The Weather Makers Chapter Summary

The book “The Weather Makers: The History and Future Impact of Climate Change” written by Tim Flanner pertains to predicting the global warming consequence on earth and species. In chapter 9, the unraveling world, the author talks about global warming and how it can have a long-lasting and far-reaching impact on our lives. He points out the substantial and rapid change of the climate and its connection with the effects of El Nino and La Nina are also uncovered. Climate change can be a major contributor as to where species live and how they interact. The changes can also be observed by the changing migration patterns of these species. Moreover, the unexpected changes in climate can also bring about a shift in the behaviour of species such as insects, butterflies, birds, caterpillars, frogs and possums. The author illustrates an example of how in northern Mexico and southern California the increased temperature has caused the plant on which caterpillars feed to wilt earlier which eventually cause larvae to starve.

In chapter 10, peril at the poles, Flannery (2005) discusses the diminishing and reducing sea-ice in the Arctic region and Antarctica.

When the water of the sea becomes warmer due to higher temperatures which diminishes the oxygen content, the coral expels the algae that exists within their tissues causing it to turn completely white. This results in coral bleaching. Thus, the elevating heat stress which results from high sea temperatures serves as the main factor that induced damage to the coral reefs. If the heat prevails, the reef may even die instead of recovering. Coral reefs provide home to a significant number of sea species and coral bleaching causes their habitats to destroy completely and effect the marine life adversely. Thus it is much better to prevent coral bleaching than to accomplish its recovery which may take many