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The Climate Crisis

The Climate Crisis

The Climate Crisis

An Introductory Guide to Climate Change
David Archer, University of Chicago
Stefan Rahmstorf, Universität Potsdam, Germany
February 2010
Paperback
9780521732550

    An incredible wealth of scientific data on global warming has been collected in the last few decades. The history of the Earth's climate has been probed by drilling into polar ice sheets and sediment layers of the oceans' vast depths, and great advances have been made in computer modelling of our climate. This book provides a concise and accessible overview of what we know about ongoing climate change and its impacts, and what we can do to confront the climate crisis. Using clear and simple graphics in full colour, it lucidly highlights information contained in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change reports, and brings the subject completely up-to-date with current science and policy. The book makes essential scientific information on this critical topic accessible to a broad audience. Obtaining sound information is the first step in preventing a serious, long-lasting degradation of our planet's climate, helping to ensure our future survival.

    • Clear presentation of scientific data and strong use of simple graphics in full colour makes this accessible to anyone with a basic high-school education
    • Also suitable for use in the classroom for both science-majors and non-majors, either as a primary textbook or a supplementary 'reader'
    • Completely up-to-date with current science and policy issues, providing the reader with essential information on this critical issue

    Reviews & endorsements

    '… It is balanced in explaining what is known with confidence and what is not and the uncertainties. … This book should be read by anyone who is interested in climate change but does not have the time or commitment to read the IPCC reports.' Eos

    See more reviews

    Product details

    February 2010
    Paperback
    9780521732550
    260 pages
    246 × 190 × 12 mm
    0.576kg
    6 tables
    Available

    Table of Contents

    • Preface
    • 1. Retrospective: what we knew and when we knew it
    • 2. Earth's energy budget
    • 3. Climate change so far
    • 4. Snow and ice
    • 5. How the oceans are changing
    • 6. The past is the key to the future
    • 7. What the future holds
    • 8. Impacts of climate change
    • 9. Avoiding climate change
    • 10. Climate policy
    • References
    • Index.
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      Authors
    • David Archer , University of Chicago

      David Archer is a professor of Geophysical Sciences at the University of Chicago. Dr Archer has published over 70 scientific papers on a wide range of topics on the carbon cycle and its relation to global climate. He teaches classes on global warming, environmental chemistry, and geochemistry. His previous books include Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast (2006, Wiley-Blackwell) and The Long Thaw: How Humans are Changing the Next 100,000 Years of Earth's Climate (2008, Princeton University Press). He is a regular contributor to the website realclimate.org.

    • Stefan Rahmstorf , Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, Germany

      Stefan Rahmstorf is professor of Physics of the Oceans, and head of department at Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research. Dr Rahmstorf is a member of the Academia Europaea and of the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU).He is also one of the lead authors of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. In 2007 he became an Honorary Fellow of the University of Wales. He has published over 50 scientific papers (14 of which in Nature and Science) and co-authored two previous books: Der Klimawandel (2006, C.H. Beck) and Wie bedroht sind die Ozeane? (2007, Fischer), published in English as Our Threatened Oceans (2008, Haus publishing). He a co-founder and regular contributor to the website realclimate.org.