracing high-mileage, advanced "hybrid" cars that can run on both electricity and biofuels
Unfortunately, the required government policies and spending are strongly opposed by conservatives, who have blocked serious action on climate change and continue to publicly deny the dire warnings of scientists. Never before has there been such a sharp divergence between what top scientists know and what policymakers, the general public, and the media believe. And, sadly, never has so much been at stake.
Romm, who ran the largest program in the world that was concentrated on climate solutions, offers an authoritative dissection of this disastrous policy. Hell and High Water goes beyond ideological rhetoric to offer pragmatic solutions to avert the threat of global warming—solutions that must be taken seriously by every American.
Customer Reviews:
Alarming--because it's factual.......2007-08-17
As an environmental policy grad student, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what we're in for with climate change. But after reading this book I've realized that, oh no, it's worse than I thought. The book starts out by describing the nasty potential futures facing us if we fail to take sufficient action, and soon. This bit comes across as somewhat sensational, but Romm quickly moves in a very well done review of the scientific literature backing up the scary part. The account of the unified effort to deny the validity of climate change and delay action is also well executed.
Highly recommended for anyone who needs a little motivation to start caring about climate change!
Wake Up Call.......2007-06-10
It's time to wake up to what's going on with our world and what we're doing to it. As a long time participant in the petroleum and related industries worldwide it has long been evident that we are exhausting the world's resources at an unsustainable rate detrimental to life as we know it and to a livable environment. Damon A. Peteron
Great informative book.......2007-05-19
If you want the facts about global warming and what we need to do about it straight from the experts' mouths, this is the book for you. It covers everything about global warming from the media's bias to the various policies we need to implement to avoid catastrophic climate change, to the consequences if we fail to avoid it. Absolutely fantastic book.
Highly recommended.......2007-05-10
I thought this book was really interesting in explaining the US politics behind global warming and the what has not been done in recent years by the US to curb global warming. It goes into great detail about the issues the planet faces if we do not reduce our CO2 output into the atmosphere.
Good advice rarely is heeded...........2007-05-04
Romm brings quite a bit of expertise and gravitas to his arguments. Arguably in the know about government policy practices Romm lays out both a convincing scenario about global climate modification (see no GW balderdash!)and a set of coherent policy solutions to prevent the worst of the problem. Unfortunately, I agree that while a solution is "doable" it won't get done. Goodbye Florida, goodbye Louisiana!
Book Description
Written from a sustainable perspective, this readable, yet rigorous, book provides comprehensive coverage of a variety of local, regional, national, and global resource and environmental issues from population growth to wetlands to agriculture to global air pollution. It emphasizes practical, cost-effective, sustainable solutions to these problems that make sense from social, economic, and environmental perspectives. Overall increased emphasis on international and global issues (includes many examples from Canada). New information on Geographic Information Systems and Remote Sensing—integrated GIS Remote Sensing boxed information appears throughout, including 12 case studies. Expanded coverage of ecosystem management and watershed management, global climate change, ozone depletion, wetlands protection, and policy—including new international treaties, new federal laws, and more. The friendly, approachable writing style makes the book accessible to a wide range of readers—from those who want an introduction in natural resource conservation and natural resource management to professionals in this field.
Book Description
Former Vice President Al Gore's New York Times #1 bestselling book is a daring call to action, exposing the shocking reality of how humankind has aided in the destruction of our planet and the future we face if we do not take action to stop global warming. Now, Viking has adapted this book for the most important audience of all: today's youth, who have no choice but to confront this climate crisis head-on.
Dramatic full-color photos, illustrations, and graphs combine with Gore's effective and clear writing to explain global warming in very real terms: what it is, what causes it, and what will happen if we continue to ignore it. An Inconvenient Truth will change the way young people understand global warming and hopefully inspire them to help change the course of history.
Customer Reviews:
This one's for you, kids!.......2007-10-08
The book is broken down into fifteen chapters, culminating in a very optimistic "Crisis = Opportunity," and throughout the text Gore is trying to motivate and encourage the next generation to take up the cause of saving the planet. Gore's optimism makes the reader feel that every chance to turn off an unused light or refill your water bottle is going to make a difference. Peppered with historical facts and dates, and infused with quotes from Mark Twain to Carl Sagan, this effort at educating young adults about the effects of lifestyle choices will make an impact on future generations. I think it is important to empower young people with choice - and the ability to affect change. This would make for excellent required reading.
Nonsense.......2007-10-04
Al Gore has a miserable academic record. For all those still swooning from his "masterful" presentation, I suggest that anyone who flunks divinity school (all 'F''s) is hardly a guy whose opinion I would want on a topic as incredibly complicated as climate theory. Earth's climate is an infinitely complex nonlinear system that some human beings (in their pomposity) suggest that we can "model" and "solve" for the future. ANYONE who has worked with greatly linearized Navier-Stokes equations, that is, coupled integro-differential equations knows the folly and nonsense behind this blatantly political tripe. Al is just an ignorant mouthpiece for the political scientists of the UN IPCC. All of you that buy this nonsense need to go get an education and leave science out of this clearly politically motivated rant for attention by a guy disappointed that he lost the Presidential race. The science in this book is single sided nonsense.
Science, or hysteria ? .......2007-09-28
One core of Gore's position is that the oceans will rise by up to 20 feet, swamping coastal areas like Miami and New York.
This data is wildly off. Even the UN IPCC report states that oceans might rise by up to 17 inches (i.e., less than two feet). Where did Gore get his data ?
Gore has shown pieces of Antarctica breaking off and falling into the ocean. This looks dramatic, until you realize that this part of Antarctica has always done that, (grown and then broken apart), and represents the 3 % of that continent, which is not 1-mile + thick ice that is actually gaining in mass. 97 % of Antarctica is actually gaining mass. Gore chooses the 3 % of the continent that is not stable and then basically says "We did this with our SUVs and materialistic lifestyle".
The reality is that global warming is NOT the main issue of our times. Things like Africans dying of AIDs and malaria is, and can be dealt with far more efficiently, than throwing $ 5 trillion into the Kyoto Treaty, which would result in the global climate changing by about 0.3 degrees in 50 years (i.e. having almost no effect).
If you want a picture of the real state of the world, read the books by Prof. Bjorn Lomborg. Gore is a politician. Lomborg is a researcher.
Gore has admitted that he wants our generation to have a "mission". This issue, global warming, fits that. But that doesn't mean I have to go along. I personally think that global warming is a "rich man's issue". It is the kind of thing that people in Santa Monica and Martha's Vineyard and Boston care about, because they think that their beach villa might be swamped. The reality is, while we think about this, Africans are dying of AIDs. And we can help them today, by spending some money on it.
Is global warming an issue: yes. Is it the main issue of our time ? No. Of course, we should do what we can to help the planet and reduce our CO2 output. Lomborg suggests cost-effective ways to do that.
But claiming that New York City will be swamped when the ocean rises "20 feet" is just ridiculous. Trust me, land prices in 25 years along the coasts will have risen even higher than today (if Gore were right, we would see land prices plummet, because who wants to buy land that is under water) ?
By the way, I read someone that Gore's personal "carbon footprint" is something like 20 times higher than the average American. Liberals live under the motto: "do as I say, not as I do".
Have they made Gore a saint yet?.......2007-08-29
I have seen the DVD and obviously was impressed. I got the book because I wanted to be able to get more details on the information Al Gore presents on the DVD, and the book provides that abundantly.
This one lone man courageously and determinedly crusades on and on, in the past with little encouragement, to research global warming and the warn the world, at least those who will listen. Where are the scientists that (probably because of money under the table, so the speak) denied global warming for so long? Hard to do so now. Now the corporate-motivated trick is to deny that at least part of global warming is man-made, this in the face of mounting evidence.
If you have children, or grandchildren, my advice: Don't hide your head in the sand. You owe it to them to become informed.
Get this book or the DVD. Very well written, very well made.
A must read!.......2007-08-21
My first impression upon reading this book was utter amazement and fear. In fact, "An Inconvenient Truth" is billed as the scariest book you'll ever see. Could it be that life on Earth as we know it will end within the next 50 years? It did not take me long to feel that this may be the most important documentary of all time (and the scariest one)!
In this book, Al Gore draws attention to the crisis of global warming. Gore blames CO2 for the temperature hikes we are experiencing worldwide. This documentary is basically a filmed version of the lectures that Gore has presented over 1,000 times to audiences all over the world.
Gore left me no room for doubt regarding the reality of global warming as Earth's ultimate environmental crisis and eventual doom. I was fascinated and convinced by his thorough presentation. And I am not alone to feel this way. Here is what other reviewers on amazon.com have said about this book:
A. A must see; a must think.
B. The most important film I have ever seen.
C. Very important; watch & watch again.
D. What in the world are we waiting for?
E. Required Viewing.
F. Save this planet by individual action.
G. Eye-opening!
H. Al Gore is the smartest man on this doomed planet!
I. Great inspiring movie. Please see it and let's change the way we live.
J. The truth is very disturbing, but you need to see it.
K. Don't Blow it! Good planets are hard to find.
L. Spread the Truth.
M. A must see for every resident of planet earth.
N. Stunning! Seeing this film is one of the most important things you can do all year.
O. Only 50 years from now... If you LOVE your CHILDREN, do you part to help NOW!
Al Gore's message is quite clear: Our planet is dying due to the fact that the world is steadily getting warmer. The question is what does this mean for all of humanity and what can we do about it? This film argues the case that the effects of global warming will continue, and indeed steadily get worse.
As I was reading the reviews on amazon.com, I found more and more people disagreeing with Al Gore. Some accused him of political manipulation. He is instilling fear in us in order for us to vote for him on the next presidential race. In other words, unless we vote for him, global warming is going to get worse and the icecaps are going to melt and we are all going to die by drowning!
Some mistrust Gore. Some have exclaimed, "Isn't this the guy who said he invented the internet!?" Others believe that he is selling snake oil and that there is no truth in his claims. After all, they say, he is not a scientist. Shouldn't this documentary have been presented by a scientist? Furthermore, why did Gore not do something about Global Warming when he was vice-president and in a better position to do so?
Many scientists in fact argue that his facts are not sound and that there is no correlation between CO2 and global warming.
So which is it? Is Al Gore right and doomsday is within 50 years from now, or is this just an exaggeration and unsound science?
Now I am not a scientist and am very new to this subject. With that said, here is the other side of the coin:
(1) Gore says that Earth is heating up because of man-made pollutants, which are raising the level of CO2 in the air. This CO2 traps the radiated heat from the Earth, thus warming up our planet. However, not only is Earth heating up, but all of the other planets in the solar system as well. If this is so, then our man made CO2 emissions aren't the major reason for the heating of the planet. If you visit the NASA website, you'll see that the Martian ice caps are melting too! So what could be the reason for this global warming? The primary source of heat on Earth, or anywhere in our solar system, is the Sun. If it wasn't for the sun, Earth would be a ball of ice. Our Sun goes through cycles. The Earth warms or cools with increased or decreased solar activity in the sun. This is not hard to visualize since a slight change in the Sun's angle turns summer to winter or winter to summer, a difference of several degrees! Our sun could therefore be the main reason behind our global warming.
(2) The earth has had many cooling and warming cycles for thousands of years, long before man could possibly contribute to it. The planet has seen far more severe climate changes than what we might experience and such changes have neither destroyed the planet nor the life upon it.
(3) One volcanic eruption (such as Mt. Pinatubo's volcanic eruption in the 90's) causes far more pollution and Co2 gases than our industries. During the Gulf War in 1991, when Saddam Hussein set fire to the Kuwaiti oil fields, more pollutants had been released in the air in one go than in any other time in history.
(4) We exhale CO2! Does this mean in order to have less CO2 in the air we must have less people on our planet? We are presently 6 billion people on Earth, and this number is rapidly increasing.
(5) Sea level has been rising at a rate of 1.8 mm per year for the past millenniums. Many scientists believe that the worst case scenario is a 2 feet rise in sea level within the next 100 years! Gore believes that we will be seeing a sea level rise of 20 feet in the next 50 years.
In a nutshell, no one really knows enough about the global climate to really say what definitively will happen within the next 50 years. In fact, no one really knows what the weather will be in the next few days (`This will be a sunny weekend,' exclaims the weatherman, only to have a rainy weekend).
The best we can do is to listen to all sides of an issue and then come to an educated opinion of our own. We should not let others do the thinking for us. This doesn't mean we can keep polluting the air we breathe. Everyone should do their part in trying to keep the environment clean.
I certainly enjoyed reading this book. At least it got me thinking!
Books:
- Tropical Rain Forest
- Unbowed
- Variations on a Theme Park: The New American City and the End of Public Space
- Water For Food, Water For Life: A Comprehensive Assessment of Water Management in Agriculture
- Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit
- We, the Jury: Deciding the Scott Peterson Case
- Wilderness and the American Mind, Fourth Edition
- Working With Water in Medieval Europe: Technology and Resource-Use (Technology and Change in History)
- Zapping Conflict in the Health Care Workplace
- 100 Caterpillars: Portraits from the Tropical Forests of Costa Rica
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West
- The South Beach Diet Quick and Easy Cookbook: 200 Delicious Recipes Ready in 30 Minutes or Less
- The Essence of the Thing: A Novel
- The Cold War and the Color Line: American Race Relations in the Global Arena
- Surgery of the Foot and Ankle: 2-Volume Set
- Science and the Akashic Field: An Integral Theory of Everything
- The Monkey Business: A Scientist Looks at Creationism
- Environmental Economics For Non-Economists: Techniques And Policies For Sustainable Development
- The Career Doctor: Preventing, Diagnosing, and Curing Fifty Ailments That Can Threaten Your Career
- Diplomatic passport: More undiplomatic diaries, 1946-1962
The Assault on Reason
The New American Story
Earth in the Balance: Ecology and the Human Spirit
Green This! Volume 1: Greening Your Cleaning (Green This!)
An Inconvenient Truth
