The Weather Makers

It took me nearly two years to finish this book. I bought it in early 2006, only a few months after it came out, because I had read a great review about it. I saw the book piled up in every bookstore that I entered when I was in Australia last year (as the author Tim Flannery had won some prestigeous award in his country), but I could only look away in shame because I had yet to finish it. It was only when I promised myself that I would not read another book on the topic of climate-change--and oh there are so many of them these days!--that I forced myself to finish reading it.

The lesson to be learned here (at least for me, anyway) is--NEVER, ever, purchase a hardcover book. If you can not carry the book during commutes/travels on the train/aeroplane, you will not read it. Wait until it comes out in paperback, and it can be read whenever, wherever, you fancy.

In this book, Dr Flannery predicts that the day will arrive, sometime this century, "when the human influence on the climate will overwhelm all natural factors. Then, the insurance industry and the courts will no longer be able to talk of acts of God...". The book is a must-read for any one of us who feels responsible for our actions, being a member of beings on earth that are now making the weather.

This informative book is amazingly easy to read--it is probably one of the most accessible accounts of climate change available (one that is backed by scientific data), starting with explanations of basic concepts related to the issue (including, for example, greenhouse gases & CO2) followed by a history of how climate change has shaped the evolution of earth. As it is clear from above, the reason why it took me so long to finish the book is because it was too bulky to carry on my travels/commutes, NOT because it is a difficult read.

After learning about the various horrific attempts by "climate sceptics" (such as the "Global Climate Coalition" that spent tens of millions of dollars in political donations and propaganda to spread misinformation and doubt on the "theory of global warming"; chair of the US House Energy and Commerce Committee who bullied three of the country's eminent climate researchers!) to oppress and counter efforts to combat climate change, one cannot help but throw our hands up in the air in dispair. One also wonders whether ours is a civilization that is heading towards collapse--as Jared Diamond aptly describes in his book Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. In his book Diamond has developed a five-point framewok of contributing factors that lead to a society's collapse: (1) environmental damage (2) climate change (3) hostile neighbours (4) friendly trade partners (5) the society's responses to its environmental problems. Could our civilization be heading down the same path that the Easter Islanders, Anasazi, Maya and Greenland Norse went? It is a depressing thought.

One thing (of the many) that I learned from The Weather Makers is the difference in the cleaner energies that are available. I had previously (and naively) thought that there was not much of a difference between the alternatives. But, as it is made clear in the book, hydrologen and nuclear mean survival of the big power companies (as the production of power would be centralized), whereas wind and solar open the possibility of power being generated by every one of us--what an empowering thought!

Dr Flannery must be an optimist, however, as his last chapter, titled "over to you", encourages us to take action now to reduce our impact and attain the 70% reduction in emissions required to stabilize the climte.

Here is his list:

1. change to an accredited green power option
2. install a solar hot water system
3. install solar panels
4. use energy-efficient appliances
5. use a triple-A-rated showerhead
6. use energy-efficient lightbulbs
7. check fuel efficiency of next car
8. walk, cycle or take public transportation
9. calculate carbon footprint
10. suggest a workplace audit
11. write to a politician about climate change

Living in a small apartment in Paris makes it difficult for us to do 2. & 3. (where is the sun these days, anyway?); we can pat ourselves on our backs for doing 4., 6. & 8. already (and no need to do 7., as we do not own a car). 10. has been recently done at my workplace. Although my rudimentary French language skills may prevent me from doing 11. in France, I have decided that I will navigate the way towards making 1. happen. Any advise on how to do it would be very much welcome!

As an environmentalist, a book that I often refer to in order to minimize our impact on the climate is "Wake up and smell the planet: The non-pompous, non-preachy Grist guide to greening your day". This book was developed by one of my favourite environmental websites: http://www.grist.org/. The authors tell us that the "most important choices you can make in terms of air and water pollution, global climate change, and ecosystem destruction are those that relate to transportation, household efficiency, and food consumption" and give us numerous hints on how to make these choices. As the title suggests, the book is not at all preacy, and that's what I like about it!