Power in our Hands
By Mark Lynas
For me the most memorable photos of the 2004 Asian tsunami were taken by two Canadian holidaymakers on the beach in Thailand.
Their first picture shows the receded tide: beach-goers are wandering around unconcernedly in their swimsuits. The third image already shows the horror that is about to unfold: a gigantic wave looms on the horizon. The eighth image – the last – shows the wall of water just metres away from the photographer. (Click Here for Photos)
It is difficult to understand why the two Canadians stood on the beach taking photos when they might have been running away. Both were killed, and their photos recovered from their camera later. Perhaps, having never experienced a tsunami before, the tourists had no way of making sense of the disaster they were witnessing. They simply didn’t understand what was going on.
In the same way, future generations will look back on us and feel baffled as to why we didn’t act sooner to curb the looming disaster of global warming. Like the tourists standing on the beach, we can see what is coming: scientific predictions about disappearing ice caps, rising sea levels, spreading deserts and stronger storms have been on the newspaper front pages for years. But somehow we still seem to be able to forget about the threat and go on with business as usual.
That’s like standing on a Thai beach at 8:31am in the morning of 26 December 2004, and saying: ‘it’s just a wave’. We don’t understand the sheer magnitude of this warming – it’ll catapult the planetary climate into a warmer state than it has been for tens of millions of years, long before humans appeared.
There’s a difference, of course. No power on Earth could have stopped the tsunami rolling in that dreadful day. But nothing about global warming is inevitable.
If greenhouse gas emissions are cut dramatically, we can still save the glaciers or the Himalayas, the tropical coral reefs, the hundreds of millions who will be driven from their homes by drought and rising seas. The choice is ours.
Recommended readings:
“Heat: How To Stop The Planet Burning”
by George Monbiot
“High Tide: The Truth About Our Climate” Crisis
by Mark Lynas
“The Carbon War: Global Warming and the End of the Oil Era”
by Jeremy K. Leggett
“The Weather Makers: The History and Future Impact of Climate Change”
by Tim Flannery
“Breach of Faith”
by Jed Horne
- Excerpt from CD Insert: Rhythms Del Mondo, Buena Vista Social Club’s Ibrahim Ferrer & Omara Portuondo
By Mark Lynas
For me the most memorable photos of the 2004 Asian tsunami were taken by two Canadian holidaymakers on the beach in Thailand.
Their first picture shows the receded tide: beach-goers are wandering around unconcernedly in their swimsuits. The third image already shows the horror that is about to unfold: a gigantic wave looms on the horizon. The eighth image – the last – shows the wall of water just metres away from the photographer. (Click Here for Photos)
It is difficult to understand why the two Canadians stood on the beach taking photos when they might have been running away. Both were killed, and their photos recovered from their camera later. Perhaps, having never experienced a tsunami before, the tourists had no way of making sense of the disaster they were witnessing. They simply didn’t understand what was going on.
In the same way, future generations will look back on us and feel baffled as to why we didn’t act sooner to curb the looming disaster of global warming. Like the tourists standing on the beach, we can see what is coming: scientific predictions about disappearing ice caps, rising sea levels, spreading deserts and stronger storms have been on the newspaper front pages for years. But somehow we still seem to be able to forget about the threat and go on with business as usual.
That’s like standing on a Thai beach at 8:31am in the morning of 26 December 2004, and saying: ‘it’s just a wave’. We don’t understand the sheer magnitude of this warming – it’ll catapult the planetary climate into a warmer state than it has been for tens of millions of years, long before humans appeared.
There’s a difference, of course. No power on Earth could have stopped the tsunami rolling in that dreadful day. But nothing about global warming is inevitable.
If greenhouse gas emissions are cut dramatically, we can still save the glaciers or the Himalayas, the tropical coral reefs, the hundreds of millions who will be driven from their homes by drought and rising seas. The choice is ours.
Recommended readings:
“Heat: How To Stop The Planet Burning”
by George Monbiot
“High Tide: The Truth About Our Climate” Crisis
by Mark Lynas
“The Carbon War: Global Warming and the End of the Oil Era”
by Jeremy K. Leggett
“The Weather Makers: The History and Future Impact of Climate Change”
by Tim Flannery
“Breach of Faith”
by Jed Horne
- Excerpt from CD Insert: Rhythms Del Mondo, Buena Vista Social Club’s Ibrahim Ferrer & Omara Portuondo
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