The Climate Crisis
An Introductory Guide to Climate Change

A concise and clear overview of the essential scientific information on climate change for students and the general reader.

David Archer (Author), Stefan Rahmstorf (Author)

9780521732550, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 24 December 2009

260 pages, 6 tables
24.6 x 19 x 1.2 cm, 0.576 kg

'… 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

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.

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.

Subject Areas: Environmental science, engineering & technology [TQ], Meteorology & climatology [RBP], Earth sciences [RB], Earth sciences, geography, environment, planning [R]