Climate Change: Biological and Human Aspects

Front Cover
Cambridge University Press, Nov 30, 2012 - Science
The second edition of this acclaimed text has been fully updated and substantially expanded to include the considerable developments (since publication of the first edition) in our understanding of the science of climate change, its impacts on biological and human systems, and developments in climate policy. Written in an accessible style, it provides a broad review of past, present and likely future climate change from the viewpoints of biology, ecology, human ecology and Earth system science. It will again prove to be invaluable to a wide range of readers, from students in the life sciences who need a brief overview of the basics of climate science, to atmospheric science, geography, geoscience and environmental science students who need to understand the biological and human ecological implications of climate change. It is also a valuable reference text for those involved in environmental monitoring, conservation and policy making.
 

Contents

An introduction to climate change
4
Principal indicators of past climates
40
Past climate change
66
climate and biology
119
Present climate and biological change
198
Current warming and likely future impacts
262
The human ecology of climate change 3 67
367
Sustainability and policy
449
Glossary and abbreviations
535
Biogeological chronology
543
Index
551
Copyright

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About the author (2012)

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

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