Climate Change: Evidence and Causes is a jointly produced publication of The US National Academy of Sciences and The Royal Society. Written by a UK-US team of leading climate scientists and reviewed by climate scientists and others, the publication is intended as a brief, readable reference document for decision makers, policy makers, educators, and other individuals seeking authoritative information on the some of the questions that continue to be asked. Climate Change makes clear what is well-established and where understanding is still developing. It echoes and builds upon the long history of climate-related work from both national academies, as well as on the newest climate-change assessment from the United Nations' Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. It touches on current areas of active debate and ongoing research, such as the link between ocean heat content and the rate of warming.

A comprehensive and authoritative text on the formation and evolution of planetary atmospheres, for graduate-level students and researchers.

Earth’s atmosphere and oceans play individual and interconnected roles in regulating climate and the hydrological system, supporting organisms and ecosystems, and contributing to the well-being of human communities and economies. Recognizing the importance of these two geophysical fluids, NASA designed the Plankton, Aerosol, Cloud and ocean Ecosystems (PACE) mission to bring cutting edge technology to space borne measurements of the atmosphere and ocean. PACE will carry the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI), a radiometer with hyperspectral capability from the ultraviolet through the near-infrared, plus eight discreet shortwave infrared bands. Thus, OCI will measure the broadest solar spectrum of any NASA instrument, to date. PACE’s second instrument will be a Multi-Angle Polarimeter (MAP). MAP will be NASA’s first imaging polarimeter on board a comprehensive Earth science mission. These instruments bring new capability to the science community, but also new challenges. Fundamentals, such as basic radiative transfer models, require review, enhancements and benchmarking in order to meet the needs of the atmosphereocean communities in the PACE era. Both OCI and MAP will bring opportunities to continue heritage climate data records of aerosols and clouds and to advance characterization of these atmospheric constituents with new macrophysical and microphysical parameters. The ability to better characterize atmospheric constituents is a necessity to better separate ocean and atmosphere signals in order to fully realize the potential of PACE measurements for oceanic observations. Atmospheric correction in the PACE era must address the expanded wavelength range and resolution of OCI images, requiring new approaches that go beyond heritage algorithms. This Research Topic encompasses fundamental radiative transfer studies, with application to the atmosphere, ocean or coupled atmosphere-ocean system. It includes remote sensing of aerosols, clouds and trace gases, over ocean or over land, but with particular focus on algorithms that take advantage of OCI’s new capabilities or multi-angle polarimetry. The Research Topic embraces studies of atmospheric correction over ocean including addressing issues of aerosols, cloud masking, foam, bubbles, ice etc., as well as ocean bio-optics and biogeochemical studies taking advantage of the PACE and polarization spectral capabilities.

The oceans and atmosphere interact through various processes, including the transfer of momentum, heat, gases and particles. In this book leading international experts come together to provide a state-of-the-art account of these exchanges and their role in the Earth-system, with particular focus on gases and particles. Chapters in the book cover: i) the ocean-atmosphere exchange of short-lived trace gases; ii) mechanisms and models of interfacial exchange (including transfer velocity parameterisations); iii) ocean-atmosphere exchange of the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide; iv) ocean atmosphere exchange of particles and v) current and future data collection and synthesis efforts. The scope of the book extends to the biogeochemical responses to emitted / deposited material and interactions and feedbacks in the wider Earth-system context. This work constitutes a highly detailed synthesis and reference; of interest to higher-level university students (Masters, PhD) and researchers in ocean-atmosphere interactions and related fields (Earth-system science, marine / atmospheric biogeochemistry / climate). Production of this book was supported and funded by the EU COST Action 735 and coordinated by the International SOLAS (Surface Ocean- Lower Atmosphere Study) project office.

During geologic spans of time, Earth's shifting tectonic plates, atmosphere, freezing water, thawing ice, flowing rivers, and evolving life have shaped Earth's surface features. The resulting hills, mountains, valleys, and plains shelter ecosystems that interact with all life and provide a record of Earth surface processes that extend back through Earth's history. Despite rapidly growing scientific knowledge of Earth surface interactions, and the increasing availability of new monitoring technologies, there is still little understanding of how these processes generate and degrade landscapes. Landscapes on the Edge identifies nine grand challenges in this emerging field of study and proposes four high-priority research initiatives. The book poses questions about how our planet's past can tell us about its future, how landscapes record climate and tectonics, and how Earth surface science can contribute to developing a sustainable living surface for future generations.

Explains how climatologists have come to understand current climate variability and trends through analysis of observations, datasets and models.