Geosphere-Biosphere Interactions and Climate

by Edited by Lennart O. Bengtsson , Claus U. Hammer

• ISBN13: 9780521782388
• ISBN10: 0521782384
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-10-29
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Geosphere-Biosphere Interactions and Climate brings together many of the world's leading environmental scientists to discuss the interaction between the geosphere/biosphere and climate. The volume arises from a working group of the prestigious Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme. The chapters give a state-of-the-art summary of our current understanding of the present climate and environment by understanding Earth's past, human influence on the climate, a description of climate and its relation to the Earth's surface, ocean, and atmosphere, and future predictions of climate variability. This volume will be invaluable for researchers and graduate students in climate studies who wish to gain a multidisciplinary perspective of our current understanding of the interaction between the geosphere/biosphere and climate.

Table of Contents

Dedication to Hans Oeschger	vii
List of Contributors	ix
Preface	xi
Introduction	xv
The Antarctic Ozone Hole, a Human-Caused Chemical Instability in the Stratosphere: What Should We Learn from It?	1	(14)
Paul J. Crutzen
PART ONE. THE ANTHROPOGENIC PROBLEM
Feedbacks and Interactions between Global Change, Atmospheric Chemistry, and the Biosphere	15	(23)
M. O. Andreae
Atmospheric CO2 Variations: Response to Natural and Anthropogenic Earth System Forcings	38	(14)
Inez Fung
Modeling and Evaluating Terrestrial Biospheric Exchanges of Water, Carbon Dioxide, and Oxygen in the Global Climate System	52	(14)
Martin Heimann
Carbon Futures	66	(17)
Wallace S. Broecker
PART TWO. THE HUMAN PERSPECTIVE
Global Climate Change in the Human Perspective	83	(30)
Stephen H. Schneider
PART THREE. MODELING THE EARTH'S SYSTEM
Earth System Models and the Global Biogeochemical Cycles	113	(6)
David Schimel
The Role of CO2, Sea Level, and Vegetation During the Milankovitch-forced Glacial-Interglacial Cycles	119	(28)
Andre Berger
Nonlinearities in the Earth System: The Ocean's Role	147	(16)
Thomas F. Stocker
Simulations of the Climate of the Holocene: Perspectives Gained with Models of Different Complexity	163	(13)
J. E. Kutzbach
Interactions of Climate Change and the Terrestrial Biosphere	176	(23)
Iain Colin Prentice
PART FOUR. INFORMATION FROM THE PAST
The Record of Paleoclimatic Change and Its Greenhouse Implications	199	(4)
W. R. Peltier
Long-Term Stability of Earth's Climate: The Faint Young Sun Problem Revisited	203	(17)
James F. Kasting
Physical and Chemical Properties of the Glacial Ocean	220	(36)
J. C. Duplessy
Ice Core Records and Relevance for Future Climate Variations	256	(17)
Jean Jouzel
PART FIVE. HOW TO MEET THE CHALLENGE
Toward a New Approach to Climate Impact Studies	273	(7)
Will Steffen
Research Objectives of the World Climate Research Programme	280	(5)
Hartmut Grassl
Panel Discussion: Future Research Objectives	285	(4)
Martin Heimann
Index	289