Along comes Tim Flannery in 2009, internationally acclaimed scientist and author of the wildly successful The Weather Makers, to shed all
pretensions of massaging the message or softening the blow. His newest book, Now or Never, will frighten everyone who dares to read it - from hardened
climate skeptics to true believers.
Yes, it's that dire. For Flannery, we have already past the "tipping point" of climate consequences. Now we must act to avoid the "point of no
return," which would bring on a new "dark age" of full-scale climate catastrophe. Flannery is not concerned about living up to the billing of
climate alarmist. As David Suzuki writes in the book's foreword, it's time to "take the gloves off and tell like it is."
www.thegreenpages.ca...
Tim Flannery is no newcomer to the issues revolving around climate change. in his recent book;
The
Weathermakers, Flannery outlined what needed to be done to avert the catastrophic scenarios which the environmental movement has envisioned as
a result of climate change. The previous book garnered much attention around the world. This new book, however, puts that all aside and looks to how
we might be able to
contend with the results now that our collective feet have been dragging:
To list a few "modest" proposals: massive, unprecedented reforestation efforts are needed in tropical regions; carbon capture and storage
technologies must be developed fast to deal with surging coal industries throughout the developing world; and a revolution in holistic agriculture
techniques is essential, not just to reduce carbon emissions, but to make farming a net carbon sink. (Flannery suggests using the process of pyrolysis
to convert organic matter into fuel and charcoal. The latter could be plowed back into fields as inert stored carbon, improving crop yields and
producing healthier, nutrient-rich soil.) But these solutions, and all others listed in the book, leave Flannery sounding rushed and frantic. It's
basically a frenzied appeal for emergency measures.
Combined with the upcoming viral movie;
Not Evil Just wrong, we have two very opposite
sides of a contentious issue. Two forces pulling in two completely different directions.
Interesting months ahead for those of us who have been keeping up. As a past believer in the human contributions toward climate change, the
intelligent discourse between members on both sides of the debate have given me much to think about. There are other influences at work besides
ourselves, that much is becoming clear to me. How much or how little we are capable of changing is going to boil down to personal desires. For myself
and my family, I'll do what I can to pare down wasteful practices, if not for environmental impact, then for monetary savings alone. For instance,
I'm getting really tired of plastic containers which take forever to break down in landfills. We can do better than that and I support anything which
might eventually get rid of it.
But that's just a sliver of the total changes that obviously has to come. It's not just overflowing landfills... thank you, Michigan, for taking
most of Toronto's garbage over the past decade.
Now that you're full, I guess we're going to have to dump it in Ontario.
Issues on top of issues.
