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Steven Earle PhD taught university Earth Science for almost four decades and is author of the widely used textbook, Physical Geology. He has also written A Brief History of the Earth's Climate (New Society $19.99), a guide to the Earth's climate that counters skeptics and deniers. Earle explains how our climate evolved over 4.6 billion years and how climate change is different from human-caused global warming, which is much more dangerous. He also provides advice on action to take to mitigate the climate emergency. Earle lives on Gabriola Island with his family.
BOOKS
A Brief History of the Earth's Climate: Everyone's Guide to the Science of Climate Change (New Society, 2021) $19.99 9780865719590
Physical Geology (Creative Commons Attribution, 2015; 2019) 978-1-77420-027-8
[BCBW 2021]
A Brief History of the Earth’s Climate: Everyone’s Guide to the Science of Climate Change by Steven Earle
(New Society $19.99)
(BCBW 2022)
Steven Earle, an earth sciences expert who has taught university classes on the topic for four decades, is worried.
He knows that 1˚C of global warming doesn’t sound like much. “After all, nobody really cares if tomorrow is a degree warmer than today,” he says in A Brief History of the Earth’s Climate. “But this isn’t about just one day; it’s about it being 1˚C warmer every day (on average),” he continues, adding “One degree of warming matters to me; it matters enough to make me alter my lifestyle significantly, to march around the streets with signs and noisemakers, and to put the time into writing this book… I fear the unknown terrain that we will be venturing into if we don’t all make some big adjustments to the way we live, and very soon.”
Earle’s book puts the lie to the notion that climate change is “natural.” He shows why the worst of global warming is human-caused and that this kind of global warming is much more dangerous than any natural process that has occurred over 4.6 billion years on this planet. Partly this is because climate change is happening so fast that plants and animals won’t have time to adapt and survive.
Some experts warn that we are close to numerous tipping points already, beyond which there will be massive biological destruction.
“Approaching a climate tipping point is a bit like walking toward the edge of a cliff in the dense fog,” says Earle. “You may know it’s out there, but you don’t know how close you are, and by the time you’ve crossed it, it is probably too late.”
Earle outlines ten major tipping points, including some that are likely with us now such as the increase in wildfires, melting Arctic sea ice and coral reef die-off:
1. Increasing wildfires.
After forest fires razed the entire town of Lytton last summer and two people died in the ensuing hell, British Columbians learned how bad climate change can be. And wildfires are on a worsening trend based on experience south of our border. The area consumed by wildfires in the U.S. “has increased from an average of about 12,000 sq km in the 1980s and ‘90s, to about 25,000 sq km in the first decade of this century, to 30,000 sq km in the past decade,” says Earle. “And it’s not just North America that is changing in this way because of runaway fire activity. Similar things are happening in Australia, Russia, Indonesia, and the Amazon.”
2. Melting Arctic sea ice.
Polar bears aren’t the only animal suffering from less sea ice, although emaciated and dying bears are powerful images of global warming. Melting Arctic Ocean ice worsens many other tipping points (that Earle likens to a death spiral) such as the loss of glaciers in Greenland and Western Antarctica, and permafrost that will lead to huge releases of stored methane and carbon dioxide thereby vastly increasing global warming.
3. Dying tropical reefs.
Warming ocean temperatures are causing “bleached—and therefore likely dead—coral” says Earle. “Coral reefs are vital to tropical marine ecosystems, and their decline will have far-reaching implications.”
Earle ends on a call to action and his suggestions alone are worth the price of this book. Hint: the biggest source of carbon dioxide is from fossil fuel use i.e. cars, trucks, planes, electricity generation, heating buildings and industrial activity. 9780865719590
BOOKS
A Brief History of the Earth's Climate: Everyone's Guide to the Science of Climate Change (New Society, 2021) $19.99 9780865719590
Physical Geology (Creative Commons Attribution, 2015; 2019) 978-1-77420-027-8
[BCBW 2021]
A Brief History of the Earth’s Climate: Everyone’s Guide to the Science of Climate Change by Steven Earle
(New Society $19.99)
(BCBW 2022)
Steven Earle, an earth sciences expert who has taught university classes on the topic for four decades, is worried.
He knows that 1˚C of global warming doesn’t sound like much. “After all, nobody really cares if tomorrow is a degree warmer than today,” he says in A Brief History of the Earth’s Climate. “But this isn’t about just one day; it’s about it being 1˚C warmer every day (on average),” he continues, adding “One degree of warming matters to me; it matters enough to make me alter my lifestyle significantly, to march around the streets with signs and noisemakers, and to put the time into writing this book… I fear the unknown terrain that we will be venturing into if we don’t all make some big adjustments to the way we live, and very soon.”
Earle’s book puts the lie to the notion that climate change is “natural.” He shows why the worst of global warming is human-caused and that this kind of global warming is much more dangerous than any natural process that has occurred over 4.6 billion years on this planet. Partly this is because climate change is happening so fast that plants and animals won’t have time to adapt and survive.
Some experts warn that we are close to numerous tipping points already, beyond which there will be massive biological destruction.
“Approaching a climate tipping point is a bit like walking toward the edge of a cliff in the dense fog,” says Earle. “You may know it’s out there, but you don’t know how close you are, and by the time you’ve crossed it, it is probably too late.”
Earle outlines ten major tipping points, including some that are likely with us now such as the increase in wildfires, melting Arctic sea ice and coral reef die-off:
1. Increasing wildfires.
After forest fires razed the entire town of Lytton last summer and two people died in the ensuing hell, British Columbians learned how bad climate change can be. And wildfires are on a worsening trend based on experience south of our border. The area consumed by wildfires in the U.S. “has increased from an average of about 12,000 sq km in the 1980s and ‘90s, to about 25,000 sq km in the first decade of this century, to 30,000 sq km in the past decade,” says Earle. “And it’s not just North America that is changing in this way because of runaway fire activity. Similar things are happening in Australia, Russia, Indonesia, and the Amazon.”
2. Melting Arctic sea ice.
Polar bears aren’t the only animal suffering from less sea ice, although emaciated and dying bears are powerful images of global warming. Melting Arctic Ocean ice worsens many other tipping points (that Earle likens to a death spiral) such as the loss of glaciers in Greenland and Western Antarctica, and permafrost that will lead to huge releases of stored methane and carbon dioxide thereby vastly increasing global warming.
3. Dying tropical reefs.
Warming ocean temperatures are causing “bleached—and therefore likely dead—coral” says Earle. “Coral reefs are vital to tropical marine ecosystems, and their decline will have far-reaching implications.”
Earle ends on a call to action and his suggestions alone are worth the price of this book. Hint: the biggest source of carbon dioxide is from fossil fuel use i.e. cars, trucks, planes, electricity generation, heating buildings and industrial activity. 9780865719590
