The Weather Makers: A Review

I just finished reading The Weather Makers: How Man Is Changing the Climate and What It Means for Life on Earth by Tim Flannery. This book does a  terrific job of presenting the entire climate change crisis, from how our planet works, to how we are changing it, predictions for the future and possible (and not-so-possible) solutions.
I found this book wonderfully interesting for many reasons, the first being that Flannery's writing style makes non-fiction exciting and holds your attention. As someone with a Master's Degree in science, I know that writing about facts can get pretty dry, so I greatly admire anyone who can turn those facts into a story. Secondly, this book explains all aspects of the climate change crisis and does quite a thorough job in doing so, yet doesn't overwhelm the reader with scientific jargon and tedious specifics. Lastly, Flannery is Australian, so it is interesting to read a book written from the perspective of someone living outside the United States, especially when politics get involved. Australians, per capita, are even bigger contributors to the climate change crisis than Americans are, and they have been experiencing great amounts of drought in recent times, so this book is presented with a sense of urgency.
My favorite section of the book was the section on what climate change is doing now and could possibly lead to in the future, depending on how quickly we act.  From species extinctions (some of which have already been attributed to global warming) to the disappearance of coral reefs to changes in precipitation all over the planet, it looks like we are in for quite a ride if we continue to dump carbon into the atmosphere at current rates. My second favorite section was the section on possible solutions to the mess we have caused. Most of these, as you can guess, focus on renewable energy sources, living off the grid and plans for implementing change. One of my favorite parts of this section is when Flannery talks about the coal industry and if they would really walk away from all of that coal (and revenue) just waiting to be extracted. He references Arthur C. Clarke, who suggested saving that coal for when our planet enters the next ice age in a few thousands years, and purposefully causing a global warming epidemic to prevent an ice age. Funny, but smart.
This book is definitely worth the read if you have any interest in climate change (which you should because it is happening to YOU!) or need any clarifications on what climate change is and what it is doing to our planet and our future. I plan on having my spring class, which focuses on energy use and global warming, read this book for their literature review. Interesting, informative and urgent.