Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change, by Elizabeth Kolbert

Elizabeth Kolbert's nonfiction book, Field Notes from a Catastrophe provides an honest, factual and comprehensive look at climate change in today's world. From Alaskan villages to South American jungles, Kolbert details the devastating effects of pollution on today's world - in places where it's already happening. While the book is quite dry for anyone not interested in climate change, it is a crucial and encompassing work that will leave any reader better informed. Kolbert cites a lot of facts and figures in her book, but don't be alarmed if they aren't true - it is five or six years old, so I wouldn't take any of her numbers as fact before checking them yourself. Kolbert interviews many experts on the subject of climate change. She is also very factual when addressing the causes and solutions to many problems, but doesn't shy away from politics either. While many would say that climate change is a "leftist" issue, purported only by fear-mongering Democrats (and yes, Kolbert was a writer for the New York Times), she gives fair recognition to politicians of all stripes. She expresses disappointment at the Bush administration's handle on climate issues, but also praises Senator John McCain for supporting and introducing strong climate legislation in the Senate. She also addresses the arguments of global warming disbelievers, and explains the faults in a respectful but comprehensive way. Among all Kolbert's warnings of future devastation, hope is present. She spends an entire chapter detailing the efforts of Burlington, Vermont to make their town more eco-friendly. This rather large town has worked hard to reduce their carbon emissions by over 175,000 tons in 16 years. Their electricity use has dropped by 1%, while the rest of Vermont has risen by 15% (so a total 16% savings). Her book provides a clear, focused and wide-sweeping look at the effects of climate change (from melting ice sheets to extinct Costa Rican toads), to our future losses, to solutions to the problems facing the next generation. While not quite as passionate as other climate-related books, Field Notes from a Catastrophe is a hard look at our energy future, and the changes that need to be made for our planet, our children and future.

The Weather Makers: How Man is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth, by Tim Flannery

This book is exactly the opposite of Gretel Ehrlich's book I reviewed last month, but they make great companions. While Flannery's book gives you the facts, figures and politics of global warming, Ehrlich's is a tribute to what is being lost, giving a face to Flannery's hard numbers.

What I liked: It debunked a lot of global warming myths that I have found hard to explain in global warming debates; for example, the "Medieval Warm Period", when the Earth was thought to be warm due to evidence of wineries in England. As evidenced by global temperature records (ice cores, tree rings, etc.), the Earth was overall cooler, but warmed in a sort of patchy way due to natural stratospheric shifts. Flannery's book gave me a lot of the facts, numbers and predictions I was looking for out of Ehrlich's book, but having read Ehrlich's book helped me clearly envision what he meant. I would highly suggest reading them together. I also liked that he made it clear that even if we stopped emitting any fossil fuels this very minute, the Earth would still warm a little (maybe 2 degrees overall) because of the lifetime of carbon dioxide to stay in our air.

What I didn't like: For all of Flannery's hard facts, putting compassion behind facts is very difficult. Saying that the hole in the ozone is 11 million miles wide (made up number) is not the same as showing it. I often found myself checking the page numbers to see how long I had before I was done.

Overall: I would give it a 7 out of 10.

Alternative review:

Publisher's Weekly:

Mammologist and paleontologist Flannery (The Eternal Frontier), who in recent years has become well known for his controversial ideas on conservation, the environment and population control, presents a straightforward and powerfully written look at the connection between climate change and global warming. It's destined to become required reading following Hurricane Katrina as the focus shifts to the natural forces that may have produced such a devastating event. Much of the book's success is rooted in Flannery's succinct and fascinating insights into related topics, such as the differences between the terms greenhouse effect, global warming and climate change, and how the El Niño cycle of extreme climatic events "had a profound re-organising effect on nature." But the heart of the book is Flannery's impassioned look at the earth's "colossal" carbon dioxide pollution problem and his argument for how we can shift from our current global reliance on fossil fuels [...]. Flannery consistently produces the hard goods related to his main message that our environmental behavior makes us all "weather makers" who "already possess all the tools required to avoid catastrophic climate change."

Details:

Paperback: 400 pages
Publisher: Grove Press (January 10, 2001)
ISBN-10: 0802142923
ASIN: B001PO66MG