Global Warming, or If You Can't Stand the Heat, Leave Planet Earth
Update below.
I just finished reading a couple of novels dealing with global warming (GW). One, State of Fear by Michael Crichton, is a fast paced contrarian look at GW, with some curiously entertaining protagonists who wield Excel charts and corresponding scientific references as deftly as they do handguns and other assorted weaponry. Take that, you woefully ignorant pro-environmental headline regurgitator! The other, Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson, contains much of the same jargon and acronyms as Crichton's book, but reaches completely opposite conclusions, i.e. GW is man made, and abrupt climate change is imminent and will be catastrophic.
I recommend both books. The Crichton is a page-turner, though a bit unpleasantly didactic at times. Robinson's has some wonderful musings on how science (and scientists) really works, but being the first of a trilogy, has some irritating padding, notably several mundane, too-detailed scenes depicting a father's day to day dealings with his infant son. Yawn.
Note that the idea of the "precautionary principle" (put very simply: take action, even if all facts aren't known, if you want to thwart a great societal risk) is key to both books. Crichton pooh-poohs it as "self-contradictory". Robinson's protagonists take it as a given. My feeling? Get more data, dammit. After all, the precautionary principle was the key Bush justification for starting the war in Iraq. Was a great societal risk averted, or was the apple cart upended?
Update 9/24/05
There's some lively discussion over at Jerry Pournelle's site on this topic, including links to Crichton naysayers. Good stuff.
Also, here's a relevant, current CNN story.
I just finished reading a couple of novels dealing with global warming (GW). One, State of Fear by Michael Crichton, is a fast paced contrarian look at GW, with some curiously entertaining protagonists who wield Excel charts and corresponding scientific references as deftly as they do handguns and other assorted weaponry. Take that, you woefully ignorant pro-environmental headline regurgitator! The other, Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson, contains much of the same jargon and acronyms as Crichton's book, but reaches completely opposite conclusions, i.e. GW is man made, and abrupt climate change is imminent and will be catastrophic.
I recommend both books. The Crichton is a page-turner, though a bit unpleasantly didactic at times. Robinson's has some wonderful musings on how science (and scientists) really works, but being the first of a trilogy, has some irritating padding, notably several mundane, too-detailed scenes depicting a father's day to day dealings with his infant son. Yawn.
Note that the idea of the "precautionary principle" (put very simply: take action, even if all facts aren't known, if you want to thwart a great societal risk) is key to both books. Crichton pooh-poohs it as "self-contradictory". Robinson's protagonists take it as a given. My feeling? Get more data, dammit. After all, the precautionary principle was the key Bush justification for starting the war in Iraq. Was a great societal risk averted, or was the apple cart upended?
Update 9/24/05
There's some lively discussion over at Jerry Pournelle's site on this topic, including links to Crichton naysayers. Good stuff.
Also, here's a relevant, current CNN story.
posted by Mike King at 5:07 PM
6 Comments:
Mike, what an amazing coincidence: I was contemplating using, State Of Fear, versus the popular, generally accepted, concept of Global Warming for a topic in my own BLOG.
I read, State Of Fear, just after its release and found it both entertaining and thought provoking. I have not yet read, Forty Signs of Rain, but I’m starting it this evening. The following links are relative to: State of Fear; one is an excerpt, http://www.crichton-official.com/fear/ The other a critical review, http://www.earthinstitute.columbia.edu/news/2004/story12-13-04b.html.
Following are my thoughts on the matter:
Given the extremely enormous and complicated dynamics of the earth’s geological and environmental phases it is no wonder that we (humans) are confused as to our conscious or unconscious part in its dynamics.
Being that we humans are a natural element of the earth should we not be a factor in its dynamics? Should humans be unconscious in their effect or reactive or proactive? All three seem to have potentially positive and negative ramifications, at least to the earth’s ecology.
What should the earth’s future ecology be? Should we try to let the past cycles of ice ages continue to wax and wane, as though we humans were not here, or manage them into something else that is more compatible to human comfort? If one is attracted to the concept of planetary ecological management then one would find Kim Stanley Robinson’s, Red, Blue, and Green Mars, trilogy interesting.
rex,
Believe it or not, I still haven't made it through Robinson's Mars Trilogy yet (I'm about half way through the first volume). But your point is well taken.
I've also added an update to the post with a link to Pournelle's GW discussion.
Mike,
I have read most of the two links you provided, thanks for posting them.
It seems that there are two camps in the Global Warming issue: The Media, and The Scientific Community. The Media seems to report the sensational snippets only. Unfortunately, most of us only receive information via the Media!
Mike, I just started Forty Signs of Rain, got to page 9 and realized that I have already read it! Getting old sucks!
Mike,
I just went searching for number two in the KSR Trilogy and found it to be: 50 Degrees Below. Upon reading the review by Amazon it appears that the recent, but terrible, motion picture The Day After Tomorrow was directly based on it. I checked out the review on the movie and found no reference to KSR! Links included.
http://www.mayanmajix.com/art927.html
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553803123/qid=1127682668/sr=2-1/ref=pd_bbs_b_2_1/103-1135105-9387840?v=glance&s=books
You're right: The Day After Tomorrow is one crappy movie. However, every time it shows up on HBO or one of those other movie channels, I watch the first five minutes, because I absolutely love the main theme music and the flyover shots of the fjords and icefields.
Also, the good part about getting old is you can read all those novels again like it's the first time!
Post a Comment
<< Home