The cover of the new climate change travelogue from journalist Stephan Faris makes it pretty clear his news will be grim. On the front cover of Forecast: The Consequences of Climate Change, from the Amazon to the Arctic, from Darfur to Napa Valley ($25, Henry Holt and Company), a lifeless desert floor extends to an ominous red glow on the horizon. It could be a stretch of former Sudanese farmland swallowed by the Sahara’s southward creep. Or it could be somewhere in southeastern Australia, where an extended drought has decimated a once-thriving rice-growing region. But the spirit of impending doom is tough to miss.
Forecast‘s goal isn’t to prove climate change’s existence (Faris isn’t a scientist), or propose solutions (there’s none of that). Instead, it catalogues how the effects of climate change aren’t waiting 50 years down the road, they’re underway already. Rising temperatures are extending the reach of malaria and other tropical diseases. Polar bears, of course, face a melting habitat. Winemakers can offer an expanding variety of low-priced offerings as more areas become warm enough for growing grapes. (Not quite everything is dismal.) In a reprisal of his April 2007 Atlantic story, Faris argues that the conflict in Darfur is essentially fueled by drought, putting Arab herders and African farmers in competition over the remaining arable land.
Faris, a correspondent for Time and Fortune, is consistent in detailing how the poor will get the short end of every change. Take, for example, two low-lying coastal countries—the Netherlands and Bangladesh. Both will face similar problems as sea levels rise, but they’ll have vastly different resources for adapting:
The Dutch are preparing for rising sea levels with houses that can float through a flood. Canadian, Russian, and Scandinavian farmers could even benefit from wetter, milder winters. The result is likely to be a further widening of global disparity, an increase in immigration pressures in border regions…and political reverberations across the developed world as politicians and the public struggle over the proper place for the less fortunate.
Kinda takes the fun out of the cheap, new wines. Even for those readers convinced long ago of the need to act on climate change, Forecast does a pretty good job showing how Al Gore’s computer models have already begun playing out.
Feed the world sustainably by 2050? Yes, we can!
Seattleites: Come hang with Amanda Little at Elliott Bay Books
The Copenhagen Conference on food security
Comments
View as Flat
biodiversivist Posted 2:18 am
05 Feb 2009
By repeatedly pointing out inconvenient truths people will not suddenly decide to stop building McMansions, or decks, or taking trips to far away lands. Other ideas are needed.
I would like to see more books about potential solutions, fewer books describing the problem. Note that evolution is still taught in all public schools even though most Americans don't buy it. Getting everyone to agree is not necessary or possible.
In the end, it all comes down to biodiversity. Poison Darts--Protecting the biodiversity of our world
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Green Granny Posted 3:26 am
05 Feb 2009
"We must be the change we wish to see in the world." -- Mahatma Ghandi
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Backcut Posted 5:09 am
05 Feb 2009
Energy and climate issues also suffer from being "politically unpalatable". It's always the environment that suffers when a political choice is made.
Scenic pics at http://Lhfotoware.blogspot.com
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hfn Posted 2:29 pm
05 Feb 2009
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Pangolin Posted 7:05 pm
05 Feb 2009
The people who pretend that we have to research some super-solution are simply stalling for time while their investments mature. Concentrated energy sources are easier to skim profits from than alternative energy.
Since the human race seems to be unable to un-stupid itself as a group it does seem that screening Waterworld and looking for survival tips might actually end up being a sane option.
Put the Carbon Back
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prohb Posted 4:07 am
09 Feb 2009
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