Part 1: Summary In this book, Kolbert travels to many places to find out what is happening with global warming. Very often he encountered the same fear in the places he went, the fear of losing out to the next generation. When he went to Alaska, many people were fleeing their homes because the sea ice surrounding them, creating a buffer zone for storms, was melting and this was causing homes to be swept away. A man in Iceland who has been monitoring glaciers has predicted that Iceland will be ice-free by the end of the century. It's not something you would expect from a land that has had glaciers for over two million years. At the tips of Greenland's glaciers, researchers found water in places where there had been no water for perhaps thousands of years. When she traveled to the Netherlands, she found that sea level rise was expected to affect much of the country. However, in areas where periodic flooding already occurs, construction of amphibious houses and floating roads has already begun. In addition to trips to these places, he also collects data on the global warming situation. The United States is the largest country to emit carbon into our atmosphere. We alone represent a quarter of the world total. Each American releases an average of 12,000 pounds of carbon. However, it is expected that the Chinese will leave us alone in a short time if they do not build new plants with low-emission technology. Mr. Hoffert, a physics professor, believes that we can overcome this global warming situation. He has many ideas for avoiding carbon-based energy sources; Satellites with photovoltaic panels, solar collectors on the Moon and turbines suspended in the jet stream. Part 2: Chapter 5 Claims I think the most obvious factual claim would be global warming. All the while he is looking for evidence and evidence of global warming. He spoke to a man named Hansen, who "decided that a planet whose atmosphere could change over the course of a human lifetime was more interesting than one that would, for all intents and purposes, continue to bake forever." (p. 98) He was comparing the Earth to Venus whose surface temperature was 876 degrees. It was believed that the temperature was so high due to a haze of smog, but soon after it was discovered that the atmosphere was made up of 96% carbon dioxide.