The Future of the Worlds Climate

At a time of so much politicized debate over the phenomenon of global warming, the second edition of The Future of the World's Climate places the discussion in a broader geological, paleo-climatic, and astronomical context. This book is a resource based on reviews of current climate science and supported by sound, accurate data and projections made possible by technological advances in climate modeling.

Crucially, this title examines in detail a wide variety of aspects, including human factors like land use, expanding urban climates, and governmental efforts at mitigation, such as the Kyoto Protocol. It also examines large-scale, long-term changes in oceans, glaciers, and atmospheric composition, including tropospheric ozone and aerosols. Weather extremes are addressed, as well as the impact of catastrophic events such as massive volcanism and meteorite impacts.

Readers will find a complete picture of the Earth's future climate, delivered by authors drawn from all over the world and from the highest regarded peer-reviewed groups; most are also contributors to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) Assessment Reports.

Winner of the 2012 ALSI Choice Award from Atmospheric Science Librarians InternationalEach chapter has undergone major revisions and new content has been added throughoutMore than 200 tables, diagrams, illustrations, and photographsA cross-disciplinary resource encompassing the geosciences, life science, social science, and engineering

1. Climates of the Future

SECTION I: The Anthropocene 2. People, Policy and Politics in Future Climates 3. Urban Climates 4. Human Effects on Climate through Land Surface Modification

SECTION II: Time and Tide 5. Fast and Slow Feedbacks in Future Climates 6. Ocean Climates In The Future 7. Climatic Variability on Decadal to Century Time-Scales 8. The Future of the World’s Glaciers 9. Future Regional Climates

SECTION III: Looking Forward 10. Climate and weather extremes: observations, modelling and projections 11. Interaction Between Future Climate and Terrestrial Carbon and Nitrogen 12. Climate-chemistry interaction: Tropospheric ozone and sulfate aerosols 13. Climatic Effects of Changing Atmospheric Aerosol Levels

SECTION IV: Learning Lessons 14. Records from the Past, Lessons for the Future: what the palaeo-record implies about mechanisms of global change 15. Modeling the Past and Future Interglacials in Response to The Astronomical and Greenhouse Gas Forcing 16. Catastrophe: Extraterrestrial Impacts, Massive Volcanism and the Biosphere

SECTION V: Understanding the Unknowns 17. Expect the Unexpected: Future Climate Surprises 18. Earth’s Climate from Geophysiology to Earth System Science