High Tide : News from a Warming World

by Mark Lynas

The 'No Logo' of climate change? -- a book that shows how global warming is not something whose existence we should still debate, but something that has already happened, to many millions of people in a variety of ways, causing flooding, desertificaton, icemelt, erosion, drought and fires all across the world. Climate change is no longer a concern for the future. It's happening right now, and in this book the author takes us around the world to show that the impacts of global warming are already having a tangible effect on people's lives. From houses being washed over by sand in China to the thawing of the Alaskan Arctic, the author witnesses some of the worst impacts of climate change at first hand. Some, like the floods in the UK, are near home. Others -- like the drowning Pacific island of Tuvalu -- are a world away from the car tailpipes and factory chimneys that are causing global warming in the first place. But this isn't simply an inventory of disaster, it's a wry look at how people around the globe are coping as the world they've always known changes at unprecedented speed. And in the process, the author has to eat whale blubber in Alaska, swim in shark-infested waters off the Great Barrier Reef and struggle to the top of Andean peaks in Peru. Alongside the issue of the effects of rootless, lawless transnational capitalism, the already catastrophic man-made alterations to the global ecosystem will rise, like the oceans, to engulf all other issues worldwide in the coming decades. There is a new 21st century generation of activists being educated right now who will be their blithe, apolitical, party-animal predecessors' salvation. They have one bible already. This is the other one! This, obviously, is an issue that is only going to be more and more present to more and more of us. And this is that issue's indispensable book.

Genres: Nonfiction, Science, Environment, Nature, Climate Change, Geography

368 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2004

About the author

Mark Lynas is a British author, journalist and environmental activist who focuses on climate change.

Reviews

[Andy Gibb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Written ten years ago, this book challenges the reader to ponder if the climate crises depicted were one-offs or indeed part of global warming. The very first example comes down heavily on the latter side. Lynas chronicles the once-in-centuries UK floods of 2000 (which I missed by being in California). Well, we've had the same again in 2007, 2012 and 2014. That sounds like an acceleration.

Likewise for the chapter about hurricanes in the USA: Katrina, Sandy and a few other notables have demonstrated the author's prognosis that they will get more violent if not more frequent. Mind you, the point is also made that they do more damage simply because there's more shit to destroy. We keep building and breeding in these areas.

Moving on to glaciers, a thought occurred to me that if they are melting, cities that rely on them must actually be getting a bonanza. Then Lynas makes just this point, especially about Lima, which should be running out about now.

The book then also runs, downhill, with a boring ending on what the politicians are (not) doing about this. And the "personal action" section. I'm getting pretty fucking tired of these.

Let's face it: 30 years of "saving the planet" has only witnessed an increase in its destruction. Here's a thought game for you: what's the ultimate action you could take to reduce your environmental footprint? How about killing yourself? And would that make the slightest difference?

Nah, it'll just leave more energy – and that's the bottom line drawn under fuel, plastic bags, recycling, water, electricity, the lot – for the exploiters to continue their rape. Surely the subversive thing to do is waste all this energy so they can't use it. Leave taps running, lights on; throw away as much rubbish as possible; buy a gas guzzler. Let's bring this show to a close as soon as we can.

That'll help the climate crisis.

[Kelly Mai · Rating 4 out of 5]

tuvalu and palau and their taro farms getting oversalinated via sea water bc of sea levels rising ...aka basically all of Oceania is suffering ....should be a wake up call!!!!! save our oceans and our ambrosias and their taro farms and yellowfin tuna

[Jeanette Vahlenberg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Everybody should read this.

[Saoirse · Rating 3 out of 5]

It starts very slowly, but towards the end it gets a lot better.

[Kevin Fernandes-Prabhu · Rating 3 out of 5]

brings out the scary realities of climate change and geo-politics in colourful descriptions and the personal narration of a well meaning White Man. the constant bombarding with statistics is needed to validate and make the argument water-tight, but can get tiresome after a while. woke up the dormant environmental activist in me.

[Sean · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book so far. I'm about 50 pages in. Nothing terribly new, but it puts a face on whats happening with global warming.

[Rickard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book!

[S.P. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing here you don't already know (unless you've been living in a cave), however four years ago when it was originally written I imagine it could be quite shocking.

[Federico Palacios · Rating 2 out of 5]

A highly simplistic take on current issues. If you have studied this previously, consider reading something a little more complex.

[Chris · Rating 1 out of 5]

Dry and boring. So disappointing