Climate Change : The Fork at the End of Now

There are many books on global warming written entirely from a layman’s perspective, and there is a great deal of scientific literature on this subject. But few if any books attempt to bridge the science to those who lack a rigorous background in mathematics, physics and chemistry—but who may be working on careers in environmental science and policy. The new text is designed to introduce the field of global climate change from a scientific perspective—but written in a way that is accessible to students with some or little science background. It reviews the basic principles of climatic thermodynamics and atmospheric chemistry and then goes on to explain historic trends and changes due to the burning of fossil fuels and other human-based activity on earth. Highlights include:

• A broad overview of the thermodynamics of climate, the biosphere, and geochemistry
• An overview of climate data in the context of geological time
• A clear explanation of the physics of the greenhouse effect—from black body radiation to heat trapping effects of CO2, methane, and nitrous oxide
• Methods of modeling climate predictions
• The economics of fuel choices in the broadest context of climate change

List of Illustrations
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Preface
About the Author

Chapter 1 : Introduction
Chapter 2 : The Issues
Chapter 3 : History
Chapter 4 : The Carbon Cycle
Chapter 5 : Energy, Temperature, Entropy and Light
Chapter 6 : The Greenhouse Effect
Chapter 7 : Sun, Water and Weather
Chapter 8 : Modeling
Chapter 9 : Human Involvement, the Separation of Variables and the IPAT Identity
Chapter 10 : Fossil Fuels
Chapter 11 : Alternative Energy Sources
Chapter 12 : The Economic Balance
Chapter 13 : Politics : Global Issues, Local Decisions
Chapter 14 : What Can I Do, and What Can I Learn from Doing It?
Chapter 15 : Early Signs
Chapter 16 : The Future, the Past, and the Just World Hypothesis

Notes
Appendix 1 : Units Conversions and Equivalencies
Appendix 2 : The Periodic Table of Elements
Appendix 3 : International Treaties
Further Reading
Index