Sydney Morning Herald: CANADIAN author Alanna Mitchell met Australian scientist Tim Flannery by chance while she was researching a book about the impact of climate change on the world’s oceans. An award-winning environmental reporter and author of a previous book about environmental hotspots on land, Mitchell had never met Flannery before. But she was familiar with his writings on the environment, and considered the former Australian of the Year “a prophet” and hero. During their chance meeting …