Part II of Thomas Friedman’s book Thank you for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations revolves around the accelerating forces of technology, globalization and climate change, which are driving the “Machine.” A term used by the author to describe “the world’s biggest gears and pulleys [that] are shaping events.” In chapter 6, Friedman uses “Mother Nature” as an umbrella term to refer to climate change, biodiversity loss and population growth and he argues that “Mother Nature has entered the second half of the chessboard” and has been driven by the acceleration of technology and globalization. The author adds that the “power of many” – the amplified impact of more and more people on the planet – is driving
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He then goes on to say that one has to master four phases of “climate-speak”. The first is: “Just a few years ago,… but then something changed, the second one is: “Wow, I’ve never seen that before…” , the third one is: “Well, usually, but now I don’t know anymore…” and the last one is “We haven’t seen something like that since…” All these phrase represent unparalleled observations in nature, resulting from climate change. Friedman uses Greenland to describe these effects: for example, melting ice banks between islands as a result of rising temperature, rainfall in the winter in an artic zone, the effects on wildlife, rivers drying out and record concentration of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere or measures of record high …show more content…
“The power of many” however, could flip the planet into a state in which we could not longer maintain modern life as we enjoy it today. Scientist identified nine key planetary boundaries that humans must not breach in order to maintain the current state of the planet and thus sustain modern civilization. The first four boundaries - climate change, biodiversity, deforestation and biogeochemical flows - have already been breached. In four other realms - ocean acidification, freshwater use, atmospheric aerosol loading and introduction of novel entities - we have stayed inside the boundaries without much room to spare. Only the stratospheric ozone layer is not longer in danger of being breached after the implementation of the Montreal Protocol in
He then goes on to say that one has to master four phases of “climate-speak”. The first is: “Just a few years ago,… but then something changed, the second one is: “Wow, I’ve never seen that before…” , the third one is: “Well, usually, but now I don’t know anymore…” and the last one is “We haven’t seen something like that since…” All these phrase represent unparalleled observations in nature, resulting from climate change. Friedman uses Greenland to describe these effects: for example, melting ice banks between islands as a result of rising temperature, rainfall in the winter in an artic zone, the effects on wildlife, rivers drying out and record concentration of CO2 in the Earth’s atmosphere or measures of record high …show more content…
“The power of many” however, could flip the planet into a state in which we could not longer maintain modern life as we enjoy it today. Scientist identified nine key planetary boundaries that humans must not breach in order to maintain the current state of the planet and thus sustain modern civilization. The first four boundaries - climate change, biodiversity, deforestation and biogeochemical flows - have already been breached. In four other realms - ocean acidification, freshwater use, atmospheric aerosol loading and introduction of novel entities - we have stayed inside the boundaries without much room to spare. Only the stratospheric ozone layer is not longer in danger of being breached after the implementation of the Montreal Protocol in