"Our mother Earth is getting older that at times she gets sick". Wanting it or not, that is one inconvenient truth that we have to swallow. Most of us may not realize it, but actually all of us contribute to what happens to this Earth. A lot of information is swarming on the mass media telling us about how Earth's condition is severely worsened by global warming. Massive information may get us overwhelmed that at times we miss the details. To get deeper understanding about what happens to this Earth, why it happens, and chance of it getting better or worse, Six Degrees by Mark Lynas is a right destination.
In the Six Degrees, Lynas serves you with relevant facts from accessible journalistic prose to distill what environmental scientists portend about the consequences of human pollution for the next hundred years. Seeing the title, you may guess that the author would pinpoint the core elaboration of this book upon what will happen if the temperature of this Earth rises by six degrees Celsius. The number may not be significant, yet surprisingly the result of research done by the experts concluded that indeed the rise of the Earth's temperature, at any rate, would bring massive domino effect to the life on the surface of the Earth.
In 2001, IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) projected that global surface temperature would rise by 1.4 degrees to 5.8 degrees by the end of the century. Based on this projection, Lynas outlined what to expect from a warming world. An increase of 1 degree Celsius causes the disappearance of glaciers and also coral reefs bleaching which would disturb marine ecosystem. An increase of 3 degrees Celsius would spell the collapse of Amazon rainforest, disappearance of Greendland's ice sheet, and the creation of deserts across the Midwestern United States and Southern Africa.Â
Unfortunately, one factor that happens because of this rise in temperature will be followed by the domino effect. Take the disappearance of Greendland's ice sheet as the example. When the ice sheet melts, the sea level rises. Precipitation happens and it will disturb the growth of the crops. Then, if the coastal areas cannot contain the amount of the water, flood happens. We all know what happens when flood comes to town: damage on infrastructure, disease, you name it.
Frightening enough? Hold on a second. You may want to know what to expect when a 6-degree rise on temperature really happens to this Earth. How worse can it be? Then, if humans can make Earth's condition gets worse, do we have equal chance to mend it and make it better as well? Lynas has all of the answers to these questions. Each chapter is titled by a degree, from one to six, and tries to give you a good idea of what scientists think might happen as temperatures rise more and more. Based on authoritative scientific articles, the latest computer models, and information about past warm events in Earth history, Six Degrees promises to be an eye-opening warning that is too crucial to be missed.
Author: Mark Lynas
Year: 2008
Pages: 336
Publisher: National GeographicÂ
Reviewed by Dinis Dwi Shinta R. - Research and Development ISAFIS
