About the Reading

(Meltwater in Greenland)

Chapters two and three held numerous significant pieces of evidence that support this theory of global warming. The first bit of evidence comes from about 150 years ago, when a scientist named Tyndall identified what we call the "natural greenhouse effect." This was explained through his invention of a device he called a ratio spectrophotometer, which allowed him to compare the radiation of gases in our atmosphere.
Klobert continues to shed some light on the history of this concept of global warming and who made the significant advancements to ultimately shed light on the reality of global warming. One scientist, Arrhenius, discovered that the burning of fossil fuels contributes to an increase of CO2 in our atmosphere. He assumed that no harm would come from this and obviously had no idea how important this discovery truly was. He also determined that doubling the CO2 in the atmosphere would cause a global temperature rise around nine and 11 degrees, a scientific reality that is still proven today.
A most obvious piece of evidence that global warming exists is what has been labeled as "The Keeling Curve." This chart shows the increase in CO2 concentration over the last 40 years. It shows that the CO2 parts per million have increased from 315 to over 380 since 1959. Next in chapter 3, she tells us that NASA's scientists have determined that throughout the 90s the Greenland ice sheet had been melting by 12 cubic centimeters per year.
Kolbert continues to talk about the realities of global warming, and the massive melting that has taken place in the Arctic over the last half a century. She talks of receding glaciers and the increase of ice flows and of course, the lessening of ice in the coldest places in the world.
I think the amount of evidence in just these two chapters is enough of a suggestion, for me, that global warming is a real threat. The fact that we now know how real and severe it is, and that we're still not doing anything about it, is the real shocker.
Again, I enjoy Kolbert's writing style, her storytelling. It's extremely important that she gives us a face to face look at the people most disturbed by global warming, which she does by introducing the readers to a range of people involved. From scientists to natives, she gives us a closer look at how these people's lives are effected, and also how they're advancing research on global warming. I think, for the most part, that she stays objective. She just makes it very, very clear that global warming is real and it is a threat. As to the quality of her explanatory powers, I believe she is quite gifted. She gives so much history and so much character in so few pages and the quote from page 58, describing that the proverbial doomsday clock "is already five past midnight," is a very strong statement.