Earth's Climate Past and Future

About this book

At a time when the evidence is stronger than ever that human activity is the primary cause for global climate change, William Ruddiman's breakthrough text returns in a thoroughly updated new edition. It offers a clear, engaging, objective portrait of the current state of climate science, including compelling recent findings on anthropogenic global warming and important advances in understanding past climates.

Contents

Part I Framework of Climate Science
1. Overview of Climate Science
2. Earths Climate System Today
3. Climate Archives, Data, and Models

Part II Tectonic-Scale Climate Change
4. CO₂ and Long-Term Climate
5. Plate Tectonics and Long-Term Climate
6. Greenhouse Climate
7. From Greenhouse to Icehouse: The Last 50 Million Years

Part III Orbital-Scale Climate Change
8. Astronomical Control of Solar Radiation
9. Insolation Control of Monsoons
10. Insolation Control of Ice Sheets
11. Orbital-Scale Changes in Carbon Dioxide and Methane
12. Orbital-Scale Interactions, Feedbacks, and Unsolved Mysteries

Part IV Glacial/Deglacial Climate Change
13. The Last Glacial Maximum
14. Climate During and Since the Last Deglaciation
15. Millennial Oscillations of Climate

Part V Historical and Future Climate Change
16. Humans and Preindustrial Climate
17. Climate Changes During the Last 1,000 Years
18. Climatic Changes Since 1850
19. Causes of Warming over the Last 125 Years
20. Future Climatic Change

Appendix 1: Isotopes of Oxygen
Appendix 2: Isotopes of Carbon
Glossary
Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

William F. Ruddiman is retired from the University of Virginia, USA and has since concentrated his research on the climatic role farmers played during the last several thousand years by clearing land, raising livestock, and irrigating rice padis. Over the course of his career, Ruddiman has explored several different aspects of the field of paleoclimate - from orbital-scale changes in North Atlantic sediment to the cause of long-term cooling over the last 50 million years. He has written trade books and numerous journal articles.