Greenhouse: The 200-Year Story of Global Warming
by Gale E. Christianson
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Book Summary Information
Author: Gale E. ChristiansonEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 1999
ISBN: 0802713467
Number of pages: 305
Publisher: Walker & Company
Book Reviews of Greenhouse: The 200-Year Story of Global Warming
Book Review: Story that never travels far enough into science
Summary: 2 Stars
I agree with other reviewers that Gale E. Christianson can wave a tale, and the first half of the book describing Darwin's works, the growth of the global warming theory, and on into our modern days is interesting. The second half, however, becomes an incredibly biased side to what ultimately is nothing more but another nice little story. Well, let me rephrase that: a new disaster tale spun to look like a scientific study.
Much of Christianson's take on explaining global warming is by using this formula: present a little bit of proof, then go on for the next few pages presenting horrible images of what might happen IF global warming happened. Christianson will name-drop tropical storms and talk about the damage they caused, but presents little evidence about why, exactly, (save for one or two facts from the same group of sources) the actions are related. For example, on page 233 she mentions Typhoon Winnie hitting China. And that's pretty much all she says. Typhoons hit mainland Asia every year, what makes Typhoon Winnie that big change that meant global warming was present? Christianson could explain that, but instead we get more details on the carnage of what would happen to the forests, the trees, the animals - not happening right now, mind you, but IF global warming occurred. And when she does mention what is happening, it is so wildly exaggerated I almost want to laugh out loud. When she discusses fish disappearing in the Atlantic Ocean she says that the explanation is overfishing and pollution (which even most environmentalists attribute it to) Christianson adds there are other reasons owing "to more vague and subtle forces that seem beyond individual control." This is a very vague and poor connection between overfished sea populations and global warmings. What's even more sad is that Christianson even records on page 234 a statement by pro-global warming scientists that "they are not able to say that any single weather event is the result of global warming." When Christianson tries to disprove the critics, she gets so borderline sarcastic and haughty I almost stopped reading. Most of it is half-hearted attempts at insult towards S. Fred Singer, the major opponent to global warming, but she can't contradict some of his arguments that even global warming advocates have conceded too. For example, we can't tell how long human-made CO2 spends in the atmosphere - Christianson probably knows this herself, and so instead of proving Singer wrong chooses to, yet again, go on another narrative of death and destruction, talking about how people will die of heat exhaustion if the temperatures rise. (pg. 251)
There are better books out there, even for those supportive of the idea of global warming and the greenhouse affect. I might suggest "The Change in the Weather" by William K. Stevens, which is pro-global warming but looks at both sides of the debate equally, and also goes more in-depth to the facts behind the problems so you can decide for yourself. I wouldn't suggest reading this book unless you already are a firm believer and just need something to nod your head to.
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