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filthy
SFN Die Hard
USA
14408 Posts |
 Posted - 03/18/2009 : 04:35:32
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Global warming is all but upon us, oil will reach peak production in the not-too-distant future, and the population bomb gets ever closer to it's detonation countdown. So what the hell, let's party! Thomas Friedman has done it again. He has taken a global situation, this time it's climate change, and set out to educate the public about how we got there and what we can do about it. However, in his explanation, the self-described "somber optimist" inadvertently ends up salving readers with the expectation that technology will save us and we can go on with our lives as usual. Hot, Flat and Crowded focuses on the threats and opportunities of climate change in this new age that he calls the Energy-Climate Era (ECE), which begins now.
Friedman is an engaging storyteller who can skillfully elucidate complex ideas with pithy phrases. For example, in the book's title, "hot" refers to the earth's rising temperatures due to an overdose of carbon emissions from large-scale manufacturing, the loss of forests, urban sprawl, the extraction of resources and the large store of solid waste from animals and humans.
"Flat" refers to how more of the world's people have entered the middle class, a decidedly good development in the quest to overcome poverty. However, he says, middle class lifestyles encourage people to acquire more consumer goods, which use up more fossil fuels and thus contribute to more carbon emissions.
"Crowded" refers to the ever-increasing world population. Today, it stands at 6.7 billion. By mid-century demographers estimate it will be 9 billion with the greatest increases in countries that are least able to sustain a larger population. It is these countries that have the potential for violence, civil unrest and extremism.
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So, whilst we're partying, there should be a question in the back of our alcohol, cannabis and whatever else besotted minds: Rome is about to burn; where are our violins?
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"What luck for rulers that men do not think." -- Adolf Hitler (1889 - 1945)
"If only we could impeach on the basis of criminal stupidity, 90% of the Rethuglicans and half of the Democrats would be thrown out of office." ~~ P.Z. Myres
"The default position of human nature is to punch the other guy in the face and take his stuff." ~~ Dude
Brother Boot Knife of Warm Humanitarianism,
and Crypto-Communist! 
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Hot, Flat and Bothered
