The Weather Makers

The Weather Makers – Tim Flannery

Climate change is the defining challenge of our time. In The Weather Makers, renowned scientist and explorer Tim Flannery explains, in clear and compelling language, how it works, what it is already doing to our world, and what we can still do about it.

Flannery begins with the basics: how the atmosphere and the carbon cycle function, how greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane trap heat, and what the long history of Earth’s climate, recorded in ice cores, fossils and ancient sediments, can tell us about the present.

He then examines the evidence of change already underway, from melting glaciers and shifting rainfall to coral bleaching, extreme weather and the extinction of species such as the golden toad, and considers the dangers of reaching tipping points beyond which change may become abrupt and irreversible.

Crucially, this is not a book of despair. Flannery sets out the practical solutions available to individuals, communities and governments, from energy efficiency and renewable power to new technologies and international policy, and argues that the choices we make in the coming decades will shape the future of life on Earth. He even offers simple steps readers can take to reduce their own emissions.

An international bestseller written for general readers, The Weather Makers remains one of the most accessible and influential introductions to the science and stakes of climate change.