Mark Lynas
Encyclopedia
Mark Lynas is a British
author
, journalist
and environment
al activist who focuses on climate change
. He is a contributor to New Statesman
, Ecologist
, Granta
and Geographical magazines, and The Guardian
and The Observer
newspapers in the UK; he also worked on the film The Age of Stupid
. He holds a degree in history and politics from the University of Edinburgh
. He lives in Oxford
, England
. He has published several books including Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet
(2007) and The God Species: How the Planet Can Survive the Age of Humans (2011, ASIN: B0055P36U6).
on its Picador
imprint
. He has also contributed to a book entitled Fragile Earth: Views of a Changing World published by Collins
, which presents before-and-after images of some of the natural changes which have happened to the world in recent years, including the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina
, alongside a bleak look at the effects of mankind's actions on the planet.
In January 2007 Lynas published Gem Carbon Counter, containing instructions to calculate people's personal carbon emissions and recommendations about how to reduce their impact on the atmosphere.
In 2007 he published Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet
, a book detailing the progressive effect of global warming
in several planetary ecosystems, from 1 degree to 6 degrees and further of average temperature rise of the planet. Special coverage is given to the positive feedback mechanisms that could dramatically accelerate the climate change
, possibly putting the climate on a runaway path. As a possible end scenario the release of methane hydrate from the bottom of the oceans could replicate the end-Permian extinction event
.
In 2008 National Geographic released a documentary film based on Lynas's book, entitled Six Degrees Could Change the World.http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/sixdegrees/
In 2010, Lynas published an article in the New Statesman
entitled "Why We Greens Keep Getting It Wrong" and the same year was the main contributor to a UK Channel 4
Television programme called "What the Green Movement Got Wrong." In these he took a line similar to environmentalists such as Patrick Moore
, Bjorn Lomborg and Richard D. North
, explaining that he now felt that several of his previous strongly held beliefs were wrong. For example, he suggested that opposition by environmentalists, such as himself, to the development of nuclear energy
had speeded up climate change, that proscription of DDT had led to millions of deaths and that GM crops were necessary to feed the world.
This latter position was attacked as patronising and naive by some developing world commentators, including one featured in a Channel Four debate after the programme aired. A number of experts also criticised Lynas's factual errors in contributing to the film. British environmentalist George Monbiot
wrote in the Guardian that 'Brand and Lynas present themselves as heretics. But their convenient fictions chime with the thinking of the new establishment: corporations, thinktanks, neoliberal politicians. The true heretics are those who remind us that neither social nor environmental progress are possible unless power is confronted.' Since writing this, George Monbiot admitted in 2011 that he had changed his mind and was in favour of nuclear energy.
In July 2011 he published in the U.K. the book entitled The God Species: How the Planet Can Survive the Age of Humans, which will be published in the U.S. by National Geographic in October 2011 as The God Species: Saving the Planet in the Age of Humans. Lynas argues that as Earth
has entered the Anthropocene
, and as such humanity is changing the planet's climate, its bio-geochemical cycles, the chemistry of the oceans and the colour of the sky, as well as reducing the number of species. Based on the planetary boundaries
concept, he proposes several strategies that are controversial among the environmental community, such as using nuclear power to reduce carbon emissions and geoengineering
to mitigate inevitable global warming; or genetic engineering
(transgenics) to feed the world and reduce the environmental impact of agriculture, etc.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
author
Author
An author is broadly defined as "the person who originates or gives existence to anything" and that authorship determines responsibility for what is created. Narrowly defined, an author is the originator of any written work.-Legal significance:...
, journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
and environment
Environmentalism
Environmentalism is a broad philosophy, ideology and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the health of the environment, particularly as the measure for this health seeks to incorporate the concerns of non-human elements...
al activist who focuses on climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
. He is a contributor to New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
, Ecologist
Ecology (journal)
Ecology is a scientific journal publishing research and synthesis papers in the field of ecology. It was founded in 1920, and is published by the Ecological Society of America.- External links :**...
, Granta
Granta
Granta is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centers on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and make real." In 2007, The Observer stated, "In its blend of...
and Geographical magazines, and The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
and The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
newspapers in the UK; he also worked on the film The Age of Stupid
The Age of Stupid
The Age of Stupid is a 2009 British film by Franny Armstrong, director of McLibel and Drowned Out, and founder of 10:10, and first-time producer Lizzie Gillett...
. He holds a degree in history and politics from the University of Edinburgh
University of Edinburgh
The University of Edinburgh, founded in 1583, is a public research university located in Edinburgh, the capital of Scotland, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The university is deeply embedded in the fabric of the city, with many of the buildings in the historic Old Town belonging to the university...
. He lives in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He has published several books including Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet
Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet
Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet , ISBN 9780007209057 is a 2007 non-fiction book by author Mark Lynas about global warming.- Themes :The book is a meta-analysis that details the science of climate change...
(2007) and The God Species: How the Planet Can Survive the Age of Humans (2011, ASIN: B0055P36U6).
Main work and publications
In 2004, Lynas' High Tide: The Truth About Our Climate Crisis was published by Macmillan PublishersMacmillan Publishers
Macmillan Publishers Ltd, also known as The Macmillan Group, is a privately held international publishing company owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group. It has offices in 41 countries worldwide and operates in more than thirty others.-History:...
on its Picador
Picador (imprint)
Picador is an imprint of Pan Macmillan in the United Kingdom and Australia and of Macmillan Publishing in the United States. Both companies are owned by Georg von Holtzbrinck Publishing Group....
imprint
Imprint
In the publishing industry, an imprint can mean several different things:* As a piece of bibliographic information about a book, it refers to the name and address of the book's publisher and its date of publication as given at the foot or on the verso of its title page.* It can mean a trade name...
. He has also contributed to a book entitled Fragile Earth: Views of a Changing World published by Collins
HarperCollins
HarperCollins is a publishing company owned by News Corporation. It is the combination of the publishers William Collins, Sons and Co Ltd, a British company, and Harper & Row, an American company, itself the result of an earlier merger of Harper & Brothers and Row, Peterson & Company. The worldwide...
, which presents before-and-after images of some of the natural changes which have happened to the world in recent years, including the Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
, alongside a bleak look at the effects of mankind's actions on the planet.
In January 2007 Lynas published Gem Carbon Counter, containing instructions to calculate people's personal carbon emissions and recommendations about how to reduce their impact on the atmosphere.
In 2007 he published Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet
Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet
Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet , ISBN 9780007209057 is a 2007 non-fiction book by author Mark Lynas about global warming.- Themes :The book is a meta-analysis that details the science of climate change...
, a book detailing the progressive effect of global warming
Global warming
Global warming refers to the rising average temperature of Earth's atmosphere and oceans and its projected continuation. In the last 100 years, Earth's average surface temperature increased by about with about two thirds of the increase occurring over just the last three decades...
in several planetary ecosystems, from 1 degree to 6 degrees and further of average temperature rise of the planet. Special coverage is given to the positive feedback mechanisms that could dramatically accelerate the climate change
Climate change
Climate change is a significant and lasting change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns over periods ranging from decades to millions of years. It may be a change in average weather conditions or the distribution of events around that average...
, possibly putting the climate on a runaway path. As a possible end scenario the release of methane hydrate from the bottom of the oceans could replicate the end-Permian extinction event
Permian-Triassic extinction event
The Permian–Triassic extinction event, informally known as the Great Dying, was an extinction event that occurred 252.28 Ma ago, forming the boundary between the Permian and Triassic geologic periods, as well as the Paleozoic and Mesozoic eras...
.
In 2008 National Geographic released a documentary film based on Lynas's book, entitled Six Degrees Could Change the World.http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/sixdegrees/
In 2010, Lynas published an article in the New Statesman
New Statesman
New Statesman is a British centre-left political and cultural magazine published weekly in London. Founded in 1913, and connected with leading members of the Fabian Society, the magazine reached a circulation peak in the late 1960s....
entitled "Why We Greens Keep Getting It Wrong" and the same year was the main contributor to a UK Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
Television programme called "What the Green Movement Got Wrong." In these he took a line similar to environmentalists such as Patrick Moore
Patrick Moore (environmentalist)
Patrick Moore is a former environmental activist, known as one of the early members of Greenpeace, in which he was an activist from 1971 to 1986...
, Bjorn Lomborg and Richard D. North
Richard D. North
Richard D. North, born 1946, is a UK conservative commentator. He worked for The Independent newspaper as its first environment correspondent and then as environmental columnist for The Sunday Times...
, explaining that he now felt that several of his previous strongly held beliefs were wrong. For example, he suggested that opposition by environmentalists, such as himself, to the development of nuclear energy
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
had speeded up climate change, that proscription of DDT had led to millions of deaths and that GM crops were necessary to feed the world.
This latter position was attacked as patronising and naive by some developing world commentators, including one featured in a Channel Four debate after the programme aired. A number of experts also criticised Lynas's factual errors in contributing to the film. British environmentalist George Monbiot
George Monbiot
George Joshua Richard Monbiot is an English writer, known for his environmental and political activism. He lives in Machynlleth, Wales, writes a weekly column for The Guardian, and is the author of a number of books, including Captive State: The Corporate Takeover of Britain and Bring on the...
wrote in the Guardian that 'Brand and Lynas present themselves as heretics. But their convenient fictions chime with the thinking of the new establishment: corporations, thinktanks, neoliberal politicians. The true heretics are those who remind us that neither social nor environmental progress are possible unless power is confronted.' Since writing this, George Monbiot admitted in 2011 that he had changed his mind and was in favour of nuclear energy.
In July 2011 he published in the U.K. the book entitled The God Species: How the Planet Can Survive the Age of Humans, which will be published in the U.S. by National Geographic in October 2011 as The God Species: Saving the Planet in the Age of Humans. Lynas argues that as Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
has entered the Anthropocene
Anthropocene
The Anthropocene is a recent and informal geologic chronological term that serves to mark the evidence and extent of human activities that have had a significant global impact on the Earth's ecosystems...
, and as such humanity is changing the planet's climate, its bio-geochemical cycles, the chemistry of the oceans and the colour of the sky, as well as reducing the number of species. Based on the planetary boundaries
Planetary boundaries
Planetary boundaries is the central concept in an Earth system framework proposed by a group of Earth system and environmental scientists led by Johan Rockström from the Stockholm Resilience Centre and Will Steffen from the Australian National University...
concept, he proposes several strategies that are controversial among the environmental community, such as using nuclear power to reduce carbon emissions and geoengineering
Geoengineering
The concept of Geoengineering refers to the deliberate large-scale engineering and manipulation of the planetary environment to combat or counteract anthropogenic changes in atmospheric chemistry The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change concluded in 2007 that geoengineering options, such...
to mitigate inevitable global warming; or genetic engineering
Genetic engineering
Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification, is the direct human manipulation of an organism's genome using modern DNA technology. It involves the introduction of foreign DNA or synthetic genes into the organism of interest...
(transgenics) to feed the world and reduce the environmental impact of agriculture, etc.
External links
- Reviews of High Tide:
- www.marklynas.org - personal website
- www.collins.co.uk/fragileearth - Fragile Earth
- www.marklynas.org/books Collins Carbon Counter
- "How do I know China wrecked the Copenhagen deal? I was in the room" - article by Mark Lynas on negotiations in Copenhagen 2009