The Weather Makers
Encyclopedia
The Weather Makers: The History and Future Impact of Climate Change (2005) is a book by Tim Flannery
.
The book received critical acclaim. It won the major prize at the 2006 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards
, and was short-listed for the 2010 Jan Michalski Prize for Literature
.
of global warming
. The book reviews evidence of historical climate change
and attempts to compare this with the current era. The book argues that if atmospheric carbon dioxide
levels continue to increase at current rates, the resulting climate change will cause mass species
extinctions
. The book also asserts that global temperatures have already risen enough to cause the annual monsoon
rains in the Sahel
region of Africa to diminish, causing droughts and desertification
. This in turn, according to Flannery, has caused the conflict
in the Darfur
region through competition for disappearing resource
s. Further consequences, argued in the book, include increasing hurricane intensity, and decline in the health of coral reefs.
The final third of the book discusses proposed solutions. Flannery advocates individual
action as well as international and governmental actions. He argues that a few industries such as the coal
industry, currently responsible for 40% of the energy consumed in the U.S., remain opponents of needed action. The book retraces the evidence that the administration , motivated by coal-industry donations to the Republican party
, undermines political action by omitting mention of climate change from government documents. The book cites evidence against the argument that conservation
is bad for economies.
Tim Flannery
Timothy Fridtjof Flannery is an Australian mammalogist, palaeontologist, environmentalist and global warming activist....
.
The book received critical acclaim. It won the major prize at the 2006 New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards
New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards
The New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards were established in 1979 by the New South Wales Premier Neville Wran. Commenting on its purpose, Wran said: "We want the arts to take, and be seen to take, their proper place in our social priorities...
, and was short-listed for the 2010 Jan Michalski Prize for Literature
Jan Michalski Prize for Literature
Jan Michalski Prize for Literature is a literary prize for any work of fiction or non-fiction published anywhere in the world in any language. It is meant to recognize authors from around the world and world literature in general. The jury is multicultural and multilingual in composition.The award...
.
Description
The book includes 36 short essays predicting the consequencesEffects of global warming
This article is about the effects of global warming and climate change. The effects, or impacts, of climate change may be physical, ecological, social or economic. Evidence of observed climate change includes the instrumental temperature record, rising sea levels, and decreased snow cover in the...
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...
. The book reviews evidence of historical 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...
and attempts to compare this with the current era. The book argues that if atmospheric carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide
Carbon dioxide is a naturally occurring chemical compound composed of two oxygen atoms covalently bonded to a single carbon atom...
levels continue to increase at current rates, the resulting climate change will cause mass species
Species
In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...
extinctions
Extinction event
An extinction event is a sharp decrease in the diversity and abundance of macroscopic life. They occur when the rate of extinction increases with respect to the rate of speciation...
. The book also asserts that global temperatures have already risen enough to cause the annual monsoon
Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation, but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea...
rains in the Sahel
Sahel
The Sahel is the ecoclimatic and biogeographic zone of transition between the Sahara desert in the North and the Sudanian Savannas in the south.It stretches across the North African continent between the Atlantic Ocean and the Red Sea....
region of Africa to diminish, causing droughts and desertification
Desertification
Desertification is the degradation of land in drylands. Caused by a variety of factors, such as climate change and human activities, desertification is one of the most significant global environmental problems.-Definitions:...
. This in turn, according to Flannery, has caused the conflict
War in Darfur
The Darfur Conflict was a guerrilla conflict or civil war centered on the Darfur region of Sudan. It began in February 2003 when the Sudan Liberation Movement/Army and Justice and Equality Movement groups in Darfur took up arms, accusing the Sudanese government of oppressing non-Arab Sudanese in...
in the Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
region through competition for disappearing resource
Resource
A resource is a source or supply from which benefit is produced, typically of limited availability.Resource may also refer to:* Resource , substances or objects required by a biological organism for normal maintenance, growth, and reproduction...
s. Further consequences, argued in the book, include increasing hurricane intensity, and decline in the health of coral reefs.
The final third of the book discusses proposed solutions. Flannery advocates individual
Individual and political action on climate change
Individual and political action on climate change can take many forms, most of which have the ultimate goal of limiting and/or reducing the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, toward avoiding dangerous climate change.-Political action:...
action as well as international and governmental actions. He argues that a few industries such as the coal
Coal
Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock usually occurring in rock strata in layers or veins called coal beds or coal seams. The harder forms, such as anthracite coal, can be regarded as metamorphic rock because of later exposure to elevated temperature and pressure...
industry, currently responsible for 40% of the energy consumed in the U.S., remain opponents of needed action. The book retraces the evidence that the administration , motivated by coal-industry donations to the Republican party
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
, undermines political action by omitting mention of climate change from government documents. The book cites evidence against the argument that conservation
Energy conservation
Energy conservation refers to efforts made to reduce energy consumption. Energy conservation can be achieved through increased efficient energy use, in conjunction with decreased energy consumption and/or reduced consumption from conventional energy sources...
is bad for economies.
See also
- An Inconvenient TruthAn Inconvenient TruthAn Inconvenient Truth is a 2006 documentary film directed by Davis Guggenheim about former United States Vice President Al Gore's campaign to educate citizens about global warming via a comprehensive slide show that, by his own estimate, he has given more than a thousand times.Premiering at the...
- Hell and High WaterHell and High Water (book)Hell and High Water: Global Warming — the Solution and the Politics — and What We Should Do is a book by author, scientist, and former U.S. Department of Energy official Joseph J. Romm, published December 26, 2006...
- Chasing KangaroosChasing KangaroosChasing Kangaroos: A Continent, a Scientist, and a Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Creature, is a 2007 book by Professor Tim Flannery. The book draws on three decades of travel, research, and field work to explore Australia's kangaroo...
- List of Australian environmental books
- Storms of My GrandchildrenStorms of My GrandchildrenStorms of My Grandchildren is climate scientist James Hansen's first book, published by Bloomsbury Press in 2009. The book is about threats to people and habitability for life on earth from global warming.-Themes:...
- The Weather of the FutureThe Weather of the FutureThe Weather of the Future: Heat Waves, Extreme Storms, and Other Scenes From a Climate-Changed Planet is a 2010 book by climatologist Heidi Cullen. Cullen takes as her starting point the "clear and present dangers" posed by the greenhouse gases which result from the burning fossil fuels. She...
- Requiem for a SpeciesRequiem for a SpeciesRequiem for a Species: Why We Resist the Truth about Climate Change is a 2010 book by Australian academic Clive Hamilton which explores climate change denial and its implications. It argues that climate change will bring about large-scale, harmful consequences for habitability for life on Earth...