Book description
An eye-opening and vital account of the future of our earth and our
civilisation if current rates of global warming persist, by the highly
acclaimed author of 'High Tide'.
Picture yourself a few decades from now, in a world in which average
temperatures are three degrees higher than they are now. On the edge of
Greenland, rivers ten times the size of the Amazon are gushing off the
ice sheet into the north Atlantic. Displaced victims of North Africa's
drought establish a new colony on Greenland's southern tip, one of the
few inhabitable areas not already crowded with environmental refugees.
Vast pumping systems keep the water out of most of Holland, but the
residents of Bangladesh and the Nile Delta enjoy no such protection.
Meanwhile, in New York, a Category 5-plus superstorm pushes through the
narrows between Staten Island and Brooklyn, devastating waterside areas
from Long Island to Manhattan. Pakistan, crippled by drought brought on
by disappearing Himalayan glaciers, sees 27 million farmers flee to
refugee camps in neighbouring India. Its desperate government prepares a
last-ditch attempt to increase the flow of the Indus river by bombing
half-constructed Indian dams in Kashmir. The Pakistani president
authorises the use of nuclear weapons in the case of an Indian military
counter-strike. But the biggest story of all comes from South America,
where a conflagration of truly epic proportions has begun to consume the Amazon…
Alien as it all sounds, Mark Lynas's incredible new book is not
science-fiction; nor is it sensationalist. The six degrees of the title
refer to the terrifying possibility that average temperatures will rise
by up to six degrees within the next hundred years. This is the first
time we have had a reliable picture of how the collapse of our
civilisation will unfold unless urgent action is taken.
Most vitally, Lynas's book serves to highlight the fact that the world
of 2100 doesn't have to be one of horror and chaos. With a little
foresight, some intelligent strategic planning, and a reasonable dose of
good luck, we can at least halt the catastrophic trend into which we
have fallen. But the time to act is now. 'Scientists predict that
global temperatures will rise by between one and six degrees over the
course of this century and Mark Lynas paints a chilling,
degree-by-degree picture of the devastation likely to ensue unless we
act now…“Six Degrees” is a rousing and vivid plea to choose a different
future.' Daily Mail
'Buy this book for everyone you know: if it makes them join the fight
to stop the seemingly inexorable six degrees of warming and mass death,
it might just save their lives.' New Statesman
'An apocalyptic primer of what to expect as the world heats up…it's
sobering stuff and shaming too. Despite its sound scientific background,
the book resembles one of those vivid medieval paintings depicting
sinners getting their just desserts.' Financial Times
'The saga of how, in the world as imagined by thousands of
computer-modelling studies, global warming kicks in degree by degree.
“Six Degrees”, I tell you now, is terrifying.' The Sunday Times
'A chilling read.' Socialist Review Mark Lynas is an activist,
journalist and traveller. He was editor of the website www. oneworld.
net and has made many appearances in the press and TV as a commentator
on environmental issues. He also throws custard pies at lunatics who
pronounce global warming a fantasy. He is the author of 'High Tide: News
from a Warming World'. He lives in Oxford.
