Over 4.5 billion years, Earth’s climate has transformed tremendously. Before our more temperate recent past, the planet swung from one extreme to another—from a greenhouse world of sweltering temperatures and high sea levels to a “snowball earth” in which glaciers reached the equator. During this history, we now know, living things and the climate have always influenced and even shaped each other. But the climate has never changed as rapidly or as drastically as it has since the Industrial Revolution. In this lively and entertaining book, Donald R. Prothero explores the astonishing connections between climate and life through the ages, telling the remarkable stories of the scientists who made crucial discoveries. Journeying through the intertwined evolution of climate and life, he tackles questions such as: Why do we have phytoplankton to thank for the air we breathe? What kind of climate was necessary for the rise of the dinosaurs—or the mammals, their successors? When and how have climatic changes caused mass extinctions? Prothero concludes with the Ice Ages and the Holocene, the role of climate in human history, and the perils of anthropogenic climate change. Understanding why the climate has changed in the past, this timely book shows, is essential to grasping the gravity of how radically human activity is altering the climate today.

Throughout Earth's history the planet has experienced shifts in its climate. Earth's climate has naturally been affected by volcanic eruptions, orbital shifts, and solar irradiance. Human contributions from greenhouse gas emissions have also contributed to warming trends. In Earth's Changing Climate, explore the science behind and the history of this phenomenon and the steps being taken to reverse its affects. Book jacket.

This book is a thorough introduction to climate science and global change. The author is a geologist who has spent much of his life investigating the climate of Earth from a time when it was warm and dinosaurs roamed the land, to today's changing climate. Bill Hay takes you on a journey to understand how the climate system works. He explores how humans are unintentionally conducting a grand uncontrolled experiment which is leading to unanticipated changes. We follow the twisting path of seemingly unrelated discoveries in physics, chemistry, biology, geology, and even mathematics to learn how they led to our present knowledge of how our planet works. He explains why the weather is becoming increasingly chaotic as our planet warms at a rate far faster than at any time in its geologic past. He speculates on possible future outcomes, and suggests that nature itself may make some unexpected course corrections. Although the book is written for the layman with little knowledge of science or mathematics, it includes information from many diverse fields to provide even those actively working in the field of climatology with a broader view of this developing drama. Experimenting on a Small Planet is a must read for anyone having more than a casual interest in global warming and climate change - one of the most important and challenging issues of our time. This new edition includes actual data from climate science into 2014. Numerous powerpoint slides allow lecturers and teachers to more effectively use the book as a basis for climate change education.

The Climate Change Debate: A Reference Handbook provides an in-depth look at climate change facts and statistics. It also discusses debate surrounding the scientific consensus. The Climate Change Debate: A Reference Handbook covers the topic of climate change from the earliest days of planet Earth to the present day. Chapters One and Two provide a historical background of climate change and a review of current problems, controversies, and solutions. The remainder of the book consists of chapters that aid readers in continuing their own research on the topic, such as an extended annotated bibliography, chronology, glossary, noteworthy individuals and organizations in the field, and important data and documents. The variety of resources provided, such as further reading, perspective essays about climate change, a historical timeline, and useful terms in the climate change discourse, differentiates this book from others in the field. The book is intended for readers of high school through the community college level, along with adult readers who may be interested in the topic.

To understand climate change today, we first need to know how Earth’s climate changed over the past 450 million years. Finding answers depends upon contributions from a wide range of sciences, not just the rock record uncovered by geologists. In Earth’s Climate Evolution, Colin Summerhayes analyzes reports and records of past climate change dating back to the late 18th century to uncover key patterns in the climate system. The book will transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about future climate change. The book takes a unique approach to the subject providing a description of the greenhouse and icehouse worlds of the past 450 million years since land plants emerged, ignoring major earlier glaciations like that of Snowball Earth, which occurred around 600 million years ago in a world free of land plants. It describes the evolution of thinking in palaeoclimatology and introduces the main players in the field and how their ideas were received and, in many cases, subsequently modified. It records the arguments and discussions about the merits of different ideas along the way. It also includes several notes made from the author’s own personal involvement in palaeoclimatological and palaeoceanographic studies, and from his experience of working alongside several of the major players in these fields in recent years. This book will be an invaluable reference for both undergraduate and postgraduate students taking courses in related fields and will also be of interest to historians of science and/or geology, climatology and oceanography. It should also be of interest to the wider scientific and engineering community, high school science students, policy makers, and environmental NGOs. Reviews: "Outstanding in its presentation of the facts and a good read in the way that it intersperses the climate story with the author's own experiences. [This book] puts the climate story into a compelling geological history." -Dr. James Baker "The book is written in very clear and concise prose, [and takes] original, enlightening, and engaging approach to talking about 'ideas' from the perspective of the scientists who promoted them." -Professor Christopher R. Scotese "A thrilling ride through continental drift and its consequences." - Professor Gerald R. North "Written in a style and language which can be easily understood by laymen as well as scientists." - Professor Dr Jörn Thiede "What makes this book particularly distinctive is how well it builds in the narrative of change in ideas over time." - Holocene book reviews, May 2016 "This is a fascinating book and the author’s biographical approach gives it great human appeal." - E Adlard

Using a broad selection of classic and current sources, The Natural History of the Earth probes selected discussions within biology, climatology, geology, and geomorphology and explores a selection of debates about Earth and life history, considering their origins and their present state-of-play. After outlining the arguments, placing them in an historical context and indicating their significance, the book goes on to deal with specific debates. In the geosphere section, topics covered include geological processes, the bombardment hypothesis, frigid climates and cataclysmic floods, and in the section concerning the biosphere, the topics covered include evolutionary patterns, mass extinctions, patterns in life’s history and life–environment connections. Written in a clear and accessible style, this volume will interest Earth and life scientists, physical geographers and any informed person fascinated by long-term Earth history. This accessible volume is illustrated throughout with over fifty informative diagrams, photographs, tables and over 700 references.