Global Warring: How Environmental, Economic, and Political Crises Will Redraw the World Map [Hardcover]

 

 

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To start off with, I must say that if we were to decide to elect a world government at some point in the near future and author Cleo Paskal ran for office I would not only vote for her, I would offer to be on her campaign team. The depth and breadth of her grasp of the coming effects of what she calls 'Environmental Change' (a much broader and more appropriate term than the more commonly used 'global warming' or 'climate change) is phenomenal.

I learned so much in this relatively short but very dense and impeccably researched book that put much of what I read in the news into perspective. I also benefited from the crash course in geopolitics that she delivers and appreciated her ability to hold both macro and micro-perspectives of the changes that have occurred in our past and that are to come in the future.

Her chart on page 244 is a must-read for anyone in the world who has a position of governance or influence. It is a brilliant synthesis of four aspects of preparedness for the potential hazards of the environmental changes that we are in the middle of and can expect more and more of. She describes three aspect of preparedness: 'Reinforce, Rescue, and Recovery' or preparation FOR potential disasters, planning for rescue when they occur, and the repair and cleanup afterward (which of course includes 'reinforce' in the event of another disastrous event). For each of these three aspects, there are four segments of society that must be involved and act according to their domain: Governments, the Private Sector, Society (NGO's, faith-based groups, community organizations, neighbourhoods, etc) and the Media. She goes on to give examples of how some nations have excelled in some areas but come up short in others.

Western nations have a complacency that some other lesser-developed nations do not have and this could put us in a very bad position if a disaster happens (she cites Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans).

One could apply this chart to the recent Haitian earthquake and it is easy to see where Haiti excelled and where they came up short (obviously in the 'reinforce aspect)

Cleo Paskal believes that we should be proactive rather than reactive in anticipating environmental change. She referred, for example, to the effects of thawing permafrost and the damage that is already causing current infrastructure. For example, rail lines built on permafrost are buckling under the thawing earth, something not previously accounted for that MUST be accounted for as new infrastructure is built. This was something that I'd not thought of before.

I could type pages about this book, how informative and enlightening and intelligent it was and it's ability to open my eyes to the possible opportunities and potential difficulties we are going to be facing as communities, nations and global citizens. I think the chief benefit for me, having read many books on this topic previously, was the global perspective, the concern with 'environmental change' as opposed to just carbon emissions, which many other books on this topic focus on and the influence of geopolitics on world events. The concept of nationalist capitalism that the author describes (China for one practices this) was very illuminating as well.

This book was not written to incite fear but rather to inform in a broad sense and provide very clear and practical prescriptions so that we can weather the upcoming environmental storms as well as we can. This is why I hope that anyone and everyone who has some 'clout' on whatever scale gets to read it and digest the ideas therein and hopefully help guide our good ship planet earth into a long future.

(I have also recently read Stewart Brand's newest book "Whole Earth Discipline: an Ecopragmatist's Manifesto" and enjoyed it immensely. It's focus was on the potential of technology to help us adapt to environmental change so a positive, although very different, companion to this book if you enjoy this topic. As a very vocal environmentalist since the sixties (and author of the Whole Earth Catalogue) it was very interesting to hear him retract some of his former views based on new knowledge).

Finally a gifted writer and throrough researcher understands the big picture and conveys her thoughts, the result of impressive analytical skills, in a succinct and convincing style. By focusing on 'what to do' as opposed to 'whom to blame', Paskal manages to lift our spirits at a crucial time in history, one in which as hitherto engaged individuals, we feel powerless and are tempted to capitulate before a potentially very bleak future for mankind. Thank you Cleo.

An astonishlngly brilliant book on where we're at globally with environmental change and, most importantly, what we can do about it. One of the rare books on climate and environmental change that analyses the current situation, predicts future changes, and thankfully, points a way to protect ourselves and mitigate the dangers. Not reactive but scientifically informed, globally comprehensive, and helpful. The book is also a pleasure to read. Highly recommended

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