Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet Summary

Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet by Mark Lynas does a great job of creatively and effectively outlining the severity of the highly relevant issue of global warming in contemporary society. Using scientific research, computer models, and data from Earth’s climate history, Lynas presents an eye-opening look at and warning about the potential consequences of global warming, especially in relation to current human action. In order to do so, he outlines the effects of climate change equivalent to a global temperature rise of one, two, three, four, five, and six degrees Celsius (hence the title) using gathered data coupled with his own conclusions.

Starting with today’s current near one-degree increase in global temperature, Lynas proceeds by explaining the increasingly detrimental effects each increasing degree would bring to our Earth. For example, although the “One Degree World” is ”not so bad,” it has set on course several processes that could and will gain severity over time, such as Arctic amplification. In the “Two Degree World,” processes that were set in action in the one-degree world would continue and likely worsen in addition to the emergence of new concerns entirely. An example of one such future concern is the potential occurrence of water shortages in China, Peru, and California. Another issue heightened at this global temperature increase is ocean acidification, which would greatly threaten the livelihood of marine species. Once the level of a “Three Degree World” is met, Lynas stresses the scary yet realistic impacts this warming would have on the world. No longer would the Earth be in the range of a “sort of safe” temperature increase. This section largely discusses the impact of carbon and the carbon cycle, and the list of potential climate impacts at a rise in 3 degrees is frighteningly long. A theme that arises from this list is that of agricultural difficulties. Such difficulties would result from the predicted possibility of droughts in Central America, the western US, Australia, and more, as well as precipitation extremes in places such as India. As Lynas put it, “…hundreds of millions of people will have only one choice left other than death for themselves and their families: They will have to pack up their belongings and leave….” As such, he emphasizes the point that human action now is imperative for the well being of future generations.

Lynas continues by revealing the extreme