| ATMOSPHERE OF HOPE Searching for Solutions to the Climate Crisis Tim Flannery New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, October 2015 |
Rating: 5.0 High |
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| ISBN-13 978-0-8021-2406-7 | ||||
| ISBN-10 0-8021-2406-2 | 245pp. | HC/GSI | $27.00 | |
| Page 14: | "In Victoria, lightning strike typically accounts for about 25 percent of all bushfire ignitions..." |
| Number error: S/B "lightning strikes typically account for". (But this could be Australian usage.) |
| Page 15: | "Similar increases in forest fires have been seen Spain, where the frequency of fire has doubled..." |
| Missing word: S/B "seen in Spain". |
| Page 75: | "Abbott took the leadership of his political party while the Copenhagen summit was underway..." |
| Missing space: S/B "under way". |
| Page 87: | "The cost of burning coal in terms of contributing to climate change (which are hard to estimate) was put at US$20.6 billion and $205.8 billion per annum." |
| Number error: S/B "is hard". |
| Page 90: | "The Saudi government [* * *] seem determined..." |
| Number error: S/B "seems". |
| Page 90: | "If the price of oil continues to remain below US$50 per barrel, it will imperil parts of the shale gas industry (which uses fracking), in part because the oil derived from condensates in the gas provide most of the profit." |
| Number error: S/B "provides". (Also, I would write "remains" instead of "continues to remain".) |
| Page 91: | "The rate and scale at which our cities are being transformed is, collectively, astounding." |
| Number error: S/B "are". |
| Page 94: | "Alternatives such a solar lighting and..." |
| Missing letter: S/B "such as solar lighting". |
| Page 95: | "A certain level of minor spills and accidents have been hitherto seen by many as..." |
| Number error: S/B "has been". |
| Page 95: | "Conventional rail, shipping and even pipeline infrastructure..." |
| Unneeded comma: S/B "rail shipping". |
| Page 110: | "...the global energy-generation assets are getting greener as more wind and solar is built..." |
| Number error: S/B "as more wind and solar are built". |
| Page 115: | "...the Cando (Canada Deuterium Uranium)." |
| Spelling: S/B "Candu". |
| Page 116: | "The energy rationing following the shutdowns had some negative economic impacts. But they also had some interesting, arguably positive societal impacts." |
| Number error: S/B "it". |
| Page 130: | "...that power their electric motor from energy conserved in breaking or by using the ptrol motor." |
| Spelling: S/B "braking". |
| Page 131: | "But it's also possible that potential new car buyers will think that the wild fluctuations in the oil price is likely to bring far higher prices in future..." |
| Number error: S/B "are". |
| Page 158: | "But about half of all dry plant matter is carbon, and 3.7 gigatonnes of CO2 includes 1 gigatonne of carbon." |
| Number error: S/B "include". |
| Page 161: | "...the technologies that produce biochar, and work through its complex interactions with the soil equivalent of a coral reef, are among..." |
| I have a fair of idea what this means, but I think it should be elaborated a bit more. |
| Page 163: | "They turn wood waste, agricultural waste and other biological waste products into a burnable gas, which is used to generate electricity and produce biochar, which is sold to farmers and gardeners, providing an additional revenue stream." |
| Misplaced comma: S/B "to generate electricity, and produce biochar which". |
| Page 173: | "But photosynthesis is such a complex process that reproducing it in the lab was found to be impossible." |
| Below, the author quotes Professor Fleischer, who says, in part: "...if the electricity were fed into photosynthesis modules, it could be used to produce valuable chemicals." Thus it seems that photosynthesis may not be replicable yet, but is not completely ruled out. |
| Page 180: | "This limits CO2 storage in continental rocks to geological structures, such as oil-bearing strata, that have impermeable cap-rock or saline aquifers, where natural chemical processes solidify the CO2." |
| Misplaced commas: S/B "structures such as oil-bearing strata that have impermeable cap-rock, or saline aquifers where natural chemical processes solidify the CO2." |
| Page 180: | "Over time, natural chemical processes in the water of the ocean sediments convert the liquid CO2 into a solid—in the form of stable hydrates." |
| I think this should be "stable carbonates". But I'll check it. |
| Page 186: | "About 1617 gigawatts of coal-fired power capacity currently provides about 40 per cent of the world's electricity." |
| Number error: S/B "provide". (And "1,617".) |
| Page 189: | "If the US implements policies that achieves its 2025 pledge..." |
| Number error: S/B "achieve". |
| Page 195: | "Changes, however, are underway." |
| Missing space: S/B "under way". |
| Page 202: | "...some of the largest corporations that exist today—among them Exxon Mobil, Anglo American, and BG—must either..." |
| At first I thought this S/B "BP" (formerly British Petroleum), one of the "Big 5" oil companies. But it is correct, referring to the BG Group, a company producing LNG with operations in 20 countries including Australia. In February 2016 it became part of Royal Dutch Shell. |
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