This is, as the New Yorker staff writer author says, “a book about people trying to solve problems that people trying to solve problems have created.”
From the unintended disastrous consequences of reversing the flow of the polluted Chicago River, the ever-increasing costly efforts to save New Orleans and the Mississippi delta from inundation, the futile efforts to save the Devil’s Hole pupfish, the importation of predators to deal with unwanted imported predators, and the genetic engineering attempts to preserve coral reefs, humankind’s well-intentioned undertakings to interfere with natural processes have been fraught with unforeseen worse consequences.
Yet, in the current situation with the human-made crisis of climate warming, not intervening in nature in any way is not an option if Homo sapiens is to survive on this planet, having already created a potentially lethal situation. Kolbert globe-trots to interview scientists who are proposing or instituting a wide variety of possible methods to mitigate this pending disaster, including those working on carbon capture and storage, geo-engineering of the atmosphere, (thereby creating the white sky of the title) and solar engineering. Along the way a wealth of information and widely divergent perspectives are discussed.
The wring is in the typical NewYorker straightforward informative style I have come to expect from their writers. At first I was a bit disappointed that Kolbert never takes a stand on any of the conflicting possible courses of action. But, on reflection, as a journalist with no formal training in sciences, she is probably wise to avoid endorsing any one proposed course of action, just laying out the possibilities and strongly implying that no one solution will by itself be adequate. Yet she strongly suggests that some tech-heavy proposals will likely worsen the damage we have already caused; in particular, the case for abandoning New Orleans and relocating everyone from the Mississippi delta over a few decades and leaving it to nature’s remodelling seems compelling, irrespective of the high short term costs.
This is a very well written informative but somewhat disturbing assessment of the current challenges we all face, that can be read as bleak or upbeat, depending on your mood.
Thanks,
Andra.
The Passionate Reader 