Planet is Getting Warmer + Politics
This term describes the "blanket" of gases that traps heat around the Earth—a process McKibben says we have accidentally put into overdrive.
What is the Greenhouse Effect?
While "weather" describes what happens outdoors today, this term describes the long-term patterns that McKibben says are now permanently altered.
What is Climate?
McKibben’s central thesis is that "Nature" has ended because it is no longer this, a word meaning "not influenced or controlled by others."
What is independent (or autonomous)?
McKibben argues that we have moved from "natural" weather to "man-made" weather because our actions have changed this, the layer of air surrounding our planet.
What is the atmosphere?
McKibben writes that we have replaced "natural" weather with "human-influenced" weather, meaning the wind and rain are no longer independent of this.
What are our habits (or economies/lifestyles)?
He uses this specific sound—often heard near his home in the Adirondacks—as a metaphor for human intrusion into the "timeless" forest.
What is the sound of a chainsaw?
McKibben argues that this specific gas, a byproduct of the fossil fuel age, has fundamentally changed the "thermostat" of the planet.
What is Carbon Dioxide (CO2)?
Because of a warming ocean, McKibben warned that these specific tropical storms would become more intense and unpredictable.
What are hurricanes?
According to McKibben, for those who look for this higher power in the beauty of nature, they now only find a "reflection of themselves."
Who is God?
Under the Paris Climate Accords, nearly every nation on Earth agreed to try and limit global warming to a maximum increase of this many degrees Celsius.
What is 1.5 degrees?
In The End of Nature, McKibben argues that the "predictable" arrival of these four periods of the year has been disrupted by global warming.
What are the seasons?
McKibben argues that "Nature" was once a "world apart," but now the "world outdoors" means the same thing as this, as both are now managed by humans.
What is the "world indoors"?
McKibben suggests that climate change is the ultimate political test because it requires every nation to cooperate, yet our political systems usually only focus on these, which last 2 to 4 years.
What are election cycles (or short-term goals)?
This term describes the "vicious cycles" McKibben mentions, where warming leads to events (like melting ice) that cause even more warming.
What are feedback loops?
He warns that we are entering an era of "post-nature" where we must manage the Earth like a patient, a concept he calls this type of environment.
What is an artificial (or managed) environment?
In the book's most famous philosophical passage, McKibben argues that because we have altered the chemical composition of the atmosphere, this specific natural phenomenon—once seen as a spontaneous act of God or a "pure" force of nature—has been converted into a "human product."
What is the rain?