The research required for writing three novels about climate change, causes of climate change, and the advancement of artificial intelligence, is overwhelming at times. I don’t claim to be an expert in any way, and most likely have misinterpreted some of the reams of articles and books I’ve read on the subjects.

One thing for certain; the more research I did, the more uneasy I became about the state of our environment, now rendered increasingly hostile by our continued exploitation of it. Below are links to just a small proportion of this fascinating research:

The sheer volume of plastic in our oceans has created vast areas of ‘dead sea’. Currents have pulled together the plastic into these dead zones, breaking it down into a toxic soup: http://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/01/26/our-oceans-a-plastic-soup/

Drought and increased carbon release of tropical flora forms a vicious cycle: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/tropics-feel-the-heat-of-climate-change/

The 75-mile long Totten Glacier, the largest in East Antarctica, is melting at alarming rates. Scientists in 2014 uncovered a series of tunnels underneath this major glacier in Antarctica that could transport warmer water and trigger a dramatic rise in global sea levels:
http://www.livescience.com/46194-volcanoes-melt-antarctic-glaciers.html

For a more dramatic read on the worse possible consequences of this glacier melt: http://www.theweek.co.uk/62989/melting-antarctic-glacier-could-lead-to-11-foot-increase-in-sea-levels#ixzz3VtAYezrW

Human and farm animal overpopulation has already damaged the environment past the point of repair.
Documentary ‘Cowspiracy’ produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, gives an alarming account of the consequences of the Western diet – a truth far too inconvenient for environmental organisations to portray.
http://www.cowspiracy.com

The extraction of highly polluting tar sands in Canada and Russia spell ‘game over for the climate’ a NASA scientist has warned. Extraction of oil from tar sands pumps triple the amount of CO2 into the atmosphere than more traditional oil extraction. Oil sands lie beneath a fifth of the Alberta Province in Canada, and the Athabasca deposit in Alberta is the largest known reservoir of crude bitumen in the world. In the Athabasca oil sands area, there are over 700 billion litres of toxic tailings: ponds of deadly waste that cover an area of more than 130 square kilometres. By 2040 they are predicted to cover over 300 square kilometres; an area nearly the size of Vancouver.
http://oilsandstruth.org/