Red Sky at Morning



James Gustave Speth in his book, Red Sky at Morning, focuses on the subject of global warming in four sections: Environmental Challenges Go Global..., ....And the World Responds, Facing Up to Underlying Causes, and The Transition to Sustainability. As the author writes his preface, a blizzard is bearing down on his home in Yale Connecticut. The blizzard is forecast to set records while the month of January just had it second warmest average temperatures in history. The author writes: "dramatically colder weather in the North Atlantic region is one possible consequence of global warming because the warming could disrupt the Gulf Stream." The author continues and discusses the early days of the modern environmental movement and moves to the idea that earth's story has yet to be written and how there are two possible outcomes, one tragic and one not.

Part one of the book focuses on environmental challenges and the current problems that are contributing to global warming. From the industrial revolution to present day, we as a people have contributed to the "unnatural" warming of our planet. "Before we can understand why we have failed to act in our own and nature's interest, and what we can do to change, we need to examine what we are doing to the natural world" (Speth 11). The author discusses the various threats to biodiversity and ecosystems and the deforestation specifically in the Amazon. In his third chapter he goes into great detail about the huge quantities of pollution linked to the twentieth century's increases in population and economic activity. This pollution is destroying coral reefs, the ozone layer, and raising the average global temperature of our planet. The author discusses a need of transformation from high to low carbon emissions so we can avoid future climate risks.

Part two of the book focuses on the world responding to global warming and the domestic and global front. The author points out all the good things we have done but also the many things that still need to be done. In 1962 Rachel Carson published Silent Spring which was the first mass movement of awareness on the issue of DDT and on a broader since, pollution. In 1970 the first Earth Day was recognized and is still celebrated today to raise awareness about our planet. Through many other examples of positive developments the author moves to explain why these things happened. The author states some of the positive developments but lists many more contrasts that call attention to the weak political base by which the concern for our planet has rested. The author goes on to attack why we can't combat this global warming problem and lists various reasons.

The author transitions into part three of his book and discusses the idea of facing up to the underlying causes. The two chapters in this section examine the forces that are contributing and endangering the health of our planet and more specifically includes the ones that accelerate everything, globalization. The author writes about ten drivers of environmental deterioration and further details the concerning issue of globalization from an environmental standpoint. Globalization doesn't always promote "green alternatives" and this is a problem when everyone in the world wants to grow and expand. The transition to the globalized world is advancing rapidly, but the transition to a sustainable one is not.

The author's fourth and final section discusses the transition to sustainability. In the last few chapters the author writes on attacking the root causes and outlines an 8 step transition process to sustainability. The author ends his writing discussing the most fundamental transition, the transition in culture and consciousness. The author sums up his point very clearly in a sentence he writes, "The change that is needed can be best put as follows: in the twentieth century we were from Mars but in the twenty-first century we must be from Venus--caring, nurturing, and sustaining"(Speth 191).



Overall I thought the author presented a well written book. It had a very convincing argument and a great structure to support his argument. In the opening line of the book he uses foreshadowing and gives the reader a firsthand experience of the subject material. The author proceeds by framing his book into four sections: Environmental Challenges Go Global..., ....And the World Responds, Facing Up to Underlying Causes, and The Transition to Sustainability. Each part touches on the different aspects of the books primary subject. By doing this he sets the stage for the reader and informs the reader of the subject material within the first few lines. By splitting the book into four parts the book has structure and direction, the reader is aware of what is being discussed and can much better reference the material.

Though I thought the book was presented well and the authors arguments were convincing there were some criticisms to note. Each section of the book had little structure or flow and it made it very hard for the reader to understand all the material being presented. The first chapter starts out with numerous facts and statistics but hardly has any structure or organization. The reader is left confused when the author jumps from argument to argument and statistic to statistic. Though the author has tons of factual information and statistics about his subject material, the way it's presented and organized is poor. Another criticism is his somewhat dry presentation of the facts and statistics. This made for a dry read at times and may disinterest some readers depending on the audience.

At the end of his book, the author provides a list of organizations and web-based resources about global warming which is particularly useful for the reader. The author provides a section, "resources for citizens," which gives the reader a better idea on what they can do regarding the subject material. Red Sky at Morning is a very powerful read and informs the reader about the problems of global warming and provides an 8 step process to sustainability. He does a good job of informing and excites the reader to do something about global warming while keeping sustainability practical.