Earth System, The

by Kump, Lee R.; Kasting, James F.; Crane, Robert G.

• ISBN13: 9780321597793
• ISBN10: 0321597796
• Additional ISBN(s): 9780131420595, 9780321742957
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2009-07-31
• Publisher: Pearson
• More Book Details

Summary

The first book of its kind to address the issues of global change from a true Earth systems perspective,The Earth Systemoffers a solid emphasis on lessons from Earth's history that may guide decision-making in the future. The authors'systems theory approach looks holistically at all that happens on Earth and the interactions of all that is here-such as the effect of weather on land, the effect of erosion on the ocean, the chemical changes that occur-and emphasizes that these processes do not happen in a vacuum. An emphasis on global change addresses such modern issues as global warming, ozone depletion, and biodiversity loss.A variety of boxed inserts address topical issues related to the material presented, giving readers appealing visual and highlighted aids. Global Change; Daisyworld: An Introduction to Systems; Global Energy Balance: The Greenhouse Effect; The Atmospheric Circulation System; The Circulation of the Oceans; The Cryosphere; Circulation of the Solid Earth: Plate Tectonics; Recycling of the Elements; Focus on the Biota: Metabolism, Ecosystems and Biodiversity; Origin of the Earth and of Life; Effect of Life on the Atmosphere: The Rise of Oxygen and Ozone; Long-Term Climate Regulation; Biodiversity Through Earth History; Pleistocene Glaciations; Global Warming, Part 1: The Scientific Evidence; Global Warming, Part 2: Impacts, Adaptation, and Mitigation; Ozone Depletion; Human Threats to Biodiversity; Climate Stability on Earth and Earth-Like Planets. A useful reference for anyone who wants to learn more about Earth processes to become a more well-informed consumer.

Author Biography

Lee R. Kump is a Professor in the Department of Geosciences, and an associate of the Earth System Science Center and Astrobiology Research Center at the Pennsylvania State University. A native of Minnesota, he received his bachelor's degree in geophysical sciences from the University of Chicago in 1981, and his Ph.D. in marine sciences from the University of South Florida in 1986. While in Florida he spent two summers as a geologist with the United States Geological Survey's Fisher Island Station. In August of 1986 he joined the faculty at Penn State.

Dr. Kump is a Fellow of the Geological Societies of America and London, and a member of the American Geophysical Union, the Geochemical Society, and the Geochemistry Division of the American Chemical Society. His research has been funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Gas Research Institute, the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society, and Texaco. Dr. Kump became Associate Director of the CIAR Earth System Evolution Program in 2004. Dr. Kump's primary research effort is in the development of numerical models of global biogeochemical cycles. His early work focussed on the carbon and sulfur cycles, and on the feedbacks that regulate atmospheric oxygen levels. More recently his emphasis has shifted to the study of the dynamic coupling between global climate and biogeochemical cycles. He studies the long-term evolution of the oceans and atmosphere, using a combination of field work, laboratory analysis, and numerical modeling.

James Kasting is a Distinguished Professor of Geosciences at Penn State University. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University in Chemistry and Physics and did his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in Atmospheric Sciences. Prior to coming to Penn State in 1988, he spent 7 years in the Space Science Division at NASA Ames Research Center. His research focuses on the evolution of planetary atmospheres, particularly the question of why the atmospheres of Mars and Venus are so different from that of Earth. He is also interested in the question of whether habitable planets exist around other stars and is involved with NASA’s proposed Terrestrial Planet Finder Mission(s), which will try to answer that question over the next 15-20 years.

ACADEMIC HONORS AND AWARDS
Summa Cum Laude - Harvard (1975)
Atmospheric, Oceanic, and Space Sciences Department (University of Michigan) Distinguished Alumni Award (1992)
American Geophysical Union (Fellow, 2004)
American Association for the Advancement of Science (Fellow, 1995)
International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life (Fellow, 2002)
Geochemical Society (Fellow, 2008)
Faculty Scholar Award, Penn State University (2005)

Dr. Robert Crane received his bachelor's degree in physical geography from the University of Reading, England, in 1976. He did graduate work in polar climatology, microwave remote sensing, and sea ice-atmosphere interactions at the University of Colorado's Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) and the National Snow and Ice Data Center, receiving a Master's degree in 1978 and a Ph.D. in 1981. As a Research Associate in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), he continued his work on the microwave remote sensing of sea ice. Subsequently, Dr. Crane spent a year as a visiting professor at the University of Saskatchewan.

He joined the faculty of the Pennsylvania State University in 1985. Dr. Crane held a joint appointment in the Department of Geography and in the Earth System Science Center from 1985 to 1993, serving as Associate Director of the Center from 1990 to 1993. He was appointed Associate Dean for Education in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences in 1993, and currently holds the position of Associate Dean and Professor of Geography. His areas of specialization include sea ice-atmosphere interactions, synoptic climatology, and regional-scale climate change.

Table of Contents

About the Authors	p. viii
Preface	p. ix
Global Change	p. 1
Introduction	p. 1
Global Change on Short Time Scales	p. 3
A Closer Look: Are Hurricanes Getting Stronger with Time?	p. 9
A Closer Look: The Discovery of the Antarctic Ozone Hole	p. 12
Global Change on Long Time Scales	p. 13
Daisyworld: An Introduction to Systems	p. 21
The Systems Approach	p. 21
Thinking Quantitatively: Stability of Positive Feedback Loops	p. 25
The Daisyworld Climate System	p. 26
Useful Concepts: Graphs and Graph Making	p. 28
External Forcing: The Response of Daisyworld to Increasing Solar Luminosity	p. 30
Global Energy Balance: The Greenhouse Effect	p. 36
Introduction	p. 36
Electromagnetic Radiation	p. 37
Temperature Scales	p. 40
Blackbody Radiation	p. 41
Planetary Energy Balance	p. 43
A Closer Look: Planetary Energy Balance	p. 44
Atmospheric Composition and Structure	p. 44
Thinking Quantitatively: How the Greenhouse Effect Works: The One-Layer Atmosphere	p. 45
Physical Causes of the Greenhouse Effect	p. 48
Effect of Clouds on the Atmospheric Radiation Budget	p. 50
Introduction to Climate Modeling	p. 52
Climate Feedbacks	p. 53
The Atmospheric Circulation System	p. 57
The Global Circulatory Subsystems	p. 57
The Atmospheric Circulation	p. 58
A Closer Look: The Relationships between Temperature, Pressure, and Volumes-The Ideal Gas Law	p. 59
A Closer Look: How Hurricanes (Tropical Cyclones) Work	p. 67
Global Distributions of Temperature and Rainfall	p. 70
The Circulation of the Oceans	p. 84
Winds and Surface Currents	p. 84
A Closer Look: Vorticity	p. 90
A Closer Look: The 1982-1983 and 1997-1998 ENSO Events	p. 95
The Circulation of the Deep Ocean	p. 96
A Closer Look: The Salt Content of the Oceans and the Age of Earth	p. 97
Useful Concepts: Isotopes and Their Uses	p. 102
A Closer Look: Carbon-14-A Radioactive Clock	p. 103
The Cryosphere	p. 108
Introduction	p. 108
River and Lake Ice, Seasonal Snow Cover, and Permafrost	p. 110
Glaciers and Ice Sheets	p. 113
Thinking Quantitatively: Movement of Glaciers	p. 115
Sea Ice and Climate	p. 117
Circulation of the Solid Earth: Plate Tectonics	p. 122
Introduction	p. 122
Anatomy of Earth	p. 123
A Closer Look: The Principle of the Seismograph	p. 126
The Theory of Plate Tectonics	p. 130
Plates and Plate Boundaries	p. 135
A Closer Look: Deep-Sea Life at Mid-Ocean Ridge Vents	p. 139
The Physiology of the Solid Earth: What Drives Plate Tectonics?	p. 142
A Closer Look: Radiometric Age Dating of Geological Materials	p. 142
Recycling of the Lithosphere: The Rock Cycle	p. 144
Plate Tectonics through Earth History	p. 146
Recycling of the Elements: Carbon and Nutrient Cycles	p. 149
Systems Approach to the Carbon Cycle	p. 149
Useful Concepts: The Concept of the Mole	p. 153
The Short-Term Organic Carbon Cycle	p. 154
A Closer Look: Oxygen Minimum Zone	p. 156
The Long-Term Organic Carbon Cycle	p. 159
The Inorganic Carbon Cycle	p. 162
Useful Concepts: pH	p. 164
The Carbonate-Silicate Geochemical Cycle	p. 168
A Closer Look: Biological Enhancement of Chemical Weathering	p. 169
Links between the Organic and Inoganic Carbon Cycle	p. 170
Phosphorus and Nitrogen Cycles	p. 170
Focus on the Biota: Metabolism, Ecosystems, and Biodiversity	p. 176
Life on Earth	p. 176
Structure of the Biosphere	p. 178
Ecosystems	p. 178
A Closer Look: Physiological versus Ecological Optima for Growth	p. 181
Biodiversity	p. 186
Diversity of Interactions	p. 187
Origin of Earth and of Life	p. 190
Introduction	p. 190
A Closer Look: Determining the Age of Earth	p. 191
Formation of the Solar System	p. 192
A Closer Look: Main-Sequence Stars and the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram	p. 195
Formation of the Atmosphere and Ocean	p. 197
A Closer Look: The Nice Model of Solar System Formation	p. 198
The Origin of Life	p. 199
A Closer Look: Oxidation of the Atmosphere by Escape of Hydrogen	p. 200
A Closer Look: Probiotic O2 Concentrations	p. 201
A Closer Look: What Does It Mean to Be Alive?	p. 202
A Closer Look: The Compounds of Life	p. 203
Effect of Life on the Atmosphere: The Rise of Oxygen and Ozone	p. 210
Introduction	p. 210
Effect of Life on the Early Atmosphere	p. 211
The Rise of Oxygen	p. 214
Useful Concepts: Oxidations States of Iron	p. 217
A Closer Look: Mass-Independent Sulfur Isotope Ratios and What They Tell US about the Rise of Atmospheric O2	p. 220
The Rise of Ozone	p. 222
Variations in Atmospheric O2 Over the Last 2 Billion Years	p. 223
Thinking Quantitatively: Carbon Isotopes and Organic Carbon Burial	p. 226
Modern Controls on Atmospheric O2	p. 228
Long-Term Climate Regulation	p. 233
Introduction	p. 233
The Faint Young Sun Paradox Revisited	p. 234
The Long-Term Climate Record	p. 240
Thinking Quantitatively: Energy Balance Modeling of the Snowball Earth	p. 246
A Closer Look: How Did Life Survive the Snowball Earth?	p. 247
Variations in Atmospheric CO2 and Climate During the Phanerozoic	p. 248
Biodiversity through Earth History	p. 255
The Fossil Record of Biodiversity	p. 255
Useful Concepts: Taxonomy	p. 257
The Creataceous-Tertiary Mass Extinction	p. 261
A Closer Look: The K-T Strangelove Ocean	p. 267
Extraterrestrial Influences and Extinction	p. 268
Pleistocene Glaciations	p. 272
Geologic Evidence of Pleistocene Glaciation	p. 273
Milankovitch Cycles	p. 276
Thinking Quantitatively: Kepler's Laws	p. 277
Thinking Quantitatively: Effect of the Sun and Moon on Earth's Obliquity and Precession	p. 279
Glacial Climate Feedbacks	p. 281
A Closer Look: Stochastic Resonance and Rapid Climate Change	p. 291
Global Warming, Part 1: Recent and Future Climate	p. 295
Introduction	p. 295
Holocene Climate Change	p. 296
Carbon Reservoirs and Fluxes	p. 303
CO2 Removal Processes and Time Scales	p. 306
A Closer Look: The Chemistry of CO2 Uptake	p. 308
Projections of Future Atmospheric CO2 Concentrations and Climate	p. 309
A Closer Look: Three-Dimensional General Circulation Models (GCMs)	p. 314
A Closer Look: Long-Term CO2 Projections	p. 317
Global Warming, Part 2: Impacts, Adaptation, and Mitigation	p. 321
Introduction	p. 321
Changes in Sea Level	p. 322
Effects on Ecosystems	p. 325
Human Impacts of Global Warming	p. 326
Adapting to Global Warming	p. 327
Policies to Slow Global Warming	p. 329
Economic Consequences of Global Warming	p. 333
Oxone Depletion	p. 340
Introduction	p. 340
Ultraviolet Radiation and Its Biological Effects	p. 340
Ozone Vertical Distribution and Column Depth	p. 343
The Chapman Mechanism	p. 344
Catalytic Cycles of Nitrogen, Chlorine, and Bromine	p. 346
Sources and Sinks of Ozone-Depleting Compounds	p. 347
The Antarctic Ozone Hole	p. 350
A Closer Look: How the Link between Freons and Ozone Depletion Was Discovered	p. 351
Evidence of Midlatitude Ozone Depletion	p. 354
Mechanisms for Halting Ozone Depltion	p. 356
Human Threats to Biodiversity	p. 361
Introduction	p. 361
The Modern Extinction	p. 363
A Closer Look: Other Consequences of Tropical Deforestation	p. 367
Why We Should Care about Biodiversity	p. 373
Climate Stability on Earth and Earthlike Planets	p. 379
Introduction	p. 379
Climate Evolution in the Distant Future	p. 380
Climate Evolution on Venus and Mars	p. 381
A Closer Look: A Geoengineering Solution to Earth's Future Climate Problems	p. 382
Habitable Planets around Other Stars	p. 384
The Drake Equation	p. 387
Ensuring Our Long-Term Survival	p. 392
	p. 395
	p. 396
	p. 397
	p. 398
Glossary	p. 399
Index	p. 409
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