Charles Roper
2014-04-14 09:47:43 UTC
Patrick sent me this book review he found in New Scientist:
*A hymn to citizen science, Walden Warming by Richard Primack seeks the
reality of climate change in the effects that ordinary people have
recorded.*
IN 2001, at the age of 52, Richard Primack packed the records of 21 years
of research on tropical rainforests into a filing cabinet.
Despite a cool reception from his colleagues at Boston University, the
professor of biology had decided to leave that research behind, and see
what he could do to make the threat of climate change more tangible. He
wanted to find evidence of warming that would be so "up close and personal"
that people could not remain unconcerned by change that is too slow for
most of us to feel.
Primack had a eureka moment early on, which explains why he called his book
Walden Warming: Climate change comes to Thoreau's woods. Henry David
Thoreau was the 19th-century author of Walden, which gave an account of the
time he spent living close to nature in a cabin near Walden Pond, Concord,
Massachusetts. His writings of those "delicious" evenings when "the whole
body is one sense, and imbibes delight through every pore" were to change
the American psyche.
Primack was astonished to find that Thoreau also kept a detailed record of
the flowering times of more than 300 plants around Walden, gathered over
many years of walking for 4 hours a day. Primack was on his way, with a
historical baseline from one of the US's most revered authors and
environmental pioneers.
The book tells the story of Primack's struggle to replicate Thoreau and
find changes in flowering times, but soon broadens into a hymn to citizen
science. Primack finds many others who are not conventional scientists but
keep careful records of myriad things, from the times that migratory birds
arrive to the date butterflies emerge and ice melts on ponds. It is these
extraordinary people who make the book a rich, rewarding read And there is
also the inspiring message that anyone with a keen eye for nature can make
a difference, with an afterword on how to become a citizen scientist.
With many shoulders to stand on, signs of local climate change emerge. For
example, for every degree Fahrenheit (0.56 ?C) the temperature rises in
Massachusetts, plants flower on average 1.7 days earlier ? at least the
lucky ones do.
Frighteningly, temperatures have risen around 4? Fahrenheit since Thoreau's
day, and many of the plants he saw have vanished. Analysis suggests plants
that can change their flowering time survive, while less adaptable species
don't. The harsh message of climate change is "adapt, move or die". For
plants that can't adapt or move their range to cooler climes, local
extinction is likely. It is a message that may also apply to humans, if we
don't heed the advice Primack suggests we take from Thoreau: "live simply".
?
*Charles Roper *Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre
www.sxbrc.org.uk <http://sxbrc.org.uk> ? T 01273 497554 ? M 07456 528054
Sussex Wildlife Trust is a company limited by guarantee under the Companies
Act. Registered in England, Company No. 698851. Registered Charity No.
207005. VAT Registration No. 191 305969. Registered Office: Woods Mill,
Henfield, West Sussex BN5 9SD. Telephone 01273 492630
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*A hymn to citizen science, Walden Warming by Richard Primack seeks the
reality of climate change in the effects that ordinary people have
recorded.*
IN 2001, at the age of 52, Richard Primack packed the records of 21 years
of research on tropical rainforests into a filing cabinet.
Despite a cool reception from his colleagues at Boston University, the
professor of biology had decided to leave that research behind, and see
what he could do to make the threat of climate change more tangible. He
wanted to find evidence of warming that would be so "up close and personal"
that people could not remain unconcerned by change that is too slow for
most of us to feel.
Primack had a eureka moment early on, which explains why he called his book
Walden Warming: Climate change comes to Thoreau's woods. Henry David
Thoreau was the 19th-century author of Walden, which gave an account of the
time he spent living close to nature in a cabin near Walden Pond, Concord,
Massachusetts. His writings of those "delicious" evenings when "the whole
body is one sense, and imbibes delight through every pore" were to change
the American psyche.
Primack was astonished to find that Thoreau also kept a detailed record of
the flowering times of more than 300 plants around Walden, gathered over
many years of walking for 4 hours a day. Primack was on his way, with a
historical baseline from one of the US's most revered authors and
environmental pioneers.
The book tells the story of Primack's struggle to replicate Thoreau and
find changes in flowering times, but soon broadens into a hymn to citizen
science. Primack finds many others who are not conventional scientists but
keep careful records of myriad things, from the times that migratory birds
arrive to the date butterflies emerge and ice melts on ponds. It is these
extraordinary people who make the book a rich, rewarding read And there is
also the inspiring message that anyone with a keen eye for nature can make
a difference, with an afterword on how to become a citizen scientist.
With many shoulders to stand on, signs of local climate change emerge. For
example, for every degree Fahrenheit (0.56 ?C) the temperature rises in
Massachusetts, plants flower on average 1.7 days earlier ? at least the
lucky ones do.
Frighteningly, temperatures have risen around 4? Fahrenheit since Thoreau's
day, and many of the plants he saw have vanished. Analysis suggests plants
that can change their flowering time survive, while less adaptable species
don't. The harsh message of climate change is "adapt, move or die". For
plants that can't adapt or move their range to cooler climes, local
extinction is likely. It is a message that may also apply to humans, if we
don't heed the advice Primack suggests we take from Thoreau: "live simply".
?
*Charles Roper *Sussex Biodiversity Record Centre
www.sxbrc.org.uk <http://sxbrc.org.uk> ? T 01273 497554 ? M 07456 528054
Sussex Wildlife Trust is a company limited by guarantee under the Companies
Act. Registered in England, Company No. 698851. Registered Charity No.
207005. VAT Registration No. 191 305969. Registered Office: Woods Mill,
Henfield, West Sussex BN5 9SD. Telephone 01273 492630
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