Our Final Warning. Six Degrees of Climate Emergency by Mark Lynas, review

Our Final Warning. Six Degrees of Climate Emergency by Mark Lynas

Scientists, musicians, journalists, writers, researchers, directors, climatologists and artists of all sorts have been telling us about the dangers of pollution for decades, but their voices have often remained completely unheard. Many all this time that they were exaggerating, that the situation was not as dramatic as they described it and, above all, those apocalyptic scenarios really looked like only material for science fiction works. And instead…

In 2021 extreme atmospheric phenomena have become more and more frequent, also manifesting themselves in places on the planet where until some time ago they were considered unthinkable. Furthermore, global warming is inexorably accelerating the decline of our planet's glaciers, from which larger and larger pieces break off more and more often. Now, for some years now, we have been starting to see the first consequences of a behavior on our part that is nothing short of wicked. But it is not over yet, indeed, we are only at the beginning.

With his Our Last Warning. Six Degrees of Climate Emergency Mark Lynas envisages even more apocalyptic and desolate scenarios, if we do not do something in the short term to try to reverse the course and move away from the endless abyss into which we are throwing ourselves headlong.

Our Final Warning: Who is Mark Lynas

The author of this incredible and disastrous account of what awaits us if the Earth's average temperature continues to rise is a British journalist and activist with a particular interest in climate change. who has been studying for several years. His articles are featured in several British magazines, including The Observer and The Guardian.



Mark Lynas has several publications under his belt, of which Our Last Warning is only the latest. In his writings, Lynas undertakes to raise awareness on environmental issues, dealing with topics ranging from the need for nuclear energy even within a green economy to the analysis of changes in the planet to the climate emergency.

Our Last Warning: text structure

Our Last Warning. Six Degrees of Climate Emergency is a considerable volume of 423 terrifying pages. Despite this, the Italian edition of the book, edited by Fazi Editore, does not have an excessive weight, also due to the flexible cover and the choice of a type of light and porous, uncoated paper.

The text it is smooth, thus revealing a good translation from the English original by Michele Zurlo. The index is located at the beginning of the volume and immediately shows us its structure. Our Final Warning. Six Degrees of Climatic Emergency includes, between a short preface and a concluding chapter, six chapters. As the book's own subtitle suggests, it describes what could very likely happen if the average temperature of planet Earth were to increase by 6 °. Each chapter is therefore dedicated to the consequences of this increase, one degree at a time.



Each chapter is therefore divided into sub-chapters that analyze different consequences separately and whose titles already briefly explain how effective they are. topics covered in it. Unpredictable floods, coral bleaching, the collapse of the Gulf Stream, refugees from the heat are just a few examples of titles that deal with end-of-the-world scenarios described in great scientific detail within the very rich volume. And we are referring to consequences deriving from the increase of only one degree. We leave you only to imagine what the last chapter could talk about ...

At the end of the day, 53 pages of notes, which also constitute a very rich bibliography of scientific texts to which Mark Lynas makes continuous references throughout the course of his impressive story.

So few degrees, so little time

If maybe six degrees might already seem like a lot, it seems difficult to think that the increase in average temperatures of the Earth by just one degree can have serious consequences. And instead ...

An apparently almost negligible increase is enough to trigger a whole series of chain actions that could lead the already dramatic situation in which we find ourselves to an inevitable collapse with no way out. If it were to get hotter, the glaciers would melt more quickly, spilling impressive quantities of water into the oceans, desertification would take hold even more, extreme atmospheric phenomena would be even more present and there would be mass extinctions. To top it all, an asphyxiating heat exacerbated by a greenhouse effect that would lead our planet to be much more like what Lynas calls "the evil twin of the Earth": Venus.

The title Our Last Warning it was not chosen by chance: there is still little time at our disposal to try to have a lower impact on pollution and greenhouse gas emissions and to save our planet and the forms of life that characterize its rich biodiversity.

It's late, but it's not too late

Although the content of Our Last Warning depicts apocalyptic scenarios worthy of a catastrophic Netflix series, the intent of its author is certainly not that to make readers feel helpless in the face of so much devastation. Mark Lynas' goal is in fact to bring anyone who reads this text to an awareness, to a new level of awareness of the fact that every action corresponds to an equal and opposite action: our actions have consequences on our ecosystem, and now we have to face them.

However, Mark Lynas' final message is not one of despair, but of the will to live.

“If necessary, I will continue to fight for years and decades , with infinite determination and boundless love, until the heat stops rising and our children have a future. ”

You can purchase your copy of Our Last Warning. Six Degrees of Climate Emergency by Mark Lynas here on Amazon.