Dire Predictions : Understanding Global Warming

by Mann, Michael; Kump, Lee R.

Edition:

1st

ISBN13:

9780136044352

ISBN10:

0136044352

Format:

Hardcover

Pub. Date:

1/1/2009

Publisher(s):

Prentice Hall

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This is the 1st edition with a publication date of 1/1/2009.

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Summary

For any science or social science course in need of a basic understanding of IPCC reports. Periodic reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) evaluate the risk of climate change brought on by humans. But the sheer volume of scientific data remains inscrutable to the general public, particularly to those who may still question the validity of climate change. In just over 200 pages, this practical text presents and expands upon the essential findings in a visually stunning and undeniably powerful way to the lay reader. Scientific findings that provide validity to the implications of climate change are presented in clear-cut graphic elements, striking images, and understandable analogies.

Author Biography

Michael E. Mann is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Meteorology and Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University and the Director of the Penn State Earth System Science Center. Lee R. Kump is a Professor in the Department of Geosciences at Pennsylvania State University and an associate of the Penn State Earth System Science Center and the Penn State Astrobiology Research Center.

Introduction	p. 6
About the IPCC	p. 8
About the authors	p. 9
What is up with the weather (and the climate!)?	p. 10
Climate Change Basics
The relative impacts of humans and nature on climate	p. 18
Taking action in the face of uncertainty	p. 20
Why is it called the greenhouse effect?	p. 22
Feedback loops compound the greenhouse effect	p. 24
What are the important greenhouse gases, and where do they come from?	p. 26
Isn't carbon dioxide causing the hole in the ozone layer?	p. 30
Greenhouse gases on the rise	p. 32
Couldn't the increase in atmospheric CO₂ be the result of natural cycles?	p. 34
It's getting hotter down here!	p. 36
Is our atmosphere really warming?	p. 38
Back to the future	p. 40
But weren't scientists warning us of an imminent Ice Age only decades ago?	p. 44
How does modem warming differ from past warming trends?	p. 46
What can a decade of western North American drought tell us about the future?	p. 48
What can the European heat wave of 2003 tell us about the future?	p. 52
A tempest in a greenhouse	p. 56
The vanishing snows of Kilimanjaro	p. 58
The day after tomorrow	p. 60
The last interglacial	p. 62
How to build a climate model	p. 64
Profile: James Hansen	p. 66
Comparing climate model predictions with observations	p. 68
Regional vs global trends	p. 70
"Fingerprints" distinguish human and natural impacts on climate	p. 72
Climate Change Projections
How sensitive is the climate?	p. 78
Fossil-fuel emissions scenarios	p. 86
The next century	p. 88
The geographical pattern of future warming	p. 92
Carbon-cycle feedbacks	p. 94
Melting ice and rising sea level	p. 98
Future changes in extreme weather	p. 100
Stabilizing atmospheric CO₂	p. 104
The Impacts of Climate Change
The rising impact of global warming	p. 108
Is it time to sell that beach house?	p. 110
Ecosystems	p. 112
Coral reefs	p. 114
The highway to extinction?	p. 118
Profile: James Lovelock	p. 120
Too much and too little	p. 122
Is warming from carbon dioxide leading to more air pollution?	p. 126
War	p. 128
Famine	p. 130
...Pestilence and death	p. 132
Earth, wind, and fire	p. 134
Too wet and too hot	p. 136
The polar meltdown	p. 138
Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change
Is global warming the last straw for vulnerable ecosystems?	p. 142
What is the best course for the coming century?	p. 144
It's the economy, stupid!	p. 146
A finger in the dike	p. 148
Water-management strategies	p. 150
A hard row to hoe	p. 152
Solving Global Warming
Solving global warming	p. 156
Where do all those emissions come from?	p. 158
Keeping the power turned on	p. 160
On the road again	p. 162
Building green	p. 166
Industrial CO₂ pollution	p. 168
Greener acres	p. 170
Forests	p. 174
Waste	p. 176
Geoengineering	p. 178
But what can I do about it?	p. 180
What's your carbon footprint?	p. 182
Global problems require international cooperation	p. 184
Can we achieve sustainable development?	p. 188
The ethics of climate change	p. 190
The known unknowns and the unknown unknowns	p. 192
The urgency of climate change	p. 194
Glossary	p. 198
Index	p. 204
Picture Credits/Author Acknowledgements	p. 208
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