Climatic Change and Variability: A Southern Perspective

by Edited by A. B. Pittock , L. A. Frakes , D. Jenssen , J. A. Peterson , J. W. Zillman

• ISBN13: 9780521172264
• ISBN10: 0521172268
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2011-02-17
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

This book was first published in 1978. It responds to a rapid growth of scientific and popular interest in questions of climatic change, variability and stability. The many distinguished contributors have combined to present a broad and authoritative interdisciplinary approach to the study of climatic change and its impact on mankind. There is a particular reference to data from the southern hemisphere. The topics discussed include a description of the physical basis of climate; the long- and short-term climatic record; models and mechanisms of climatic change; climate forecasting; and the economic, social and political implications of climatic change. While the book was intended as a university text suitable for introductory courses in the earth sciences, it is written with a minimum of mathematics and jargon. It is therefore intelligible to the interested lay person, and of relevance to those having responsibilities in areas such as economics, agriculture and environmental planning.

Table of Contents

List of contributors

Foreword

Preface

An Overview

The Physical Basis of Climate

The climatic system

The general circulation of the atmosphere

The role of the oceans

The Long-Term Climatic Record

Cenozoic climates: Antarctica and the Southern Ocean

Some results of the CLIMAP project

Climatic and topographic changes from glaciological data

Quaternary climates of the Australian region

Closed lakes and the palaeoclimatic record

Eustatic sea-level changes and environmental gradients

Abrupt events in climatic history

Patterns of Shorter-Term Change and Variability

Climatic variability and extremes

Climatic fluctuations during the period of historical and instrumental record

Patterns of variability in relation to the general circulation

The Southern Oscillation

Regional mechanisms and variations

Models of Climatic Change

Global cycles and climate

Theories of Upper Quaternary ice ages

Modelling of ice masses: implications for climatic change

Mathematical modelling of climate

Volcanic events, climate, and climate modelling

Modification of Climate

The biosphere, atmospheric composition and climate

Atmospheric carbon dioxide: recent advances in monitoring and research

The Effect of Climatic Change and Variability on Mankind

Cultural and economic aspects

Climate and the historians

The cultural, economic and climatic records

Economic and political issues

Mankind, climate and doomsday science

Progress and Prospect

The problem of short-term climatic forecasting

Possible future climatic trends: a panel discussion

Reflections on climatological research

References

Indices

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