Climate Change: Biological and Human Aspects

Front Cover
Cambridge University Press, Jul 5, 2007 - Science
In recent years climate change has become recognised as the foremost environmental problem of the twenty-first century. Not only will climate change potentially affect the multibillion dollar energy strategies of countries worldwide, but it also could seriously affect many species, including our own. A fascinating introduction to the subject, this textbook provides a broad review of past, present and likely future climate change from the viewpoints of biology, ecology and human ecology. It will be of interest to a wide range of people, from students in the life sciences who need a brief overview of the basics of climate science, to atmospheric science, geography, and environmental science students who need to understand the biological and human ecological implications of climate change. It will also be a valuable reference for those involved in environmental monitoring, conservation, policy-making and policy lobbying.
 

Contents

An introduction to climate change
1
Principal indicators of past climates
37
Past climate change
67
climate and biology
113
Present climate and biological change
184
Current warming and likely future impacts
231
The human ecology of climate change
310
Sustainability and policy
392
Appendix 1 Glossary and abbreviations
469
Appendix 2 Biogeological chronology
475
Appendix 3 Calculations of energy demandsupply and orders of magnitude
478
Appendix 4 The IPCC 2007 report
480
Index
482
Copyright

Other editions - View all

Common terms and phrases

Popular passages

Page 6 - Emissions of greenhouse gases and aerosols due to human activities continue to alter the atmosphere in ways that are expected to affect the climate.

About the author (2007)

Jonathan Cowie has spent many years conveying the views of biological science learned societies to policy-makers. His earlier postgraduate studies related to energy and the environment, and he is a former Head of Science Policy and Books at the Institute of Biology (UK). He is author of Climate and Human Change: Disaster or Opportunity (Taylor & Francis, 1998).

Bibliographic information