Dire Predictions Understanding Global Warming

by Mann, Michael; Kump, Lee R.

• ISBN13: 9780756639952
• ISBN10: 0756639956
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-07-21
• Publisher: DK Publishing, Inc.

Summary

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been issuing the essential facts and figures on climate change for nearly two decades. But the hundreds of pages of scientific evidence quoted for accuracy by the media and scientists alike, remain inscrutable to the general public who may still question the validity of climate change. steemed climate scientists Michael E. Mann and Lee R. Kump, have partnered with DK Publishing to present Dire Predictions-an important book in this time of global need. Dire Predictions presents the information documented by the IPCC in an illustrated, visually-stunning, and undeniably powerful way to the lay reader. The 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

Table of Contents

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 CO[subscript 2] 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 modern 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 CO[subscript 2]	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 CO[subscript 2] 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
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.