Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet. Mark Lynas. Washington, D.C.: National Geographic, 2008. 335 pg.

       Six Degrees is an excellent introduction to the inherent dangers of the current climate crisis and global warming. Mark Lynas documents what would occur to our planet with each degree of temperature increase on the planet; by the time he reaches six degrees, he warns of a massive extinction and of catastrophic changes to our planet. While Lynas makes many insightful remarks about the threat of global warming, this book does not discuss the possibility of even worse climate change than six degrees--recent findings by the IPCC indicate that the earth may even heat up by 12 degrees fahrenheit by 2100. In any case, Lynas does an outstanding job of educating the public about the risks of global warming and concludes his study with an emphasis on reducing our consumption of fossil fuels and the emissions of greenhouse gases in our climate. Lynas makes a stunning assertion that guides his investigation of the climate crisis and its implications: "Climate change is the canvas on which the history of the 21st century will be painted" (22). Anyone who is not convinced that the warming of the earth will have consequences should read this book. Even for skeptics, this book is an eye-opener about the possibilities of devastating changes that will cost trillions of dollars in damages and cause inestimable loss of life if we don't take action now. While Six Degrees is a speculative book, the research Lynas draws upon is based on a growing wealth of scientific information that inevitably points to an ever increasing warming of the planet, perhaps even worse than the six degrees Lynas imagines in the worst case scenario.