Global Warming: The Complete Briefing

Front Cover
Cambridge University Press, May 7, 2015 - Science
How much of global warming is due to human activities? How far will it be possible to adapt to changes of climate? Sir John Houghton's definitive, full colour guide to climate change answers these questions and more by providing the best and latest information available, including the latest IPCC findings. The simple, logical flow of ideas gives an invaluable grounding in the science, as well as the physical and human impacts of climate change, for undergraduate students across a wide range of disciplines. Accessible to both scientists and non-scientists, the text avoids mathematical equations and includes more technical material in boxes, while simple figures help students to understand the conclusions the science leads to without being overwhelmed by vast amounts of data. Questions for students to consider and test their understanding are included in each chapter, along with carefully selected further reading to expand their knowledge.
 

Contents

2
17
3
32
Climates of the past
65
The last thousand years
77
How stable has past climate been?
84
Modelling the climate
90
Seasonal forecasting
99
Feedbacks in the climate system
106
Climate change for the twentyfirst century and beyond
133
The impacts of climate change
162
53
202
Why should we be concerned?
218
Weighing the uncertainty
238
A strategy for action to avoid dangerous climate change
263
Energy and transport for the future
291
The global village
346

Models for climate prediction
112
Comparison with observations
120
Regional climate modelling
126
Acknowledgements for figures and photos
359
Glossary
367
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About the author (2015)

Sir John Houghton CBE, FRS is a former Chairman of the Scientific Assessment Working Group of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Chairman of the UK's Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, Vice President of the World Meteorological Organisation, President of the Royal Meteorological Society, and Professor of Atmospheric Physics at Oxford University. He was Chief Executive of the UK Meteorological Office from 1983 to his retirement in 1991. As well as the previous editions of this book, he is author of The Physics of Atmospheres (Cambridge University Press, in three editions), and has published numerous research papers and contributed to many influential research documents.

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