Climate change : a multidisciplinary approach

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Title:

Author:

Burroughs, William James.

ISBN:

9780521870153

9780521690331

Personal Author:

Burroughs, William James.

Edition:

2nd ed.

Publication Information:

Cambridge, England : Cambridge University Press, c2007.

Physical Description:

xi, 378 p. : ill., maps ; 26 cm.

General Note:

Previous ed.: 2001.

Contents:

1. Introduction -- 1.1. Weather and climate -- 1.2. What do we mean by climate variability and climate change? -- 1.3. Connections, timescales and uncertainties -- 1.4. The big picture -- 2. Radiation and the Earth's energy balance -- 2.1. Solar and terrestrial radiation -- 2.2. Solar variability -- 2.3. Summary -- 3. The elements of the climate -- 3.1. The atmosphere and oceans in motion -- 3.2. Atmospheric circulation patterns -- 3.3. Radiation balance -- 3.4. The hydrological cycle -- 3.5. The biosphere -- 3.6. Sustained abnormal weather patterns -- 3.7. Atmosphere-ocean interactions -- 3.8. The great ocean conveyor -- 3.9. Summary -- 4. The measurement of climate change -- 4.1. In situ instrumental observations -- 4.2. Satellite measurements -- 4.3. Re-analysis work -- 4.4. Historical records -- 4.5. Proxy measurements -- 4.6. Dating -- 4.7. Isotope age dating -- 4.8. Summary -- 5. Statistics, significance and cycles -- 5.1. Time series, sampling and harmonic analysis -- 5.2. Noise -- 5.3. Measures of variability and significance -- 5.4. Smoothing -- 5.5. Wavelet analysis -- 5.6. Multidimensional analysis -- 5.7. Summary --

6. The natural causes of climate change -- 6.1. Autovariance and non-linearity -- 6.2. Atmosphere-ocean interactions -- 6.3. Ocean currents -- 6.4. Volcanoes -- 6.5. Sunspots and solar activity -- 6.6. Tidal forces -- 6.7. Orbital variations -- 6.8. Continental drift -- 6.9 Changes in atmospheric composition -- 6.10. A belch from the deep -- 6.11. Catastrophes and the 'nuclear winter' -- 6.12. Summary -- 7. Human activities -- 7.1. Greenhouse gas emissions -- 7.2. Dust and aerosols -- 7.3. Desertification and deforestation -- 7.4. The ozone hole -- 7.5. Summary -- 8. Evidence of climate change -- 8.1. Peering into the abyss of time -- 8.2. From greenhouse to icehouse -- 8.3. Sea-level fluctuations -- 8.4. The ice ages -- 8.5. The end of the last ice age -- 8.6. The Holocene climatic optimum -- 8.7. Changes during times of recorded history -- 8.8. The medieval climatic optimum -- 8.9. The little ice age -- 8.10. The twentieth-century warming -- 8.11. Concluding observations --

9. Consequences of climate change -- 9.1. Geological consequences -- 9.2. Flora and fauna -- 9.3. Mass extinctions -- 9.4. Sea levels, ice sheets and glaciers -- 9.5. Agriculture -- 9.6. The historical implications of climatic variability -- 9.7. Spread of diseases -- 9.8. The economic impact of extreme weather events -- 9.9. Summary -- 10. Modelling the climate -- 10.1. Global circulation models -- 10.2. Simulation of climatic variability -- 10.3. The challenges facing modellers -- 10.4. Summary -- 11. Predicting climate change -- 11.1. Natural variability -- 11.2. Predicting global warming -- 11.3. The predicted consequences of global warming -- 11.4. Doubts about the scale of global warming -- 11.5. What can we do about global warming? -- 11.6. The Gaia hypothesis -- Glossary.

Subject Term:

Climatic changes.

Electronic Access:

Contributor biographical information http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0810/2008271284-b.html
Publisher description http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0810/2008271284-d.html
Table of contents only http://www.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy0810/2008271284-t.html

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168025400702	551.6 B972C 2007	1	Searching... Unknown
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168025420767	551.6 B972C 2007	2	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

Providing a concise, up-to-date presentation of current knowledge of climate change and its implications for society as a whole, this new edition has been thoroughly updated and extended to include the latest information. The text describes the components of the global climate, considers how the many elements of climate combine to define its behaviour, and reviews how climate change is measured. The author discusses how the causes of climate change can be related to the evidence of change, and modelled to predict future changes. This book is ideally suited for introductory courses in meteorology, oceanography, environmental science, earth science, geography, agriculture and social science. It contains review questions at the end of each chapter to enable readers to monitor their understanding of the materials covered. This book should appeal to an audience with a keen interest in all aspects of the climate change debate.