I just read a review for a book (which I will promptly be buying) that gives a sobering look at climate change. The book is
Thin Ice: Unlocking the Secrets of Climate in the World's Highest Mountains/ by
Mark Bowen, published by Henry Holt, 2005. The review was written by
Kelpie Wilson, at
truthout.org
Is this scary enough for you?
Climate shock comes from the realization that climate change is not only real, but huge; it is not only huge, but it is now; and it will affect your life very shortly. Not your grandchildren's lives. Not your children's lives. Your life. Soon - if it hasn't already.
More below the fold...
Kelpie Wilson says,
"Thin Ice is the story of the scientific team from Ohio State University, led by researcher Lonnie Thompson, that has spent the last two decades drilling ice cores in tropical mountain glaciers. Their aim is to retrieve information about climate history from the ice, but there has been a race against time as these glaciers melt, making new history."
Having believed that the changes in the Gulf Stream and African currents are the most dangerous threats to our current climate, I was surprised to read that this new research shows some convincing evidence that they are a less powerful influence on climate than previously thought.
Thompson's work shows that tropical influences, particularly the El Niño and monsoon cycles (which are related), are the bigger drivers of climate change. This suggests that in the future, the Earth's climate may resemble what we see in El Niño years, but much more extreme. Depending on where you are, your climate shock could show up as either flood or drought or both in rapid succession - a permanent El Niño from Hell.
...
A funny thing happened 2 million years ago on the way to the ice ages. The ice caps sucked moisture from the African forests, which withered and withdrew from the plains. An arboreal ape came down from the trees and began to make tools and lose its hair. When its descendants multiplied and started to burn fossil fuels, they became a fever-inducing planetary infection. They (we) are the cause of climate shock.
...
Meanwhile, the melting ice will raise the seas. Lonnie Thompson and other researchers are discovering that once glaciers start to melt, they can melt all the way to bedrock very rapidly. If all of the Earth's mountain glaciers were to melt, it would raise the sea level by a foot and a half and that would be the end of places like Bangladesh and Louisiana's bayou country. But the polar ice caps are showing the same tendency for rapid melting, and a mere two degree Fahrenheit rise in global temperature could be enough to cause a complete disintegration. Sea levels could start rising by 3 feet every 20 years. We will have to act quickly and drastically to avert this inundation.
Everything we can learn about climate change is very important, and this book appears to make our understanding-- and actions-- more urgent than ever.
I recommend that you all read this important book review, and then go read the book for yourselves.