It was a family photograph of a glacier in the Peruvian Andes that woke British writer Mark Lynas up to the coming catastrophes due to global warming. Retracing his father's footsteps in South America, Lynas stood at the exact same spot where his father captured the majestic glacier on film, only to find that the glacier had vanished.

In his book High Tide, Lynas traveled the globe to discover that the ravages in the Andes were hardly unique. From Alaska to China via the South Pacific atolls and reefs, global warming is drastically altering the landscape, and puts into question how life will be able to survive in a hotter climate with less habitable land and potable water.

Lynas spoke with The Prague Post before his upcoming visit to Prague and Brno to sound the warning against the six-degree shift. With luck, he won't be playing the role of Cassandra.

The Prague Post: Have you suffered moments of despair over global warming?

Mark Lynas: I've certainly had my moments. It's impossible not to when new pieces of news come in. Mostly I just get angry. I'm furious when I stand outside my back door and I hear the roar of traffic from the busy ring road around Oxford. I figure that despair would let the bad guys win, though, so I keep my spirits high.

TPP: Will your new book contain updated information on the regions you visited in High Tide?

ML: My new book takes a very different approach. Instead of looking at people in particular regions, it takes a degree-by-degree look at the future, and is much more strongly based on scientific research. For High Tide I traveled around the world, but for Six Degrees I hardly left the library.

TPP: You mention in High Tide's latest edition that the British press seems to have become a bit more aware of the situation than it was at the time of the book's initial printing. What do you think is responsible for this sudden shift?

ML: I think we're close to a social "tipping point" on climate change. Media coverage in Britain is now intense, and political pressure is getting intense, too. I wrote a cover story last month in New Statesman magazine, a major political journal, proposing carbon rationing for the whole country. None of this would've been taken seriously a year ago.

TPP: Knowledge about global warming seems stronger in the UK than in the United States. Are other countries taking this seriously?

ML: I think awareness is probably higher in the UK than in any other country, except perhaps Sweden. Even Germany, which is supposed to be so green, is a long way behind in terms of its political debate — [German Chancellor Andrea] Merkel's government is trying at the moment to undermine the European Union's emissions trading scheme.

TPP: Can you explain, if it's humanly possible, [UK Prime Minister] Tony Blair's philosophy? One day he's making a speech striking the right notes about global warming, the next he's crowing over a new pipeline.

ML: I've never spoken to Blair, so I can't give you an inside story on his personal commitment. But I do know that despite all of his pronouncements on the subject, his government has been a huge disappointment.

TPP: How sincere do you think the new Conservative leader David Cameron's remarks on protecting the environment are?

ML: I want to give the Conservatives a chance, which is why I am helping them as an adviser.

TPP: Really?

ML: My normal party affiliation is Green, naturally. But I'm happy to help the Conservatives because they have a higher chance of getting into power, and it then forces the Labour government to take the issue more seriously in order not to give ground. That's the idea, anyway.

TPP: What do you think of Al Gore's film, An Inconvenient Truth?

ML: I think Gore's film is excellent, and I'm proud that several of my High Tide photos are used in the film and the accompanying book. It's a brilliant wake-up call for people who would otherwise find the science rather complicated and impenetrable.

TPP: Obviously, he's less of a hero in High Tide in regards to the Kyoto follow-up meetings, where his silence was fairly deafening.

ML: Yes, there's a big question about why the Clinton-Gore government did nothing, but perhaps the vested interests were too strong. [At presstime, Gore announced that he has signed on as an adviser to Prime Minister heir apparent Gordon Brown.]

TPP: Sadly, the Czechs are embracing all the worst aspects of American culture: cars, roads and strip malls. What advice will you offer Czech audiences about their newly acquired habits?