Book Review: We Are The Weather Makers

By Leshui, Grade 10

We Are The Weather Makers (original as The Weather Makers by Tim Flannery, adapted by Sally M. Walker), takes us through a journey through time to examine the ways that human activities have affected the delicate balance of Earth’s natural systems. From deforestation to electricity generation, this book covers a lot of the ways our rapid industrialization ended up impacting the climate down the line. Using science paried with history, the authors emphasize the collective responsibility that we have to address the gravity of this situation. 

In addition, instead of only focusing on big changes that can be made, the book also offers small steps for individuals to take initiative. I really liked the short “Call To Action” pages before each new chapter, which detailed some ways that individuals can each make a bit of a difference. 

To be completely fair, though, new information on the topic of climate change does come out at a rapid pace and the content in this book mainly covers only up to 2005, so readers might want to keep that in mind. Something else I also noticed is that, when compared to the original, this book was a lot more directly fact and logic based. “The Weather Makers”, on the other hand, reads more like a more personal story that the author is directly speaking to the reader about. For this reason, I found reading this version a bit less interesting than when I skimmed through the original.

Putting the details aside, as many of humanity’s choices are too easily buried and forgotten with time, I still think this book is a good wake-up call for us, the weather makers, to understand our relationship with the planet and how to safeguard its future.