Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet

Fascinating and worrying book not loved by climate change deniers. No doubt an element of rising temperatures and melting ice is nature at work, but humanity is definitely having a major influence as well. This publication hit the book shelves ten years ago and it mentions more powerful storms. Just look at what happened in the Caribbean not so many weeks ago. This is a worst case scenario but it could all come true in the decades to come.

Ray Smillie

Catastrophic but realistic view of the future which awaits children who are born today. Well written, detailed, it makes you travel from Greenland to Australia, from the hills of Nebraska to Pakistan, etc. Be brave! Read it!

I've read many climate change books and this is up there with the best. I initially distrusted the book because it was written by a journalist and not a scientist but it soon becomes clear that this is far more a science book than a ranting journo. The author skilfully draws together his research into a terrifying format of a world affected by first one, then two, then three degrees warming. By the time you get to what would happen at six degrees of warming you are pretty much desensitised to the horror.

One of the good things about the book is the author's honesty. Where the science is sketchy he makes it clear. At five and six degrees how the world will react is impossible to say at the moment but Lynas makes this absolutely clear to the reader, explaining that this is almost uncharted territory and that his ideas are more speculative. At this level of warming he delves into past climates to find analogues in earth's history for what might happen.

Another good thing that I particularly liked is the final chapter. Most climate change books cop out by saying that there's still time to change things. Lynas does try to offer hope but also points out how unlikely it is that anything will stop the mess that man has caused, and continues to cause. He talks about the nature of man here, how he can deny or justify anything and this is fascinating. It's also the crux of the climate change problem.

It is now 2017 and CO2 is at 410ppm, climate change is a Chinese hoax / global warming is good for it brings more rain. Meanwhile, Houston and Puerto Rico are devastated and uninhabitable, Phoenix - Arizona will become uninhabitable by 2050 because of rising temperatures. And that is just part of US.
Fat bank accounts is all that matters to politicians and Oil&Gas companies in US Canada EU Russia China. That is not to say that ordinary citizens care too much although the trend seems to be changing.
Sometimes it seems like Tesla is the only on pushing in the right direction. It all may be too late for much of Earth. Worth fighting though.

A must read book for anyone who cares about our future in this planet. If you are not a selfish person who thinks that can keep consuming endlessly, the book will give you an inside in what is coming our way and you can get prepare for a disastrous future!