The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery - Essay Example

The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery Chapter 16: Model Worlds There are several climate change models that have been developed. The Hardley Centre that is located in London created one such model, named the Hardley climate model that happens to have relatively high accuracy readings as a result of its careful considerations of factors such as moisture mass, heat conversion and its proper simulation of the present and past climates. Past climate change models were found to be highly inaccurate as a result of the inaccurate satellite data being collected. The ozone layer was getting depleted while the stratosphere cooled even though both the troposphere and the earth continued to warm. Aerosols affect the atmosphere and sulphur dioxide emissions cause a cooling effect on the earth surface just like low quality coal. All of the possible natural causes of global warming will have occurred by 2050 and man has control over the speed at which global warming will progress. There is no existing model that can be able to determine the possibility of our saving the earth, and its many habitats and species (Flannery 153-165). Chapter 17: The commitment and Approaching Extreme Danger Several eras and times have had the most impact on climate change. The Baby boomer generation in particular can be held as being the most accountable generation in respect to the levels of CO2 that has been emitted into the atmosphere. The impact of the green house gases that are currently in our atmosphere will be fully felt by around the year 2050. This can mainly be attributed CO2 long life in the earth’s atmosphere. Nearly half of the entire world’s energy that has been generated since the industrial revolution has been consumed within the past 20 years. The effect of the response by the planet to these temperature changes varies from the earth’s surface, to the atmosphere as seen with the example by the data collected in 2002. The data recorded the planet’s temperature to be over the preindustrial temperature conditions by about 0.8 degrees Celsius. The troposphere also saw an increase of about 0.25 degrees Celsius while the land surface witnessed the highest levels of temperature increase of about 1.2 degrees Celsius (Flannery 166-170). Chapter 18: Leveling the Mountains It is estimated that, for a distance travelled up a mountain of approximately one hundred yards, the temperature drops by about one degree F. This cooling is what makes mountains unique and not just a taller version of the land surrounding it. As the world rapidly warms, the mountain dwelling species have no option but to move further up to the cooler regions which is a factor that could potentially lead to their extinction (Flannery 171-177). Chapter 19: How can they keep on moving? Various species managed to survive climate change in the past by moving up mountains, until they were able to reach temperatures that would ensure their survival. Nowadays water bodies and various human landscapes are impeding their paths and getting in the way of any migration. An example of this is the fynbos found in the Cape Fold Mountains which is one of the six floral kingdoms in the world. It will potentially lose up to half its species by 2050 due to global warming as they will be unable to migrate. If action were to be taken immediately, we would be able to save two species for each species killed, but if we fail to do this, three out of every five species will not live to see the next century (Flannery 178-183). Chapter 20: Boiling the Abyss When deep-sea dwelling creatures are caught by marine biologists trawling nets and are lifted to the ocean’s surface, they die within moments a factor that scientists have been attributing to pressure changes. This has wrongly been attributed to be a result of temperature changes, but modern science has now shown this to be as a result of temperature change. These creatures are used to temperatures hovering around zero and have evolved to withstand and survive in these temperatures. The ocean is structured into different layers that are separated by their temperatures. In some areas, when the ocean happens to absorb more and more CO2, it tends to become more acidic resulting in the carbonate that acts as a buffer keeping the oceanic CO2 levels in check leaching out to the shell forming creatures and thereby resulting in their demise (Flannery 184-188). Chapter 21: The Pack of Jokers In addition to the various minor effects of the current trend affected by global warming, there are potentially three major catastrophic effects of global warming the first being the collapse of the Gulf Stream, the second of which is the collapse of the Amazon rain forest and thirdly the potential release of methane gas by the ocean. In the control of these potential serious catastrophes, it is vital for us to realize that similarly to the firing of a gun, the possibility of effective human control only exists as the process begins that is before the trigger is pulled (Flannery 189-202). Chapter 22: Civilization: Without a Whimper? Global warming has a long term impact on the world’s climate. Urban areas and cities will be severely affected, as they are fragile due to their being a plethora of constant demand for various resources that will progressively become harder to find over time. The lack of resources has constantly been one of the key reasons that caused the collapse of many civilizations. This is approximately to occur to our current civilization in about one thousand years. One of the first resources to disappear will be water mainly because it is in high demand and relatively cheap. As a result of the collapse of the Gulf Stream, Europe and the coast of North America could potentially face a long and virtually endless winter (Flannery 203-212). Conclusion In this section on the science of prediction, Flannery is seen to attempt to explain the different climate prediction models available and how the projected effects of global warming might impact the planet’s ecology. He uses various examples so as to be able to create a better picture on the effects of global warming. The potential impact of global warming on the planets Gulf Stream is also highlighted (Flannery 153-212). Works Cited: Flannery T. Fridtjof. The weather makers : how man is changing the climate and what it means for life on Earth. New York: Atlantic Monthly Press. 2005. Print. Read More