The Revenge of Gaia: Earth's Climate Crisis and the Fate of Humanity

Book Description

The key insight of Gaia Theory is that the entire Earth functions as a single living superorganism, regulating its internal environment much as an animal regulates its body temperature. But according to James Lovelock, the theory's originator, that organism is now sick. It is running a fever born of increased atmospheric greenhouse gases. Earth will adjust to these stresses, but the human race faces a severe test. It is already too late, Lovelock says, to prevent the global climate from "flipping" into an entirely new equilibrium that will threaten civilization as we know it. But we can do much to save humanity. In the tradition of Silent Spring, this is a call to action.

Customer Reviews:

Wrong even in basic.......2007-10-07

I'll be sincere.I tried to read this trash-book , here in Brazil.I'm an agronomist and I like to read books.
This book is a trash.Why?Because it has too many frauds, half-trues,etc.
Someone perhaps will claim that this book defends nuclear power.Even in this topic, this trash-book is a failure.This book claims that nuclear fusion reactors are near and will be very good.None is correct.After sixty years and tens of billions of US dollars wasted, no fusion reactor is working today.Fusion reactors will also produce nuclear trash.
As world's enemies, this book puts(as ever among ecology books) among poor and colored people as the menace.
Under green disguise, eugenics is back.Its new name is ecology.

Science education.......2007-08-22

In every life time we come across a few books that are really important. I class this as one of them.

This book provides the man in the street with the information he needs to make balanced decisions about what is really going on with the climate and how well meaning green efforts are counter-productive.

The arguments in the book are counter-intuitive and as a result exposes the folly of most of the political and media commentary espoused on this very important issue.

Complex ideas are simply presented in a very accessible manner, this is not a stuffy science book full of incomprehensible statistics, rather its science education at its best.

Teach it in schools, Teach it to journalists, teach it to the man in the street.

No Simple Answers.......2007-08-19

Lovelock sees himself as a member of a new profession of planetary physicians. Continuing the analogy, the earth is running a fever, and in danger of acquiring a morbidity lasting as long as 100,000 years.

This fear is based on evidence from the Earth's history 55 million years ago when a geological accident released more than a terraton (a million times a million) of gaseous carbon compounds into the air, raising the temperature in tropical regions about 5 degrees C and 8 degrees elsewhere, and taking over 100,000 years to return to normality. Lovelock further claims we have already put more than half this quantity of carbon gases into the air and the sun is hotter than it was in the earlier instance.

Positive feedback in the Earth's environment makes our situation particularly sensitive. Warming from existing CO2 melts glaciers, which in turn reduces existing reflectivity of the sun - warming the Earth more; at the same time warmer seas reduce the oceans' ability to hold existing dissolved CO2, etc. (Melted ice caps would increase ocean levels 120 meters.)

Alternatives are few, and difficult. Powering all transportation through biofuels would require acreage 4-6X that now used for food, and would still generate considerable CO2. Burning natural gas produces half the CO2 now created otherwise; however, 2% leaks (natural gas is mostly methane - much more climate-affecting than CO2, though fortunately shorter lived) throughout the process would negate this benefit. Peat bog fires create 40% of the world's total carbon emissions, per Lovelock (it seems something could/should be done in this area). Wind energy is only available about 25% of the time, and tidal energy would only supply about 6% of England's requirements. Sunlight is not even totally reliable in the SW, and storage and transmission costs would seriously hurt its viability outside that immediate area.

Recommendations: 1)Nuclear energy. 2)Population reduction, assisted by productive uses of women's' talents.

One topic was not addressed - Lovelock states that the U.S. has been reluctant to pursue global warming improvements. I suspect he is correct; however, no explanation for this was offered.

An invaluable guide to the future.......2007-07-01

In this dour assessment, Lovelock has taken his original brilliant insight of Earth as a living organism and extrapolated it into the pessimism of an environmental disaster in the making.

Until Lovelock, no one thought of all life on this planet as creating a unique living being in its own right. In retrospect, it's obvious; this is the nature of true genius. In a very scientific manner, backed by the finest research and impeccable data, Lovelock reached an understanding of the Earth that matches the basics of Native American philosophy.

This book is a timely prediction that life on earth will collapse within the next century due to human activity. His reasoning is accurate, brilliant and based on a fundamental flaw; he fails to recognize that humans continue to change. The agricultural revolution that began 10,000 years ago made profound changes; the evolution of teosinte into corn is one of a myriad of amazing progress.

Now the Industrial Revolution is changing human habitation from 95 percent rural to 95 percent urban; worldwide, 50 percent of people now live in cities, and this will be 70 percent within 50 years. It's the most profound population shift since hunter/gatherers became farmers; and, it's likely to have an ever greater impact on the natural world.

Humans have evolved from gathering food to producing food to producing things to producing intangible ideas. An intengible idea has economic value, but it is not something you can drop on your foot. It's a product of brainpower, not natural resources. Two centuries ago, the wealth of nations was their natural resources; today, the natural resources of the US are 3 percent of its wealth while the intengible ideas are 82 percent.

Lovelock ignores this ability of humans and wildlife to change. In Phoenix, the rich live in walled, guarded and video-camera'd enclaves such as Biltmore Estates; coyotes are also learning to live there and are making Shih Tzus, Sharpeis and other toys into their own fast food snacks. Coyotes once were limited to the Rocky Mountains; now, they're found in Central Park in New York and everywhere else they choose to adapt.

Life changes. People are flocking into cities which became "the dark satanic mills" of Dickens' times. Now possible to build zero-carbon cities, as planned in Abu Dhabi. Humans change. Granted, change is often costly. Without forethought, millions may die. Without change, the toll will be even greater. But, change will occur. It always has, it is now, it always will be so.

This book sets out the scenario of a potential disaster, based on the knowledge of a brilliant and innovative scientist. Neither Lovelock or any other individual will come up with all the answers; but, in reading it, every thoughtful person will be prompted to come up with their own solutions large, small and meaningful.

Lovelock presents a beautiful concept of the world, a philosophy that reaches the levels of Native American wisdom. The difference is not becoming stuck in the status quo, as with Native American religions; but, in adapting to a radically different future. This book recognizes the danger of the status quo; change (evolution) means everyone must adapt to the future. Those who don't will become extinct.

Those who do will be thankful there were books such as this to serve as guides and inspirations along the way.

Very late on Gaia. Very, very late.......2007-05-25

What sets this book apart from the other climate crises books is that Lovelock's view is complicated by double aspects. Not only is global warming causing its problems, but also overpopulation is causing disturbance of Gaia's self-regenerating processes. Even if we were fortunate enough to solve atmospheric carbon accumulation we would still face a shortage of land. Lovelock points to land lost to agribusiness to feed the billions. Disturbance of soil microorganisms as well as the loss of the rainforest is to blame.

Lovelock stresses alternatives to fossil fuels favoring immediate development of nuclear fission. He notes "one of the striking things about places contaminated by radioactive nuclides is the richness of their wildlife."

Lovelock also distances himself from environmentalists in his defense of DDT. "These insecticides badly needed controlling, but the indiscriminate banning of DDT and other chlorinated insectides was a selfish, ill-informed act driven by affluent radicals in the first world. The inhabitants of tropical countries have paid a high price in death and illness as a result of their inability to use DDT as an effective controller of malaria."

The tone in this book is decidedly grim - much more so than Lovelock's early books. He does stay on-point here.

Global Warming - Myth or Reality?: The Erring Ways of Climatology (Springer Praxis Books / Environmental Sciences)

Average customer rating:

A MUST read.
Analysis not Rhetoric

Global Warming - Myth or Reality?: The Erring Ways of Climatology (Springer Praxis Books / Environmental Sciences)
Marcel Leroux
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 354023909X

Book Description

In the global-warming debate, definitive answers to questions about ultimate causes and effects remain elusive. In Global Warming: Myth or Reality? Marcel Leroux seeks to separate fact from fiction in this critical debate from a climatological perspective. Beginning with a review of the dire hypotheses for climate trends, the author describes the history of the 1998 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and many subsequent conferences. He discusses the main conclusions of the three IPCC reports and the predicted impact on global temperatures, rainfall, weather and climate, while highlighting the mounting confusion and sensationalism of reports in the media. After taking a hard look at the reality of the greenhouse effect, the ‘evidence’ from climate models, and the models’ limitations, Leroux postulates alternate causes of climate change and analyzes the trends for global temperatures, rainfall patterns, and sea level. He poses the ‘heretical’ question if warming may be considered a benefit in some regions. Finally Leroux suggests a number of priorities for climatologists to better understand processes of climate change, to integrate them into climate models, and to predict accurately future changes in climate. This timely and controversial book lays out the scientific case of the sizable skeptical scientific community who challenge the accepted wisdom.

Customer Reviews:

A MUST read........2007-08-02

Anyone who claim having an opinion on the issue of Anthropogenic Global Warming cannot ignore this book. This is no journalist romanced account nor a guru dire predictions. This is a scientific demonstration based on observations and accute scientific understanding and reasonning. It should be in every school library and science teachers should have read it answer students' question with knowledge. True it is not light reading but there is no other way to explain the fundamentals of atmospheric circulation, its relation to climates and expose the perversions of cooky cutter science. Should you read one book, this one is the one.

Analysis not Rhetoric.......2007-01-03

Aside from the first four chapters (which provide an excellent, if strident, history of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), this is a thorough text book on climate analysis for the layman. It develops a cogent theory of how the atmosphere works and explains each of the issues involved from the eccentricity of the earth's orbit, the tilt of the poles, the impact of the solar cycle, to a detailed look at the defects in climate modeling and how one might expect the atmosphere to react if, indeed, the earth were warming or cooling. Great care is taken to explain the impact of each of the green house gases (including the most significant, water vapor, and how its omission from IPCC studies impacts the conclusions). Not light reading, but well worth the effort.

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Boiling Point
Ross Gelbspan
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0465027628

Book Description

Exposes how big business, the Bush administration, and environmentalists alike are preventing us from solving the problem of global warming-and offers a prescription for saving the planet

In Boiling Point, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ross Gelbspan argues that, unchecked, climate change will swamp every other issue facing us today. Indeed, what began as an initial response of many institutions-denial and delay-has now grown into a crime against humanity.

The fossil fuel industry is directing the Bush administration's energy and climate policies-payback for helping Bush get elected. But they're not the only ones to blame: the media and environmental activists are unwittingly worsening the crisis. In his new introduction, Gelbspan reveals that the outlook isn't getting better. The climate continues to change with increasing acceleration: hurricanes devastated Florida; rainfall patterns left two million people starving in Kenya; 2004 was the fourth hottest year on record. At the same time, the coal industry was planning to sabotage an effort in the Senate to begin to regulate carbon dioxide.

Officials of Switzerland, France, and Canada said last year that, when the Kyoto Protocol takes effect, they intend to take the United States to court under the World Trade Organization, reasoning that the U.S.'s refusal to lower their carbon emissions amounts to an illegal subsidy-a "carbon subsidy"-on its exports.

Book Description

Shattered Consensus: The True State of Global Warming convincingly demonstrates the remarkable differences between what we commonly read about global warming and what is really happening. Nine chapters describe major problems with computer simulations of future climate that are the basis for wrenching policies being proposed by world leaders. Anyone who reads this book will come away with a new appreciation of the complexity of the climate issue and will question the need for expensive policies that are likely to have little or no detectable effect on the planet's temperature. Published in cooperation with the George C. Marshall Institute.

Customer Reviews:

The inconvenient truth about An Inconvenient Truth .......2007-08-06

I highly recommend this book. But I suspect that this book will not appeal to most readers. There's none of the intense hyperbole that infects both global warming fanatics and many of their deniers. There are no grand apocalyptic scenarios that garner such strong public appeal. No terrifying future, no living on the brink of disaster. Only quiet nuanced science from those who spend their life in research. One suspects that the politics of global warming has now superseded the science and sad to say, when politics enters the room, truth shuffles its way into the background. This is unfortunate since there are many things about the environment with which we should be concerned - not the least being our consumption of non renewable resources. My fervent hope is that we can move past the exaggerated apocalypse of global warming while addressing the necessary issues of the environment - i.e., the rest of the environment aside from climate change.
In this case of Shattered Consensus, all ten contributors are scientists and experts in their field. Each chapter, and scientific report, covers a separate and distinct aspect of climate. This is really a collection of reports, not a coherent "story". Each contributor has their own style, some being more accessible than others. They present the science as they understand it and in that regard the average reader may find the information dry, or indeed undecipherable. Most of the ten authors include a short conclusion which may be helpful for those unwilling to plow through the science. Nonetheless the reader is left in the end overwhelmed not by the certainty of any position, but by the staggering uncertainty in all aspects related to this Earth's climate. Our ability to measure past trends in climate are dependent on woefully scant data. Our ability to project future trends have no unambiguous models yet. In fact, the variability of the results of the different models are so big as to render them basically useless for anything other than further research. They certainly shouldn't be used to make definitive statements as to future trends. The effects of CO2 are still highly uncertain with some models suggesting no impact and some observations linking CO2 to an indicator of climate change not a driver - i.e., CO2 changes as a result of climate change, not the other way around. Much more research is needed to understand why these discrepancies are observed. Even if global warming is happening, and even if CO2 is at least partly to blame, the impact of global warming in some scenarios is actually beneficial to not only humans, but to some species. Indeed, in all of Earth's history through warming and cooling periods, some species benefit and other lose.
The reader is left with the question, since scientists tell us that the unknowns vastly outweigh the things that are known about climate, what should our policy decisions making framework be based on. Is seems to me that we need to base it on what is known. Air quality, water quality, land use, availability of non renewable resources, are all things we can measure and for which policies can be made. Having a single enemy (CO2, in this case) is certainly more appealing and simple for the average consumer to understand. But simple is not always best.
It should be noted that none of these scientists is involved in the petroleum industry (a favorite disclaimer by those wanting to discredit the validity of anyone critical of global warming science). Some have even been involved in the IPCC directly (the UN Intergovernmental protocol on climate change). Scientists are by nature a conservative lot. A hypothesis lasts as long as the next set of experiments that disprove it, or tenuously as long as further experiments continue to confirm it. Most scientists don't seek a public profile and most are uncomfortable playing the role of a nay-sayer, especially in the face of such publicly popular resources as Al Gore's an Inconvenient Truth. I will rely on the scientific truth to work its way to the surface. I just hope we don't waste too much in the way of public funds on chasing windmills when there are so many important issues in this world that need attention.

Consensus? Right........2007-04-18

This book perfectly illustrates how there is dissent in the thinking of many climate scientists, showing information that proves there is no consensus, or at least none as to the overall causes, specific effects and actions to take on "anthropogenic global warming".

It's like the AAAS's 'Science' magazine publishing an op/ed in their "Essays on Science and Society" section by Naomi Oreskes (Associate professor of history and director of the Program in Science Studies at the University of California at the time). In that piece, it was reported an analysis was made of abstracts in the ISI database under science and with the phrase "global climate change" in them. The keywords specified in the op/ed 3 times were "climate change" (In another issue of 'Science' that was corrected to "global climate change". I would include that, but you have to join AAAS to get to it.) Her closing paragraph in the essay uses the words "anthropogenic climate change".

Although she takes quite a while to say it, in two or more convoluted paragraphs, she claims consensus because of the actions of some organizations; that we can prove statements and reports by the AMS, AGU, AAAS and others don't downplay legitimate disenting opinions, thus proving a consensus. I'm not sure I follow that train of logic, but there you go.

So, how does she "prove" it? By grabbing those publications that are in the ISI database that are in the science section and have abstracts that have the words "global climate change" in the abstract. Do those contradict what the organizations say? No? Consensus!

Not in ISI database? Not in science section? No abstract? Doesn't have "global climate change" in the abstract? Not looked at.

She does make two interesting points in her closing paragraph, although the two have nothing to do with each other. I've broken the paragraph into the two points; while the first is true, the second is not anything she's proven in the op/ed (although it seems she's hoping we will think so):

1. Many details about climate interactions are not well understood, and there are ample grounds for continued research to provide a better basis for understanding climate dynamics. The question of what to do about climate change is also still open.

2. But there is a scientific consensus on the reality of anthropogenic climate change. Climate scientists have repeatedly tried to make this clear. It is time for the rest of us to listen.

That op/ed, Richard Lindzen's op/ed in the WSJ and her rebuttal op/ed in the Washington Post, as well as letters between Roger Pielke Jr and her printed in 'Science' give even more light on the entire issue of the lack of a consensus and the lengths the cult of global warming will go to to keep everyone thinking there is. This book goes a long way towards fighting the misconceptions, and is an excellent strike in the battle against global warming propaganda.

[...]

Down with Globaloney.......2007-04-03

Point-by-point rebuttal of the fallacy of ''global warming''/''climate change'' brought about by human endeavors. Puts paid to AlGores' Oscar-winning docufantasy. Yes, all of us anti-global warming folks are in the pay of Giant Oil and the moral equivalent of Holocaust deniers. NOT!!! Your belief in half-baked computer models (as opposed to real-life atmospheric happenings) and over-blown do-gooder falsehoods doesn't make ''global warming'' a catastrophic happening.

Sample of Scientific Discussions.......2007-03-14

Interesting series of papers on topics of ongoing discussion regarding global warming. The title is a bit overblown, but I guess it matches the assumption, so often printed over and over in the media, that there is a consensus on global warming (or more correctly, human-caused global warming). There's lots of citations given and places to dig into this as deep as you want. I particularly like the part about trying to develop some sort of heat balance between the earth's surface, the various layers in the atmosphere, and the universe to which the earth radiates heat, and all the unexplained measurement error and missing information associated with that.

There was allusion to the plans to try to "Command and Control" the world's economy, based on averting global warming, basically concluding that nothing we can do will change the outcome much anyway, at least in any predictable way. It makes one wonder if the global warming phenomena is being used as a pretext to try "Command and Control" again. This book does not really get into that, but does give a taste of endless unresolved topics associated with global warming.

religion of enviromentalism challenged.......2007-03-01

any book that challenges to apriori assumptions of the enviromentalist religious dogma of man made global warming is needed. Al Gore and his celebrity loving, psuedo scientific friends need to be mocked for their hypocrisy and stupidity

Liquid-Vapor Phase-Change Phenomena: An Introduction To The Thermophysics Of vaporization and condensation in heat transfer equipment: An Introduction ... in Heat Transfer Equipment (Ser)

Average customer rating:

Great book for the newbie
Excellent introductory book for studying Two Phase Flow

Liquid-Vapor Phase-Change Phenomena: An Introduction To The Thermophysics Of vaporization and condensation in heat transfer equipment: An Introduction ... in Heat Transfer Equipment (Ser)
Van P. Carey
Manufacturer: Taylor & Francis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1560320745

Book Description

The book focuses on basic elements of condensation and vaporization processes. The basic physical mechanisms associated with a particular phase-change phenomenon are described in detail, followed by a representative sample of the best models applicable to the circumstances of interest. Throughout the text, the importance of the basic phenomena to a wide variety of applications is discussed.

Customer Reviews:

Great book for the newbie.......2005-11-19

This book is one of the few books I have found on the topic of two phase flow which gives good, concise physical models that correspond to the mathematical theory.

Excellent introductory book for studying Two Phase Flow.......1996-06-29

There are very few books written exclusively focussing on Two Phase flow, and this is one of the very good books on that subject. It caters the interest of Mechanical engineers in large and also Chemical engineer

Science and Technology of Terrorism and Counterterrorism (Public Administration and Public Policy)

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Unique

Science and Technology of Terrorism and Counterterrorism (Public Administration and Public Policy)

Manufacturer: CRC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0824708709

Book Description

Citing viable homeland defense strategies, this book examines the potential agents, delivery methods, and toxic and nontoxic effects of possible nuclear, biological, and chemical terrorist attacks. Providing countermeasures for governmental and emergency first-response teams, the book covers the impact of WMDs on public health, agriculture, and economic infrastructures, as well as the limitations of sensor/detection technology and the prediction of potential biological and chemical events. It also discusses the effects of next wave cyberterrorism, the roles of state and federal agencies, root causes of terrorism, how to diagnose a chemical or bioterrorism event in the emergency room, and more.

Customer Reviews:

Unique.......2002-09-29

The Science and Technology of Terrorism and Counterterrorism examine some topics that you might find in other texts but in a more understandable format and with greater depth. It goes beyond this in that it covers so much more that is unique in a variety of areas such as the theory of terrorism and technology, the group psychology of terrorism, aerosol science, sensors (one of the most complete works on chem., bio and nuclear sensors that I have seen), medical preparedness, training and homeland security infrastructure. It is concise and timely and is written by a distinguished group of scholars with a broad range of expertise to thoroughly cover all of these complex topics.

Stream Analysis: A Powerful Way to Diagnose and Manage Organizational Change (Addison-Wesley Series on Organization Development)

Average customer rating:

It really works!

Stream Analysis: A Powerful Way to Diagnose and Manage Organizational Change (Addison-Wesley Series on Organization Development)
Jerry I. Porras
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0201056933

Customer Reviews:

It really works!.......2001-07-19

A colleague of mine read this book as part of his MPA graduate program and found the methodology simple yet powerful. The book provides a graphical way of organizing employee complaints and laments into a logical structure that shows how most "problems" are actually symptoms of a few root issues that need to be addressed to effect lasting change.

Book Description

As rising levels of mercury in the environment pose an increasing threat of toxicity to humans and wildlife, several laws already call for industries to reduce mercury emissions at the source. Ecosystem Responses to Mercury Contamination: Indicators of Change outlines the infrastructure and methods needed to measure, monitor, and regulate the concentration of mercury present in the environment. This book draws on the knowledge of forty international experts in the fields of atmospheric transport and deposition, mercury cycling in terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, and mercury bioaccumulation in aquatic foodwebs and wildlife. The authors propose a set of indicators to use as a measure of changing mercury concentrations in the environment. Next, they recommend a monitoring strategy and offer guidance for determining systematic changes in concentration. Then the authors examine additional monitoring strategies to relate observed changes in concentration to regulatory controls on mercury emissions. The final chapter provides an integrated framework for establishing a national-scale program to monitor mercury concentrations in the environment. Ecosystem Responses to Mercury Contamination: Indicators of Change contains the information needed to design a large-scale monitoring program for mercury and to use the concentration data to create, enforce, and evaluate the progress of initiatives aimed at reducing mercury emissions.

Management of Change in Chemical Plants: Learning from Case Histories

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Management of Change in Chemical Plants: Learning from Case Histories
R. E. Sanders
Manufacturer: Butterworth-Heinemann
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0750611359

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The Business of Climate Change

Manufacturer: Greenleaf Publishing Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1874719578
Release Date: 2005-03-01

Product Description

"Corporate Responses to Climate Change provides valuable and insightful guidance concerning real-world experience in response to the emerging risks of climate change. It will undoubtedly prove to be a helpful companion for those attempting to chart a fiscally and environmentally responsible course through the unexplored territory of the evolving climate regime."
- Irving Mintzer, Amber Leonard

In recent years climate change has become a leading issue on both the business and political agenda. With the Kyoto Protocol to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change now ratified, business is bracing itself for the reality of serious regulation on the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.

The Business of Climate Change presents a state-of-the-art analysis of corporate responses to the climate change issue. The book describes and assesses a number of recent business approaches that will help to identify effective strategies and promote the dissemination of proactive corporate practices on climate-change worldwide. By identifying the factors that cause companies to pursue low-carbon strategies and support the Kyoto process, the book will also be helpful to governments in formulating policy.

Business and industry have a crucial role to play in the implementation of the Kyoto Protocol. They are major emitters of greenhouse gases, and pressure is mounting for them to engage in a range of mitigation strategies, from emission inventorying and trading schemes to investments in low-carbon technologies. Behind the scenes a number of companies have started to develop strategies to curtail greenhouse gas emissions.

These strategies can be very diverse in nature. At a political level, companies try to influence policy implementation and, more specifically, to test ideas in anticipation of possible regulation on the climate change issue. At a more practical level, there are a burgeoning number of initiatives to conserve energy use in production, transportation and buildings, to develop renewables sources of energy, to measure carbon emissions and sequestrations at a detailed level, and to develop various markets for trading carbon credits among companies and countries. Some technologies, such as hybrid cars and compact fluorescent lighting, are now market realities.

Common to all these initiatives is that they operate in an environment of high complexity and uncertainty. The political implementation of the Kyoto Protocol remains uncertain and many details remain unspecified. Economic instruments such as emissions trading are favoured=, but their mechanisms are still hotly debated and the future price of credits is unknown. New markets for low-emission products and technologies are beginning to appear, but there are currently few regulatory drivers to assist their development. The impact of potential regulation on business will vary tremendously between companies and sectors. The fossil fuel and energy sectors fear the economics of action, while sectors such as insurance and agriculture fear the economics of inaction. Combined with the remaining uncertainties about what form climate change may take, corporate responses to reduce risks have to differentiate between sectors and have to be flexible. For individual companies. these big! uncertainties demand new thinking and contingency planning.

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