The Weather Makers And Their Impact On Environment - Essay Example

The Weather Makers And Their Impact On Environment Chapter 23: A Close Run Thing This particular chapter discusses what many of the other chapters that have herein been discussed does as it focuses upon the thin level of difference that human action and the ultimate consequence of inaction with regards to environmental issues can effect. In this way, the author helps to set up the perfect introduction for section IV as the key action points and levels of change that human decisions can effect are understood within the construct of what available mechanisms there are to help ameliorate the situation. As such, the way in which the author utilizes this chapter is as a segue into the information that will be presented in the proceeding sections. Chapter 24: The Road to Kyoto As with any broad multinational agreement, the author goes on to describe the way that the Kyoto Protocol faced some resilient pushback from both the United States and Australia which felt that the implementation of the protocols provisions would be too stringent and should necessarily be relaxed as a means to encourage a more full and complete level of participation by all parties. The author goes on to detail how the level of pushback from Australia was indicative of a self-interested position in which many would-be participants approach the level of restrictions that the economic systems of their respective nations are willing to undertake as a function of realizing the level of environmental agreements that are proposed (Pielke 393). By providing an instance of the way in which key interest helped to differentiate the way in which a global protocol was adopted and understood, the author is able to shine a more focused light onto the way in which self-interest and national preferences can ultimately derail an otherwise uniform understanding of a shared environmental need. Chapter 25: Cost, Cost, Cost In the next chapter, the author discusses the economic and environmental costs of action versus inaction within the realm of doing something or doing nothing with regards to global climate change. The two protocols that have been mentioned within the previous chapters are of course tangentially mentioned as evidence of both the level to which exemplary cooperation can effect as well as the level to which self-interest ultimately threatens to derail the process. Moreover, the nuts and bolts of cost are defined in a way that the reader can understand that each of the restrictions that each successive protocol entails lessens the economic output of member nations while at the same time having a positive outcome for the world environment as a whole. In this way, the author ultimately discusses the direct and noticeable economic cost as compared to a somewhat nebulous yet ultimately realized environmental gain within the future. Chapter 26: People in Greenhouses Shouldn’t Tell Lies Chapter 25 helps to detail the ways in which member countries of climate protocols have attempted to reduce their carbon outputs and the varying degrees of success that have been implemented, striven for, and ultimately realized. By thoroughly analyzing the key means by which nations have sought to affect their carbon outputs, the author is able to draw a level of tacit understanding with regards to the self-regulation that ultimately defines success within the individual nation’s appreciation for and reduction of carbon emissions. However, more detailed than just referencing the ways in which carbon levels can be reduced due to decreases in industrial output, the author goes on to discuss the process of sequestration and the means whereby carbon levels could actually be reversed through the appropriate chemical or biological process of CO2 capture. Such a concept is of course interesting due to the fact that it is the first instance that this reviewer noted that the author focused an entire chapter on the ways in which technological innovation could hold the potential for ameliorating the current crisis that is now faced. Chapter 27: Engineering Solutions The next chapter delves into the nuances of the economic limitations of combating global climate change. What the author goes on to explain is what specific approach maximizes the most utility for the Earth. For instance, as a function of the economic downturn and the fundamental lack of resources in general that are tasked for combating global climate change, those interested in seeking ways to accomplish this have to, according to the author, make a fundamental choice between seeking to combat issues relating to CO2 emissions from transportation or seeking to redefine the way that power is provided through the electricity grid. As such, the main thrust of this chapter involves weighing the economic and environmental costs of which one of these two factors poses the bigger threat to climate change (Changnon 1117). In this way, the author seeks to describe to the reader the fact that clear and discernible tradeoffs exist within the realm of environmental sustainability in a way not dissimilar to the way in which tradeoffs exist within the field of economics. Chapter 28: Last Steps on the Stairway to Heaven Thus far, the book has spoken to the trends, level of change necessitated, and level of participation that has existed within the global community with regards to actionable decisions. However, the final chapter of Part IV of the book details the fact that many of these protocols and their corresponding levels of participation would be redundant if only a technological shift could be realized as a means of taking our economy off the carbon fuel standard (Flannery 184). As such, a level of analysis is given to the prospect of hydrogen as a fuel and the ultimate effects that its use could have on the world system. The author goes on to discuss that almost every single negative result of environmental damage that currently exists within the global system can mainly be linked back to the widespread and ever increasing utilization of fossil fuels as a source of energy and a means of production. As such, the author describes the overall level of benefit that could be realized by switching to non-fossil based fuels and means of production due to the overall net benefit that this would ultimately entail for the global environment. What is the author trying to get across to the reader in Part IV? It is the belief of this reviewer that the main point that the author was attempting to get across was the notion that human self interests combined with the needs of economic factors ultimately plot the course of the way in which key shareholders engage with environmental issues. As such, Part IV seeks to engage the reader with a more societal and economic approach to the environmental issues faced currently as opposed to the more scientific and data-centric approach that is presented within the other sections of the book. Works Consulted Changnon, David, and Tamara Creech. "Interactions With A Weather-Sensitive Decision Maker: A Case Study Incorporating ENSO Information.." Bulletin Of The American Meteorological Society 80.6 (1999): 1117. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Feb. 2013. Flannery, Tim. The weather makers : how man is changing the climate and what it means for life on Earth. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 2005. Print. Pielke Jr., Roger, and R. E. Carbone. "Weather Impacts, Forecasts, And Policy: An Integrated Perspective." Bulletin Of The American Meteorological Society 83.3 (2002): 393. Academic Search Complete. Web. 6 Feb. 2013. Read More