Science Magazine's State of the Planet 2008-2009

by Kennedy, Donald

• ISBN13: 9781597264068
• ISBN10: 1597264067
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-12-18
• Publisher: Island Pr

Summary

Taken from the pages of Science and supplemented by contributions from the magazine's editors, State of the Planet 2008-2009 offers contemporary science writing that is sometimes provocative, frequently enlightening, and always authoritative. Published by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Science is one of the most respected scientific magazines in the world. With a readership of more than one million people, it offers hard science" from top scientists to both educated lay readers and scientists alike.The articles collected here are arranged thematically and each section is introduced by a prominent scientist or science writer. Donald Kennedy, who was Editor-in-Chief of Science when these articles appeared in the magazine, contributes a preface and several short essays. Focusing on issues of energy and sustainability, sections of the volume are devoted to the prospects of energy-sparing technologies and alternatives to fossil fuel use, including ethanol and cellulosic digestion. Other sections center on climate change, led by a comprehensive essay on the state of scientific knowledge today and followed by contributions about the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets, as well as the effects of climate change that have been measured to date, including changes in migration and breeding cycles of birds and flowering in plants, changing patterns of hurricanes and extreme weather events, and alterations in forest fire frequency.Interspersed throughout the book are Science news pieces that highlight particular issues and cases relevant to the main scientific findings. A glossary of key terms and concepts helps students and nonspecialists better understand the terminology and the issues.

Author Biography

Donald Kennedy is the Bing Professor of Environmental Science and President emeritus at Stanford University in Stanford, CA. In 1977 Dr. Kennedy took a 2 1/2 year leave to serve as Commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Following his return to Stanford in 1979, Dr. Kennedy served for a year as Provost and for twelve years as President. He co-directs the Environmental Studies Program in the Institute for International Studies.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Energy Solutions
Introductions	p. 5
The Energy-Economy-Environment Dilemma	p. 8
Renewable Energy Sources and the Realities of Settings at Energy Agenda	p. 16
Ethanol for a Sustainable Energy future	p. 21
The Billion-Ton Biofuels-Vision	p. 28
The Biofuels Conundrum	p. 31
Carbon-Negative Biofuels from Low-Input High-Diversity Grassland Biomass	p. 33
Commentary: Carbon-Negative Biofuels form Low-Input High-Diversity Grassland Biomass"	p. 40
Response to Commentary: "Carbon Negative Biofuels from Low-Input High-Diversity Grassland Biomass"	p. 43
Can the Upstarts Top Silicon?	p. 47
What's Already Happened?
Introduction	p. 57
Warming and Earlier Spring Increaser Western U.S. Forest Wildfire Activity	p. 63
How Much More Rain Will Global Warming Bring?	p. 74
Running Out of Water and Time	p. 82
Rapid Advance of Spring Arrival Dates in Long-Distance Migratory Birds	p. 88
Perspectives on the Arctic's Shrinking Sea-Ice Cover	p. 93
Recent Sea Level contributions of the Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets	p. 103
projecting The Future
Intruduction	p. 115
IPCC Report Lays Out Options for Taming Greenhouse Gases	p. 119
The Limits of Consensus	p. 123
Commentary: A Closer Look at the Ipcc Report	p. 128
Response to Commentary: A Closer Look at the IPCC Report	p. 130
Simulating Arctic Climate Warmth and Ice Fields Retreat in the Interglaciation	p. 132
A Semi-Empirical Approach to Projecting Future Sea Level Rise	p. 140
Prioritizing Climate Change Adaptation Needs for Food Security in 2030	p. 146
Critical Assumptions in the Stern Review on Climate Change	p. 155
Climate Change: Risk, Ethics, and the Stern Review	p. 161
Dealing With Climate Change
Introduction	p. 169
A Combined Mitigation-Geoengincering Approach to Climate Stabilization	p. 173
Preparing to Capture Carbon	p. 180
A Guide to Co2 Sequestration	p. 186
Carbon Trading	p. 191
Carbon Trading Over Taxes	p. 193
Index	p. 197
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