- Hardcover: 256 pages
- Publisher: Basic Books (Jun 8 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0465009492
- ISBN-13: 978-0465009497
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 16.3 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 476 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#162,529 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #77 in Books > Science > Earth Sciences > Climatology
- #84 in Books > Outdoors & Nature > Ecology > Rivers
- #86 in Books > Outdoors & Nature > Environment > Weather
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
Kirkus
“NASA astrobiologist [Peter] Ward describes the disastrous changes that can be expected as sea levels continue their accelerating rise due to global warming… a blunt, vivid warning.”
“NASA astrobiologist [Peter] Ward describes the disastrous changes that can be expected as sea levels continue their accelerating rise due to global warming… a blunt, vivid warning.”
SALON.com
“A beautifully written, thoroughly research and relentlessly terrifying work, and a must-read for anybody with an interest in the environment or the future of our planet.”
Book Description
Sea level rise will happen no matter what we do. Even if we stopped all carbon dioxide emissions today, the seas would rise one meter by 2050 and three meters by 2100. This—not drought, species extinction, or excessive heat waves—will be the most catastrophic effect of global warming. And it won’t simply redraw our coastlines—agriculture, electrical and fiber optic systems, and shipping will be changed forever. As icebound regions melt, new sources of oil, gas, minerals, and arable land will be revealed, as will fierce geopolitical battles over who owns the rights to them.
In The Flooded Earth, species extinction expert Peter Ward describes in intricate detail what our world will look like in 2050, 2100, 2300, and beyond—a blueprint for a foreseeable future. Ward also explains what politicians and policymakers around the world should be doing now to head off the worst consequences of an inevitable transformation.
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Most helpful customer reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Getting real about climate change,
By
This review is from: The Flooded Earth: Our Future in a World Without Ice Caps (Hardcover)
Peter Ward, an eminent scientist, sets out the reality of what we can expect with climate change.Climate change is already happening of course, and the lag time between carbon emissions and atmospheric impact is several decades long. So even if we stopped burning fossil fuels now, we will have to live through the damage we have already set in motion. He focuses on rising sea levels, but the reality is that we can also expect massive agricultural changes along with human migrations and economic collapse as a result. And of course, if we keep releasing CO2, it will be worse than all that. His earlier book, Under a Green Sky, showed what will happen if humans take climate change too far - feedback mechanisms, runaway climate change, and the cessation of the oceanic conveyor. This last one is what caused major extinctions in the past - poisonous H2S bubbling up into the atmosphere, and the protective ozone layer disappearing - all under a green sky. PS another review on this page seems scientifically challenged, not understanding science or even basic units of measurement: 3m is actually 300cm, not 300mm. (Canadian climate change deniers also tend to be valiant SI/metric system resisters. ;-))
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellently written doomsday,
By
This review is from: The Flooded Earth: Our Future in a World Without Ice Caps (Hardcover)
This is a serious book written in an engaging manner. The science is impeccable. Even the IPCC recognizes that the old 2007 prediction was too low, and newer satellite data predict up to a meter of sea level rise by 2050, not 2100. A mere sea level rise would be uncomfortable, not catastrophic, were it not for the associated changes in ocean currents, affecting weather patterns and ocean ecology. More fish extinctions, less protein from the sea. Drought in the American midwest, an ice age in western Europe, drought in the Sahel, floods in many other areas, and a positive feedback mechanism of less ice/less permafrost with methane liberation leading to further rising temperatures, etc, etc. This book is a must read. Unfortunately, climate change deniers will continue to deny the evidence they disagree with, and nature will take its course.
0 of 9 people found the following review helpful
1.0 out of 5 stars
Good narrative style but lousy science....,
By
This review is from: The Flooded Earth: Our Future in a World Without Ice Caps (Hardcover)
Peter Ward begins by telling us that no matter what humans do sea level rise by one meter by 2050 and three meters by 2100. It is this sea level increase that will have the biggest effect on the planet, which will be changed forever. The impact will be huge on sectors as diverse as agriculture, electrical generation, and transportation. Humans need to worry because the consequences will be dire.While Ward's narrative reads well, it is not supported by the actual science. The sattelite altimeter data has sea levels increasing by around 320 cm per century, ten times lower than Ward is claiming. And even the typically alarmist IPCC predicts a sea level increase of 18 to 59 cm by 2100. It is important to note that sea level increases were significantly greater in the early days of this interglacial period and are now mainly driven by thermal expansion, not melting. For the record, the interglacial had nothing to do with human emissions of CO2 and a wetter warmer world does not mean shrinking glaciers. In fact, some models imply that greater precipitation would mean thicker Antarctic glaciers as increased snowfall during most of the year adds much more than is lost during the brief summer melt period. The eight chapters are well written and quite readable. The problem is that they tend to be a mixture of facts and fiction that have no redeeming scientific value to readers that are actually interested in the topic. As one reads the book it quickly becomes evident that Ward has crossed the line between objective scientist in search of truth and political advocate. What bothers me the most is Ward's total ignorance of work done in fields outside his level of expertise. As the IPCC has been discredited for using literature that has not been adequately reviewed and for ignoring papers not supporting its predetermined conclusion we have seen many scientists step up and point to more likely clear drivers of climate than human emissions of CO2. We have now seen the solar scientists point to the obvious effect of solar activity on temperature and theorists propose a mechanism that amplifies the effect. As the PDO and AMO reverse we have seen even warming advocates hedge their bets and call for three decades without an increase in temperatures. All of these events make it difficult for any objective observer to take Ward serious as an impartial scientific voice. do yourself a favour and spend your money on better books on the subject. A much better read that deserves attention is the great book, The Chilling Stars. Save your money and buy it instead of this piece of bad science. The Chilling Stars: A New Theory of Climate Change
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