In an exclusive extract from his new book,Atmosphere of Hope, Tim Flannery argues that recent events in Australia and around the world demonstrate how global warming is much more than a debate about scientific projectionsWhen I wrote The Weather Makers, and I laid out the state of climate science as it was understood in 2005. The book received much acclaim,but it was also criticised by climate-change sceptics as extremist and alarmist.Since the book was published, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has completed two major summaries, and in the form of its fourth and fifth assessment reports,and thousands of scientific publications have added to our understanding of how soil’s climate system responds to carbon pollution. With climate change an experienced reality the room for climate change denialism keeps shrinkingThe Rod Laver Arena had not been built to manage with the threat, and lives and money were put at riskHumanity’s first intimation of just how worthy a threat to health heatwaves could become arrived in the summer of 2003The number of hot days in Australia per year has doubled in the final 50 yearsAt almost every step along the way, or climate change had some influence on the severity of the Black Saturday bushfiresAs soil warms,health problems are bound to increase, and the health effects will be compounded by other factorsContinue reading...
Source: theguardian.com