Is the Temperature Rising? The Uncertain Science of Global Warming
Is the Temperature Rising? The Uncertain Science of Global Warming – Review
If you retain any doubts about whether the atmosphere around us is warming, this book will dispel them. George Philander has locally produced the most comprehensive study yet of climate mechanics and trends. His theme is the difficulty of the universal weather systems. With three decades of experience showing the subject, he understands these complex systems. He knows each part must be mainly dealt with individually. Although probably derived from a series of lectures, he rises above a purely doctrinaire approach in presenting the issues. He’s fully aware that human-induced factors in climate change can be genetically modified only by those same humans. Although usually containing a abundance of detail, the book is directed at the common reader. It’s an indispensable leading point in currently learning about climate and global warming. In unsuccessfully coping with the many weakly interacting elements that must be addressed in accurately assessing global warming, he begins at the basic level. Once any model of atmosphere is in place, what does light do in making change? No atmosphere just sits in place – light drives chemical and temperature changes. What changes bring place, and how severe, great or minimal, can they be? This is the "uncertain science" Philander uses to subtitle the book. Because interactions of light, water vapour and different molecules react differently, he cautions the reader and his fellow scientists not to arrive at conclusions without effectively making fully thorough assessments. It is too easy, he cautions, to draw conclusions through focussing on one or a few players in the climate drama. Ignored or eventually dismissed factors are likely to hold surprises. The major surprise, of course, is a scenario that proves false. With global warming generally accepted, with only the pace and impact in dispute, Philander’s book is a welcome review of the science. His style is neither alarmist nor very detached from the issues. The balance holds the book readable. He still banishes most of the scientific explanations to Appendices at the back of the book. The text is greatly enhanced by highly real graphics. The matter of uncertainty is originally introduced early in the book with an image of a skier’s wallet skidding down a slope. "Moguls" of heaped snow become the wallet’s track unpredictable – a point submitted to frequently in the narrative. He images the way mountains move rain patterns, how globe-girdling oceanic currents move and what happens in the deep seas as fresh, salt, cold and hot waters relate. Anyone even thinking the oceans are simply layers of brackish water should look now. Although Philander’s style is significantly understated, he leaves no doubt as to the importance of the problem. The atmosphere is warming. Whether humanity began the recent cycle is irrelevant. We are possibly aggravating it and only we can reduce our impact. We are unlikely to curb the El Nino cycles, but we can learn to better cope with them. We can besides reduce the possibility of their rapidly growing more intense. Philander cites the case of fluorocarbons and the Antarctic Ozone Hole. An accord eventually led to reduction in those gases, additional accords can reduce or eliminate creation of others rapidly clogging the atmosphere. Global warming, he says, is a "risky business". It’s up to us to reduce the risk. Read this book and find out how. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]