With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change

By Fred Pearce

Nature is fragile, environmentalists often tell us. But the lesson of this book is that it is not so. The truth is far more worrying. Nature is strong and packs a serious counterpunch . . . Global warming will very probably unleash unstoppable planetary forces. And they will not be gradual. The history of our planet's climate shows that it does not do gradual change. Under pressure, whether from sunspots or orbital wobbles or the depredations of humans, it lurches-virtually overnight. —from the Introduction

Fred Pearce has been writing about climate change for eighteen years, and the more he learns, the worse things look. Where once scientists were concerned about gradual climate change, now more and more of them fear we will soon be dealing with abrupt change resulting from triggering hidden tipping points. Even President Bush's top climate modeler, Jim Hansen, warned in 2005 that "we are on the precipice of climate system tipping points beyond which there is no redemption."

As Pearce began working on this book, normally cautious scientists beat a path to his door to tell him about their fears and their latest findings. With Speed and Violence tells the stories of these scientists and their work-from the implications of melting permafrost in Siberia and the huge river systems of meltwater beneath the icecaps of Greenland and Antarctica to the effects of the "ocean conveyor" and a rare molecule that runs virtually the entire cleanup system for the planet. 

Above all, the scientists told him what they're now learning about the speed and violence of past natural climate change-and what it portends for our future. With Speed and Violence is the most up-to-date and readable book yet about the growing evidence for global warming and the large climatic effects it may unleash.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Mar 15, 2007
• ISBN: 9780807085851

Reviews for With Speed and Violence

[commonreeda · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A lucid, comprehensive and balanced book about climate change. It covers the history of research into the affects of humanity on the climate. Everybody should read it.'Climate is an angry beast and we are poking it with sticks' (Broeker)

[sean191 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

[With Speed and Violence: Why Scientists Fear Tipping Points in Climate Change] by Fred PearceI read this recently, over many lunch breaks - although not sure how I managed, since it's enough to make one lose their appetite. The book is nearly a decade old, but that actually made for some interesting points. It covers predictions and concerns that were for the near future which basically translates to now. Quite a bit of what was being discussed came about and more is still on the way. It lends more credence to the idea that the time for action is now. Of particular concern is the idea that many scientists operate in their silos of specialty. They're not necessarily comparing notes with others outside of their area (who can blame them, with all the different types of research?) But that means that things like positive feedback loops are only being explored in narrow ways. They're not necessarily being looked at and compounded by positive feedback loops from other issues, so there's likely an underestimating of the severity of the climate change issue.

[stbalbach_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fred Pearce is a journalist with 'New Scientist' magazine who has been writing about climate change since the 1980s. With a background writing for a popular science magazine he is naturally skilled at quickly distilling complex science into a readable and understandable narrative for the educated lay reader and placing things in the big picture. But he is also grounded and objective, saying in the Introduction "I am a skeptical environmentalist" but that "climate change is different.. the more I learn.. the more scared I get.. because this story adds up."Pearce goes through a checklist of major concerns scientists are looking at: Melting ice in Greenland and the Arctic. Glaciological "monsters" lurking in Pine Island Bay and Totten glacier. The stability of the West Antarctic ice sheet. El Nino getting stuck, trigger droughts or super-storms. The Amazon rain forest disappearing due to drought or fire. The acidification of the oceans. Damage to the atmospheric hydroxyl smog cleaning system. Influences of the stratosphere on global warming. Methane releases from melting arctic bogs. The North Atlantic conveyor belt shutdown. Frozen undersea methane clathrates. The impact of soot. The unknown factor of clouds. The many ways the sun and the earths orbit effects climate change. And much more.In addition he covers a bit of history including a history of the debate between the the polar and tropical camps on what is the driver of climate change. His explanation of El Nino was simple yet it finally made sense to me how it works and why it is so important.Interleaved throughout is the common narrative that climate is not a steady beast, but a widely unpredictable "drunk", who prodded a little can go off irrationally and unexpectedly in any direction. This is an excellent overview that is easy to read, fascinating, well written, a roller-coaster of ideas and insights.

[hadriantheblind · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

An overview of the rapidity of climate change, and the comparative instability and complexity of the environment. Provides many frightening examples, although each deserves more time and research.

[auntmarge64 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Pearce gives a broad overview of many important influences on global climate patterns and the possible consequences of some or all of them working together to bring about alterations too quick for humanity to handle. There is a great deal of information presented, on massive methane sinks in melting Arctic bogs; on weather conveyor belt systems, and changes in the Earth's albedo, which determines how much heat is absorbed or radiated from oceans, ice covers, and other surfaces; and on the weakening of glacial connections to land masses. He discusses the role of soot in global climate and the possibility of cessation of monsoons, and newer research showing the connection between stratospheric warming/cooling and climate changes in the atmosphere. Many of the leading climatologists are described, as well as their differing theories. One particularly intriguing dispute is over whether it is the arctic or the tropical climate forces which act first in major alterations. Other than an irritating use of the word "could", as in "it could happen", this is a very readable and interesting book. Actually, it's a bit alarming. It's pretty obvious that humans don't have an attention span long enough to worry much about the dangers of climate changes, especially abrupt ones. The time scales are just too long for our serious contemplation or action. What this book does is to intelligently present more climate influences than even most worriers might know about, and it makes a very good case that we are sealing our own doom by our failure to look beyond everyday concerns and recognize the illusion of safety of our place on the planet.

[tshrope · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is an important and informative book about climate change, both from an historical perspective to projections for the future.

What I liked most about this book is that Pearce talks to many different scientists who have different theories about what the central driver of climate change is and what we can expect going forward. He does not just talk to scientists who will move his own agenda forward, but gives equal time and attention to the many theories that are out there. There are few definitive answers in the scientific community, but there is one thing they all agree on, global warming is happening and it is, and will have major effects on weather systems. We are moving from the relatively stable Holocene era, that began 8,200 years ago, into an unstable (to say the least), and perhaps volatile period that could have catastrophic consequences. At the least we can expect more severe and unexpected weather; colder winters and hotter summers, desert like conditions in non-traditional arid regions and vice versa, and more frequent and severe El Niño’s.

The question is what can we do to help stem global warming and how much time do we have before we hit points where there is no turning back (or at least not for thousands maybe even millions of years until the planet can renew itself)? Again there are no definitive answers, with the exception that we (meaning the world population) must start cutting our carbon emissions so we are not adding more carbon dioxide than the planet and atmosphere can absorb. If we don’t do this, permafrost and glaciers will continue to melt rising sea levels and more importantly, exponentially releasing billions of tons of methane gas and carbon dioxide from fossilized vegetation which has formally been frozen under the tundra causing even more and faster rates of global warming.

Stylistically this book has some problems; he is all over the map so to speak. Most of the chapters are short (think magazine article) and do not flow together as a cohesive narrative. He jumps from the glaciers to the tropics, to the oceans, back to glaciers, to the atmosphere, back to the tropics etc. It is a bit hard to follow, not to mention the all of the scientific information that needs to be understood and absorbed. These are minor criticisms though, and should not deter from the overall impact of this must read book.