Tapestry Press
Now or Never
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Tapestry Press
Now or Never
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Now or Never, Why We Must Act Now to End Climate Change and Create a Sustainable Future. written by Tim Flannery and published in 2009 by Atlantic Monthly Press. 167 pages. David Suzuki describes the widely read Weather Makers, the 2005 book by Tim Flannery, as a "wake-up call" that "made the impact of climate change real and personal." Tim Flannery, provides a sequel with this small, shorter book that he refers to as an essay. He distinguishes between tipping points and points of no return. A tipping point occurs when greenhouse gases rise to the level that will cause catastrophic climate change. A point of no return occurs when a higher level of greenhouse gases generates an irreversible process. He argues that we are beyond the tipping point, but beneath the point of no return. This point of no return is less than 20 years away. This perilous condition requires "the most strenuous efforts on our part" to return us to security. In this essay he presents the components of a solution that would reduce atmospheric carbon from our current 387ppm to 350ppm, the desirable target set by James Hanson, a leading climate scientist. For each component he estimates the quantity of carbon that it removes. First, we must halt all conventional coal burning by 2030. Because carbon dioxide persists in the atmosphere, this alone will be inadequate. Any clean coal technology that is developed should be provided free to China. Electric cars show promise. We must halt the destruction of tropical forests. By pyrolysis, burning organic wastes with little oxygen, biochar is formed. Dug into the soil, it can sequester carbon in soils for thousands of years. The pyrolysis also produces fuel oil and synthetic gas, fuels available for other uses. Plowed into the soil, biochar enriches it acting as a fertilizer. Allen Savory recommends a system for raising livestock in tight herds contained by electric fences. Both sweet grasses and tough, bitter weeds are consumed. That area is eaten clean and is enriched by animal dung. Every few days the herd is moved into an adjacent paddock. This rotation allows healthy regrowth of grasses, the reduction of bitter weeds and the build-up of carbon in the soil, before the rotation returns to that original paddock. It also increases the number of cattle that the area can support. Tim argues that halting warming will be very difficult, but not impossible. We face a big challenge. Written June 2, 2010.
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