Experimenting on a Small Planet: A Scholarly EntertainmentSpringer Science & Business Media, 13. des. 2012 - 963 sider 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. |
Innhold
3 | |
25 | |
Chapter 3 Geologic Time | 63 |
4 Putting Numbers on Geologic Ages | 97 |
Chapter 5 Documenting Past Climate Change | 141 |
The Analogies with Water Waves and Sound | 181 |
Figuring out What Light Really is | 209 |
Chapter 8 Exploring The Electromagnetic Spectrum | 239 |
Products and Protectors of Life | 581 |
The Major Greenhouse Gas | 603 |
Chapter 20 Carbon Dioxide | 621 |
Chapter 21 Other Greenhouse Gases | 673 |
Chapter 22 The Circulation of Earths Atmosphere and Ocean | 701 |
Chapter 23 The Biological Interactions | 735 |
Chapter 24 Sea Level | 771 |
The Geologically Immediate Past | 801 |
The Idea of Energy Balance | 261 |
Chapter 10 The Climate System | 293 |
Chapter 11 Whats at the Bottom of Alices Rabbit Hole | 327 |
LongTerm Variations | 375 |
Chapter 13 Solar Variability and Cosmic Rays | 433 |
Chapter 14 Albedo | 469 |
Chapter 15 Air | 493 |
The Keystone of Earths Climate | 515 |
Chapter 17 The Atmosphere | 561 |
Chapter 26 Is There an Analog for the Future Climate? | 835 |
Chapter 27 The Instrumental Temperature Record | 857 |
Chapter 28 The Future | 897 |
DEDICATION | 941 |
FIGURE SOURCES | 943 |
About the Author | 957 |
959 | |
969 | |
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Experimenting on a Small Planet: A Scholarly Entertainment William W. Hay Ingen forhåndsvisning tilgjengelig - 2012 |
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