Description
Book SynopsisThis second edition of
Climate Change is an accessible and comprehensive guide to the science behind global warming. Edmond A. Mathez and Jason E. Smerdon provide a broad, informative introduction to the science that underlies our understanding of the climate system and the effects of human activity on the warming of our planet.
Trade ReviewThis text should have great appeal for teaching an introductory undergraduate course on climate change science as well as a broad survey for graduate students. The book is well written with concepts adequately explained. Mathez and Smerdon have done a great job at hitting many of the very important concepts for understanding past, present, and future climate change as well as what we can and should do about it. I particularly liked the “back of the envelope” sections that let students confront some quantitative thinking without getting bogged down in mathematical details. The many illustrations and beautiful photos should make the book appealing to students as well as the general public. -- Lonnie G. Thompson, Distinguished University Professor, School of Earth Sciences, The Ohio State University
Mathez and Smerdon present a concise, accurate description of the workings of our climate system that is rich with historical context, vivid graphics, and concrete examples. The beauty and wonder of our atmosphere and oceans are on full display, even as many of their mysteries are revealed for the nonspecialist. Readers will not only understand the fundamental causes and implications of climate change, but they also will understand the diverse set of tools and approaches that scientists use to study the climate system in all its complexity. This book is a treasure trove of insights for anyone with an affinity for science and an interest in the future of our planet and its inhabitants. -- Kim M. Cobb, Georgia Power Chair and ADVANCE Professor, School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology
A superb textbook, easily one of the best currently available. Very few texts are written as thoughtfully as this one. Mathez and Smerdon hit a home run! -- Scott Mandia, cofounder and chairman of the Climate Science Legal Defense Fund, Professor of Physical Sciences at Suffolk County Community College
This book has great coverage of all the salient issues—the history of climate science, the climate science of (pre)-history, the scientists' own histories, and, most importantly, what this means going forward. The writing is clear while also comprehensive and the look and feel of the book make it a text you want to dive in to at random, confident that you'd find something interesting. -- Gavin Schmidt, climate scientist
Informative and insightful, this textbook clearly explains the basic science of the Earth's climate system and the human influence on it. Superb illustrations bring the science to life, and the historical stories that accompany the key concepts paint a vivid picture of not only what we know, but how and why we learned it. -- Katharine Hayhoe, Co-Director of the Climate Science Center, Texas Tech University
This excellent updated text on climate change was written by scientists in geophysics and climate change....Recommended. All readers. * Choice *
Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, this new second edition. . . is ideal and highly recommended as a climate change curriculum textbook. * Midwest Book Review *
Table of ContentsPreface
Prologue
Part I. The Climate System1. The Atmosphere
2. The World Ocean
3. Ocean–Atmosphere Interactions
4. The Carbon Cycle and How It Influences Climate
Part II. Climate Change and Its Drivers5. The Concept of Radiation Balance, a Scientific Framework for Thinking About Climate Change
6. Radiative Forcing, Feedbacks, and Some Other Characteristics of the Climate System
7. Learning from the Climate of the Distant Past
Part III. Consequences of Climate Change8. The Climate of the Recent Past and Impacts on Human History
9. Observing the Change
10. Greenland, Antarctica, and Sea-Level Rise
Part IV. The Future11. Climate Models and the Future
12. Climate Change Risk in an Unknowable Future
13. Energy and the Future
Epilogue
Notes
Glossary
Bibliography
Index
