Overview

The climate of the Earth is always changing.  As the debate over the implications of changes in the Earth's climate has grown, the term climate change has come to refer primarily to changes we've seen over recent years and those which are predicted to be coming, mainly as a result of human behavior. This book serves as a broad, accessible guide to the science behind this often political and heated debate by providing scientific detail and evidence in language that is clear to both the non-specialist and the serious student.

Full Product Details

Author:   Trevor Letcher (Emeritus Professor, University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa)
Publisher:   Elsevier Science & Technology
Imprint:   Elsevier Science Ltd
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.940kg
ISBN:  

9780444533012

ISBN 10:   044453301
Pages:   492
Publication Date:   08 May 2009
Audience:   College/higher education ,  Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Replaced By:   9780444635242
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Out of stock  
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents Foreword, Preface, List of Contributors PART I. POSSIBLE CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE 1. The Role of Atmospheric Gases in Global Warming 2. The Role of Widespread Surface Solar Radiation Trends in Climate Change: Dimming and Brightening 3. The Role of Space Weather and Cosmic Ray Effects in Climate Change 4. The Role of Volcanic Activity in Climate and Global Change 5. The Role of Variations of the Earth’s Orbital Characteristics in Climate Change PART II. A GEOLOGICAL HISTORY OF CLIMATE CHANGE 6. A Geological History of Climate Change PART III. INDICATORS OF CLIMATE AND GLOBAL CHANGE 7. Changes in the Circulation of the Atmosphere as Indicators of Climate Change 8. Weather Pattern Changes in the Tropics and Mid-Latitudes as an Indicator of Global Change 9. Bird Ecology as an Indicator of Climate and Global Change 10. Mammal Ecology as an Indicator of Climate Change 11. Climate Change and Temporal and Spatial Mismatches in Insect Communities 12. Sea Life (Pelagic and Planktonic Ecosystems) as an Indicator of Climate and Global Change 13. Changes in Coral Reef Ecosystems as an Indicator of Climate and Global Change 14. Changes in Marine Biodiversity as an Indicator of Climate Change 15. Inter-tidal Indicators of Climate and Global Change 16. Plant Ecology as an Indicator of Climate and Global Change 17. The Impact of Climate and Global Change on Crop Production 18. Rising Sea Level as an Indicator of Global Change 19. Sea Temperature Change as an Indicator of Global Change 20. Ocean Current Changes as an Indicator of Global Change 21. Ocean Acidification as an Indicator of Global Change 22. Ice Sheets: Instruments and Indicators of Global Change 23. Lichens as an Indicator of Climate and Global Change 24. Coastline Degradation as an Indicator of Global Change 25. Plant Pathogens as Indicators of Climate Change

Reviews

CHOICE, December 2009: This book encompasses 25 chapters written by 30 international experts on climate change . . . The chapter treatments are concise and authoritative . . . The book is well constructed and includes 30 high-quality color plates illustrating striking climate phenomena; references are provided at the end of each chapter. This work is complemented by Letcher's Future Energy (2008). Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. --F. T. Manheim, George Mason University

CHOICE, December 2009: This book encompasses 25 chapters written by 30 international experts on climate change . . . The chapter treatments are concise and authoritative . . . The book is well constructed and includes 30 high-quality color plates illustrating striking climate phenomena; references are provided at the end of each chapter. This work is complemented by Letcher's Future Energy (2008). Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. - F. T. Manheim, George Mason University

CHOICE, December 2009: This book encompasses 25 chapters written by 30 international experts on climate change ... The chapter treatments are concise and authoritative ... The book is well constructed and includes 30 high-quality color plates illustrating striking climate phenomena; references are provided at the end of each chapter. This work is complemented by Letcher's Future Energy (2008). Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections. - F. T. Manheim, George Mason University

"CHOICE, December 2009: ""This book encompasses 25 chapters written by 30 international experts on climate change . . . The chapter treatments are concise and authoritative . . . The book is well constructed and includes 30 high-quality color plates illustrating striking climate phenomena; references are provided at the end of each chapter. This work is complemented by Letcher's Future Energy (2008). Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduate through professional collections."" --F. T. Manheim, George Mason University"

Author Information

Professor Trevor Letcher is an Emeritus Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and living in the United Kingdom. He was previously Professor of Chemistry, and Head of Department, at the University of the Witwatersrand, Rhodes University, and Natal, in South Africa (1969-2004). He has published over 300 papers on areas such as chemical thermodynamic and waste from landfill in peer reviewed journals, and 100 papers in popular science and education journals. Prof. Letcher has edited and/or written 32 major books, of which 22 were published by Elsevier, on topics ranging from future energy, climate change, storing energy, waste, tyre waste and recycling, wind energy, solar energy, managing global warming, plastic waste, renewable energy, and environmental disasters. He has been awarded gold medals by the South African Institute of Chemistry and the South African Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics honoured him with a Festschrift in 2018. He is a life member of both the Royal Society of Chemistry (London) and the South African Institute of Chemistry. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, and is a Director of the Board of the International Association of Chemical Thermodynamics since 2002.

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