26 September 2005ninemsn.com
Simple remedies are available to counter one of the world's greatest threats, climate change, according to one of Australia's leading scientists.
Internationally acclaimed paleontologist and controversial conservationist Tim Flannery says the debate about climate change is over, global warming is destroying the world and something must be done about it. Now.
His new book, The Weather Makers, launched in Sydney, paints a bleak picture, but one with a ray of sunny optimism.
Dr Flannery, also the director of the South Australian Museum, says humanity is creating its own weather - releasing thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere and creating a blanket that traps the planet's heat.
He piles up the evidence of climate change - from the melting polar caps to the loss of Costa Rica's Golden Toad, the first documented global warming extinction.
Destructive hurricanes such as those that have pounded the Gulf of Mexico recently could become more frequent, he warns.
"These hurricanes are generated by high sea-surface temperatures - hot salt water," he said. "As the planet warms, of course a lot of heat transfer is going into the ocean, so we have the potential to generate massive storms like this."
Many people fear a permanent shift to a much more active atmosphere in which these sort of storms will be a permanent feature of life is now underway, he said.
Dr Flannery says his book made for depressing research into the history and likely impact of climate change. But everyone can do something to help the situation, he says.
"It was depressing to research but by the time I got to the end of the book I was starting to see solutions, which was fantastic," he told AAP.
"I hadn't quite realised how simple some of those solutions are."
If everyone drove hydrogen cars transport emissions would be cut by 70 per cent in one day, he says.
Solar water heaters could achieve a similar level of turnaround in emissions, he said.
"How many people in this city have a hot water heater in their roof that's run from burning coal in the Hunter Valley to keep this water hot when the sun will do it for you?," Dr Flannery said.
The Weather Makers is a user's guide to dealing with and combating climate change.
Rather than concentrating on the scientific debate, the book discusses everyday measures that can be taken to reduce global warming.
"Do you really need to know the science? Ask anyone particularly in rural Australia, the older generation out there. Ask them what is happening," Dr Flannery said.
"We know there are changes occurring in the atmosphere. Is it due to CO2? Yes. There is your science."
Environmental group WWF Australia, which endorses the book, says the community should respond to global warming now rather than waiting for governments to act.
"The government continues to stall on taking the urgent steps needed to address the biggest threat to the people of Australia," WWF Australia CEO Greg Bourne said.
"It now falls on the individuals to this country to take action."
Dr Flannery has written several bestseller books including The Future Eaters and The Eternal Frontier.
