a consuming fire

Over a year ago I read three long pieces in The New Yorker by Elizabeth Kolbert on global warming. The writing was measured and yet also alarming , at the same time reflective and urgent. I saved the pieces, to be read again, and was pleased that the articles have now appeared as a book entitled Field Notes From A Catastrophe: Man, Nature and Climate Change (Bloomsbury). From the point of view of both reader and writer, it is a perfect title: these are field notes, observations from the Arctic Circle and Washington, D.C., from China and Greenland, from the Netherlands and Syria. The observations are carefully made, and call forth the interpretation (and response) of the reader. The "catastrophe" is the warming of the earth's atmosphere, a fact that is universally affirmed by the objective scientific communities of the developed countries of the world.

Global warming (1998 had the highest global temperature on record, 2002 the second highest, 2001 the third highest, 2004 the fourth highest) is chiefly the result of increased carbon dioxide emissions, which largely arise from the use of electricity (39%) and then transportation (32%). The U.S. is the largest producer of CO2, although we will soon be overtaken by China. The results of global warming thus far are higher sea levels in some parts of the world, droughts in others, less ice surface (which reflects the sun's heat back) and more watery surface (which absorbs the heat). The major cause of hurricane intensity is the warmth of the waters (thus the frequency of hurricanes in these past years near, among other places, Florida and the Gulf). Stay tuned to the upcoming hurricane season!

Kolbert presents the evidence from as many perspectives as possible. She notes along the way that most often the public is alarmed, while scientists are cautious. In regard to global warming, however, the scientific community is alarmed, while the general public has largely been unmoved. She also outlines the politics of global warming: the Clinton Administration is largely seen as right on the rhetoric but politically unwilling to respond, while the Bush Administration has been at times "missing in action", to use John McCain's phrase, and at other times intentionally dishonest in attempting to confuse the public. She also notes the economic perspective: the U.S. and China are essentially at a stand-off, neither willing to act, because of competitive pressures in the global marketplace.

Other questions are posed in the book: Are humans really the cause of global warming? Will the effects of warming be gradual or catastrophic? Can anything really be done, or is it too late? Can humans adapt, as they have done so often in the past? Is this a crisis where we have adequate knowledge but not the will to act?

Kolbert dedicates the book to her three sons, and of course that is a lingering question related to global warming. We are changing the environment in catastrophic ways. I am not aware of anyone who seriously believes that our children and their children will inherit the same earth that we did. The choice, Kolbert suggests, is between action in the present or self-destruction in the future.

I encourage you to get your hands on a copy of these "field notes", to look at the world in which we live, and to ask yourself, "what kind of future awaits the inhabitants of this planet?"