Product Description

Marine environmental conditions such as storms, storm surges and wave heights are directly experienced by, for example, off-shore operations or coastal populations. The authors review and bring together the state-of-the-art and present day knowledge about historical changes, recent trends and concepts on how marine environmental conditions may change in the future as well as discuss models and data problems.

Product Description
Climate change is arguably the most profound challenge facing the international community in the 21st century. It is as much a challenge for poverty reduction, growth and development as it is a global environmental issue. It could undermine or reverse progress in reducing poverty and attaining the Millenium Development Goals, thereby unraveling many of the development gains of recent decades. It already threatens the livelihoods, health and well-being of millions of people worldwide, and of the poorest and most vulnerable groups in particular. And it has potentially far-reaching implications for international relations and for personal, national and regional security.While significant uncertainties still remain, tremendous strides have been made over recent years in improving scientific understanding of the human processes driving global climate change and the likely impacts on world ecosystems. What is much less well understood is how these dynamics in the physical environment will interact with those of socio-economic systems, what the consequences will be for society, and how best to address them. In order to focus attention on these previously neglected and poorly understood social dimensions of climate change, the World Bank convened an international workshop in March, 2008, with the participation of community activists, former heads of state, leaders of Indigenous Peoples, representatives of non-governmental organizations, international researchers, and staff of the World Bank and other international development agencies. This edited volume brings together revised versions of many of the papers presented during that workshop, as an initial step in taking stock of existing knowledge on the social dimensions of climate change. Several new papers were also commissioned for this volume. ... Read more

Product Description

Climate Change Biology is a new textbook which examines this emerging discipline of human-induced climate change and the resulting shifts in the distributions of species and the timing of biological events. The text focuses on understanding the impacts of human-induced climate change, but draws on multiple lines of evidence, including paleoecology, modelling and current observation. Climate Change Biology lays out the scope and depth of understanding of this new discipline in terms that are accessible to students, managers and professional biologists.

Product Description
Thoroughly restructured and updated with new findings and new features

The Second Edition of this internationally acclaimed text presents the latest developments in atmospheric science. It continues to be the premier text for both a rigorous and a complete treatment of the chemistry of the atmosphere, covering such pivotal topics as:
* Chemistry of the stratosphere and troposphere
* Formation, growth, dynamics, and properties of aerosols
* Meteorology of air pollution
* Transport, diffusion, and removal of species in the atmosphere
* Formation and chemistry of clouds
* Interaction of atmospheric chemistry and climate
* Radiative and climatic effects of gases and particles
* Formulation of mathematical chemical/transport models of the atmosphere

All chapters develop results based on fundamental principles, enabling the reader to build a solid understanding of the science underlying atmospheric processes. Among the new material are three new chapters: Atmospheric Radiation and Photochemistry, General Circulation of the Atmosphere, and Global Cycles. In addition, the chapters Stratospheric Chemistry, Tropospheric Chemistry, and Organic Atmospheric Aerosols have been rewritten to reflect the latest findings.

Readers familiar with the First Edition will discover a text with new structures and new features that greatly aid learning. Many examples are set off in the text to help readers work through the application of concepts. Advanced material has been moved to appendices. Finally, many new problems, coded by degree of difficulty, have been added. A solutions manual is available.

Thoroughly updated and restructured, the Second Edition of Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics is an ideal textbook for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a reference for researchers in environmental engineering, meteorology, chemistry, and the atmospheric sciences.

Click here to Download the Solutions Manual for Academic Adopters: http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/Section/id-292291.html

  ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

pretty good book, but terrible package
The condition of the book is good, and seems more than 80% new. But the package was terrible. It was broken on a whole side. But luckily nothing worse happened to the book anyway, so thank you!

amazing book - bad package
Very nice book. This book is a nice reference in all fields (mainly atmospheric chemistry). I really recommends this book. The only problem is the package that AMAZON sent to me... ridiculous...

cover was demaged
My comment is not directly related to the content of the book. it is about to the delivery of Amazon which was not good. The corner of the book which I purchased was damaged two times. If you want customer satisfaction, prepare better packages.

Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics contains more than you ever want to know about the workings of the atmosphere
I purchased this textbook for a class on Atmospheric Processes. It goes into far more depth than I ever imagined, and you probably wouldn't see half of this material until quite a ways into your graduate degree in atmospheric science. That being said, it is absolutely comprehensive - there probably isn't a single thing you couldn't find somewhere in its pages. ... Read more

Product Description
The debate about the existence of climate change seems finally at an end. We now have to decide what to do about it. Here, James Garvey argues that the ultimate rationale for action on climate change cannot be simply economic, political, scientific or social, though no doubt our decisions should be informed by such things. Instead, climate change is largely a moral problem. What we should do about it depends on what matters to us and what we think is right.This book is an introduction to the ethics of climate change. It considers a little climate science and a lot of moral philosophy, ultimately finding a way into the many possible positions associated with climate change. It is also a call for action, for doing something about the moral demands placed on both governments and individuals by the fact of climate change. This is a book about choices, responsibility, and where the moral weight falls on our warming world.Articulate, provocative and stimulating, this timely book will make a significant contribution to one of the most important debates of our time." Think Now" is a brand new series of stimulating and accessible books examining key contemporary social issues from a philosophical perspective. Written by experts in philosophy, these books offer sophisticated and provocative yet engaging writing on political and cultural themes of genuine concern to the educated reader. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Ethics
Accessible in terms of the science of climate change and the ethics.A bit too wonkish for the public in terms of ethical reasoning -- seemed more like an ethics course lecture in places.I am an ethics teacher and if I were teaching a course this book would be considered as a text.

Good information
I enjoyed the book.The author has good insights and a keen ability of helping the reader understand the ethical dilemma of American consumption and entitlement issues.

Compelling and Engaging
Garvey's writing style is like having a conversation with a good friend. Humors at times, the book is written in clear language that is both accessible and absorbing. The first part of the book gives a salient overview of what climate change actually is. A few well-chosen scientific findings are presented that clearly show climate change is happening and furthermore is linked directly to the activities of post industrial revolution humankind. This allows Garvey to establish credibility for the arguments presented in the second half of the book. Once this link has been firmly established, the moral and ethical implications are compelling and engaging.

A fascinating and stimulating read!
In today's avalanche of books and manuals on climate change who all want to be your best friend and show you `THE truth', this book stands out not only for its refreshing outlook but also for its crystal clear facts. The author has evidently done his homework, and not just on Aquinas or Aristotle but also on the tangible scientific data which is the only way for us to have an objective look at today's situation ; this is truly a multi-disciplinary effort.

Let me put it simply, this book is a very straight-forward, well-written and rather different (at least when it came out) approach to the issues of climate change. Rather than guilt-tripping us into saving the Earth (which has largely been the media's strategy) for economical, scientific or 'just-because-we-say-you-should' reasons, James Garvey presents a variety of interesting arguments mainly, but not exclusively-sourced in the field of moral philosophy through topics like choice, government, responsibility (to name a few). The question presented here isn't so much `is global warming our fault ?' but, `why should we care and where does the responsibility lie ?'

Having read some of the author's previous works, I would further emphasize how well-written this work is and add that of the many philosophy books I have read, his writing is never pompous and he doesn't resort to sensationalist claims (he doesn't need to anyway), making the topics he researches, deeply enjoyable explorations for the reader.

The book thankfully falls short of becoming another of those 'the idiot's guide to...'/pop-philosophy books which are sometimes far too simplistic. Nevertheless, the author's arguments are informed by good examples which can make sense today, to those who aren't always well-versed in philosophical debates and issues, while still captivating the interest of those who are.

While this is clearly a call to action, don't expect 180 pages of brainwashing.

A worthy read and purchase which I recommend, even to those who are dubious about climate change, its cause and whether or not it is truely going on. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (1)

Procustes' bed?
The premise of this book is: "The importance of an international treaty (to mitigate climate change) can scarcely be exaggerated" (pg. 2), in fact, the authors endow the "broad, deep, and enforceable treaty" with an ethical obligation (pg. 169 - 170) - no justification given for this deontological imperative.

The prospect of an enforceable treaty immediately raises issues that go beyond its goals and the means, namely those of entitlements, rights, and obligations under the treaty. These issues have to be settled prior to its conclusion. Given the stakes involved, all sorts of claims have been lodged: some spurious, some wrong or misguided, some justified. The book tries to sort out these claims, grouping them under several headings:

(a) distributive justice (should the treaty be a means to redistribute wealth from the rich to the poor);
(b) guilt (a broad application of the 'polluter pays' principle);
(c) per capita allocation of pollution entitlements;
(d) treatment of future generations.

The analysis is not always an easy one to follow. This is partly inherent in the way claims are staked: they are usually sweeping, emotional, and contain different strands that have to be taken apart painstakingly. For the first three items the claims for 'special and differentiated responsibility' are questioned, and the authors argue that "nations should approach the climate problem with a forward-looking, pragmatic perspective", rather than try to use the opportunity to settle scores, in the specific climate change area or in general.

One caveat: when adjudicating entitlements, it would seem important to me as a precondition to adjudicate the question: "who is the eventual polluter?" Much is made in the book about China's and India's contribution to current emissions. Nothing is said about the fact that (primarily China) has become the manufacturing giant of the world, while the West has moved to (relatively) pollution-free services: "My country is carbon neutral: others do the dirty work" - won't do. Brazil's high per capita emissions might be linked to it being a large agricultural exporter. And New Zealand is being penalised for producing milk, butter and meat for the world at large. That such adjudication is not easy, I accept. That the issue should be ignored seems problematic to me, particularly if one were to toy with the idea of of 'per capita emission rights'.

This being said, there is much wisdom in the authors' conclusion. One may underscore their conclusions by recalling that, an argument about entitlements implies a full 'audit of entitlements': if the environment is a 'common resource', then why not oil, or copper, or diamonds? If slavery, why not female oppression? If racially-motivated genocide, why not political, or religion-driven jobs (the Thirty Year War my good example)? Redressing one tort may not bring about justice, if others are left unheeded. Justice is indivisible, and once one arrogates him/herself the right to adjudicate entitlements, all wrongs need totalling up in a universe of infinite possibilities, where icy chance plays its own unpredictable game.

On the treatment of future generations, I reckon that the authors hedge their bets: though they accept the 'principle of intergenerational neutrality' they plead for choosing projects with high rates of return. I found this section rather hard going and unsatisfactory. If saving lives is the issue, why not spend it on malaria, or a pneumonia vaccine? Each generation can save lives, and there is little reason to favour those in a distant future.

The intergenerational argument rests on the assumption that only explicit and dedicated action will solve the problem - wholly ignoring the embedded role of adaptation. Adaptation is akin to dark matter in astronomy: because it is hard to detect, it attracts little attention. Yet its role is huge - one only has to see the carbon intensity figures as they plummet. With general knowledge doubling every five years or so thanks to our ever increasing ingenuity, it is hard to imagine that this knowledge is unlikely collaterally to address the problem in the future, and in a big way. And, unlike investment, knowledge does not depreciate.

I conclude on a personal note: I'm both amused and amazed that people, who would recoil in horror from advocating central planning, plump for it at the first fashionable opportunity. This applies particularly when they teach at the University of Chicago, and profess some form of libertarianism. An international treaty of emission abatement of world scope is a brainchild of central planning - if I've ever saw one.

Is such a treaty at all necessary, even before we argue whether it is an 'ethical' imperative? This issue is relevant, for climate change justice is predicated on an enforceable treaty. If no treaty is needed, in other words, if there are other ways to dealing with climate change, then the whole discussion of climate change justice an be defused or side-stepped, leaving much more time to tackle the substantive issue of climate change - an issue that, according to the authors, we have treated symbolically in the past - we were procrastinating while bickering over entitlements. This is no facile reflection: the INFCCC framework has been 20 years in the making. Is this truly the ONLY way forward?

I have my doubts. The principle argument here is not based on material evidence, but on Dr. Hardin's seminal paper "Tragedy of the commons" in 1968, which has since been overtaken by reality - yet most economists, never having read the original paper, keep repeating the mantra uncritically (To save you from having to look it up: Hardin confidently predicted that only an IFCCC-style agreement on population control would allow us to reduce fertility rates. Billions of women have proven him wrong). Ms E. Ostrom won the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2009 for showing scientifically how and where Dr. Hardin went wrong Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action (Political Economy of Institutions and Decisions), so I leave the matter in better hands than mine. But if my hunch is just a little right, the whole discussion on entitlements is a Procustes' bed.

And, I was about to forget: I'm somewhat puzzled by the contention that "the notion of collective responsibility
has been rejected by mainstream philosophers (...) and none seems to defend it any more as a matter of principle" (pg. 101). If this is the case, then Hiroshima and Dresden were war crimes, for their justification is only collective responsibility, and so it what happened to Germany in 1945 Germany 1945: From War to Peace. More generally: any war is by definition an act of exacting retaliation on a community. Have we eschewed war? And what about preventive wars? How could a government - even graced by manifest destiny - have a 'right' to fight them, when no tort has been committed yet?
... Read more

Product Description
The United Nations Environment Program and the World Meterological Organization set up the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in 1988 to provide an authoritative international consensus of scientific opinion on climate change. This report, prepared by IPCC Working Groups I and II, reviews the latest scientific evidence on the following key topics: radiative forcing of climate change; the latest values of global warming potential (used to compare the potential effect on future climate of different anthropogenic factors); the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere; and an evaluation of scenarios of future greenhouse gas emissions.Researchers in climatology and environmental science, as well as environmental and science policy, will benefit from this book. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A good short introduction to radiative forcing
The IPCC-1994 follow up on the first two reports of the IPCC working group one (WG1) reports on climatic change gives a good compendium of our knowledge on anthropogenic (and natural) radiative forcing of the atmosphere and the climate system. The book fills the hole that new findings in the last couple of years have created. It will be mostly for specialists that have to know things before the rest. If you do not belong to this group, wait for the 1995-IPCC report due in the beginning of 1996. ... Read more

Product Description
Ralph and Anna Eldred are an exemplary couple, devoting themselves to doing good. Thirty years ago as missionaries in Africa, the worst that could happen did. Shattered by their encounter with inexplicable evil, they returned to England, never to speak of it again. But when Ralph falls into an affair, Anna finds no forgiveness in her heart, and thirty years of repressed rage and grief explode, destroying not only a marriage but also their love, their faith, and everything they thought they were.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Great British Author
I didn't discover Hilary Mantel until two weeks ago when I read a July 2005 New Yorker magazine (I don't remember the week).All I can say is that I thought I was well read, but now I wonder.No, I AM well read! So how have I missed this great author?And why, I demand to know, hasn't she won a Booker Prize?

Anyway, in the two weeks since my discovery, I have read "A Change of Climate" and "Fludd".I now have before me "A Place of Greater Safety" which I hungrily look forward to.In fact, I plan to read all of her books.I even considered becoming one of those nuts who dedicates a web page to his or her favorite author.I won't, however, but not because Mantel is unworthy of such adulation, but because, well, I am not a nut.

Finally, please allow me do the reader of "A Change of Climate" a great favor: do not read the back cover, as it tells way too much of the story.Instead, trust Mantel to tell you the story.You won't be disappointed.Great writing and great story.

Family secrets
Instinctively, people know that when a pain is too great to be endured, it is appropriate to wait until it can be more rationally confronted. But there is always the danger of pushing the pain so far away that it becomes inaccessible, if never, ever forgotten. "To some people great grief is an indecency...They blame the bereaved."

After a stunning tragedy in Africa, where Ralph and Anna Eldred have gone as missionaries, they return home, cautioning their family never to speak of the horror they have endured. It is relegated to the past, where it will stay. The Eldred's are compliant people, particularly Ralph, a man of good intentions who works for the family charitable trust, providing necessities, such as food, clothing and shelter for those less fortunate. But for their brief years in Africa and the trauma they suffer on the Dark Continent, the Eldred's personify the spirit of missionary life.

Once again residing in England providing for the downtrodden, Anna and Ralph live out a self-effacing routine. As a Christian, Ralph believes in service, so compassionate that he cannot turn away from those in need. Covertly, Ralph is concerned that people will mistake him for a man who loves mankind in general, but not persons in particular. However, this is exactly how he is perceived, soldiering on for over twenty years after the tragedy, burying himself in the trivia of everyday obligations. His endless pursuit of virtue in hopes of atonement can never be realized.

Meanwhile, Anna suffers grievously for Ralph's neglect, enduring a constant ache, her own survival defined by the ever-present needs of her four children. Anna has paid a terrible price for her silence all these years. Ralph grows more distant and preoccupied, Anna more edgy and neither expects the emotional eruption when Ralph falls into a romantic entanglement with a local woman.

Mantel is gifted writer, dissecting her character's motivations with elegant precision, especially their great missionary hubris, the vagrant self-congratulatory thoughts that creep into even the most well-meant acts, as the couple seeks to bury the past under the weight of the present. Layer upon layer, the author builds a structure that appears sturdy but ultimately collapses under the weight of grief and silence. Whether the couple recovers will be determined by their spiritual strengths and human weaknesses, the delicate balance between expectations and reality. Luan Gaines/2004.

We Know These People
This is the first novel of Hilary Mantel that I've read, and I'm eager to read more. Her style is her strength: she is a keen observer of human character, human fraility, human environments, and she describes the environment, emotions and atmospheres with a crystal clarity. For example, her paragraph about the end of a semester caused me to relive those times: "only dogged by that usual feeling of anticlimax the end of exams brings. After this, you think, after my papers are over, I will do, and I will do ... and then you don't. You are a shell, enclosing outworn effort. You expect a sense of freedom, and yet you feel trapped in the same old body, the same drab routines; you expect exhilaration, and you only feel a kind of habitual dullness, a letdown, a perverse longing for the days when you read and made notes and sat up all night."

Mantel's characters are muddlers. They muddle through life with good intentions, but feel displaced and unsatisfied. Yet you care for them, and say to yourself, "I know these people!" There are many robust characters [Ralph and Anna, missionaries in Africa; their children, searching for their place in the world; Ralph's sister Emma] and threads interwoven through the basic story. The main characters are Ralph and Anna, missionaries who go to Africa to "do good". Evil events there haunt their lives when they return to England.

The novel is written as an "entertaining read", in a page-turning style -- you are interested in the characters and events. Yet it is a substantial work, addressing important themes: good versus evil, do our choices make a difference, the cost of cultural misunderrstandings, the loss of faith, how any sense of security is an illusion. While entertaining, Mantel is not afraid of the artist's obligation to tell us unpalatable truths about ourselves.

My one complaint is that the ending was too predictable; I felt that the novel was "wrapped up", rather than allowed to find its own ending.

British Sensibilities
Save your money.Or, if you need to spend it, buy plain yogurt -- you will find the bland white stuff much more exciting than this novel. If you do buy this book, you will wade through pages and pages waiting for the story to get started and then you will not care about a single character you meet.In the course of the book, there are love affairs, savage beatings, and a kidnapping or two, and all these incidents unfold without an ounce of passion, desire, or emotion.Anna, the long suffering wife, is so strangled that she can't bring herself to demand a new washing machine.She and her obtuse husband never talk to each other or to their children.And we are supposed to care about the marriage of these two?Buy yogurt.

This thoughtful family saga evokes a climate for change.
When asked, rhetorically, by his sister, "Whatever happened to the dinosaurs?", Ralph, the main character responds, "Their habitat altered...A change of climate." Inhis rebellion against his parents, their closed,religiously fundamentalist point of view, andhis father's financial blackmailing regarding his career choices, Ralphintentionally changes his physical habitat andhis climate by escaping to South Africa withhis bride.

Working as a lay person at a mission and vigorously opposingapartheid, Ralph and Anna eventually areimprisoned, then banished to Bechuanaland,now Botswana. It is here that the savagery which creates apermanent and terrible climate in their marriage occurs, asavagery not limited to one race as Ralph andAnna had perceived in South Africa.

As the story bouncesfrom the present in England back twenty years to Africa, thereader lives through the vivid and terribleAfrican experiences and simultaneously sees how they havepermeated the lives of these good, but often naïve, people.Both Ralph and Anna have rejected thetraditional religion of their parents in favor of doing good deeds intheir family lives and through a social servicetrust. But as Ralph's uncle James points out,"There is nothing so appallingly hard...as the business of beinghuman."

While the reader cheers asJames grows and eventually embraces life, s/he alsofears for Anna, who remains emotionally closed, despite her gooddeeds, fearful that she "should loseeverything, one of these days." As the events resolvethemselves and the "competition in goodness" comesto an end, we see real humans trying to putaside the petrified past and to change the climate of their lives, and wewill, perhaps, evaluate our own lives.Can weaccept change, or are we dinosaurs at heart? ... Read more

Product Description
This is a hugely important collection of essays that examines the significance of philosophical inquiry in relation to the issue of climate change. "Climate Change and Philosophy" presents ten original essays by an international team of expert contributors, exploring the important contribution philosophical inquiry can make to contemporary debates to do with climate change and the global environment. Examining this hugely topical issue through the lens of environmental philosophy, political theory, philosophy of technology, philosophy of education and feminist theory, these essays interrogate some of the presumptions that inform modernity and our interaction with natural processes. The book asks fundamental questions about human nature and, more importantly, the concept of 'nature' itself. The conceptual frameworks presented here contribute to an understanding of the processes of change, of social transformation, and the means of adapting to the constraints that problems such as climate change pose. The book proposes a way of beginning the important task of rethinking the relationship between humanity and the natural environment.Through enquiry into the basic philosophical principles that inform modern society, each author asserts that reflection informs change and that change is both required and possible in the context of the environmental crisis facing us today. "Continuum Studies in Philosophy" presents cutting-edge scholarship in all the major areas of research and study. The wholly original arguments, perspectives and research findings in titles in this series make it an important and stimulating resource for students and academics from a range of disciplines across the humanities and social sciences. ... Read more

Product Description
This book provides an assessment of the effects of climate change on U.S. agriculture, land resources and biodiversity. It is one of a series of 21 Synthesis and Assessment Products (SAP) that are being produced under the auspices of the U.S. Climate Change Science Program (CCSP). This book builds on an extensive scientific literature and series of recent assessments of the historical and potential impacts of climate change and climate variability on managed and unmanaged ecosystems and their constituent biota and processes. It discusses the nation's ability to identify, observe, and monitor the stresses that influence agriculture, land resources, water resources, and biodiversity, and evaluates the relative importance of these stresses and how they are likely to change in the future. It identifies changes in resource conditions that are now being observed, and examines whether these changes can be attributed in whole or part to climate change.The general time horizon for this book is from the recent past through the period 2030-2050, although longer-term results out to 2100 are also considered. There is robust scientific consensus that human-induced climate change is occurring.Records of temperature and precipitation in the United States show trends consistent with the current state of global-scale understanding and observations of change. Observations also show that climate change is currently impacting the nation's ecosystems and services in significant ways, and those alterations are very likely to accelerate in the future, in some cases dramatically. Current observational capabilities are considered inadequate to fully understand and address the future scope and rate of change in all ecological sectors.Additionally, the complex interactions between change agents such as climate, land use alteration, and species invasion create dynamics that confound simple causal relationships and will severely complicate the development and assessment of mitigation and adaptation strategies. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (112)

Sensible outlook
The writer presented his easy-to-understand comments on a complex topic without launching an attack on everyone who is concerned about warming of the planet and possible consequences. This book would be instructive, but gut-wrenching, reading for anyone who is 100% behind proposals to stop man-made global warming no matter what the effects on our economy.

MUST READ!!
Climate Confusion is a great book that will bring you back to the basics of the Global Warming phenomenon.

A real climatologist, not a former next president of the United States, takes you on a fact finding tour of science versus politics. Roy Spencer points out how economics plays a vital role in our decisions if in fact global warming is man-made but also provides plenty of evidence that there is simply proof that man has done this.

All it takes is a quick review of the constituents of the atmosphere and you find that H2O, not CO2, is the biggest contributor of global warming and this book goes to great length to show that science does not yet understand the H2O component enough to make any kind of interpretation on the impact of man.

My favorite quotes from the book relate the economics of Climate Change and the environment:

"But as long as the supposed "rights" of nature supersede the rights of the people to use the natural resources that they require to thrive, the United States will never approach energy independence."

"poverty in poor countries is not from a lack of natural resources" & "the biggest impediment to wealth building within a nation is governmental interference and control over people's lives"

A great book on a global fraud
I have studied the global warming / climate change issue for several years. This book is the best discussion on the warming that has taken place and how it fits in geologic time.

Funded by Exxon and the Heartland institute
This work of fiction has no place in the Science category.The author is funded through the Heartland Institute, an organization dedicated to defending Big Oil and sowing confusion about global warming for the sake of corporate profits.Time after time the author has been exposed as a charlatan and a mouthpiece for the oil industry.

Stay far, far away from garbage like this.

More disinformation masquerading as "balanced" science
Here is what the "most helpful favorable view" said: "He [Spencer]is clearly no biased partisan"

This subject is so manipulated and driven by ideology that Spencer, simply by acknowledging something that is basic science -- of course our activities affect climate -- is suddenly "no biased partisan."

The greatest threat to mankind is not climate change (mass warfare is probably a greater threat anyway in the big picture in terms of what it can do), but rampant ignorance.Spencer, someone with some knowledge on the subject who is to anyone who is both intimately familiar with the topic AND objective and can dissociate the politics from the science, is an ideologue.That is contributing to our ignorance on this topic.

I glanced through this, and it's the same Roy Spencer as most everywhere else. Making assumptions, postulating them as fact. Omitting key details.And presenting small facets of the actual relevance and issue, erroneously, as if it defines the whole.

On his rather disinformative website -- where he does exactly the same as described while of course, similarly mixing in just enough science -- Spencer made the grandiloquent case as to why climate change is "exaggerated" (despite the fact that we keep on burning fossil fuels at rapid pace, are not sufficiently adjusting methane output, and deforestation continues.)

His key basis was to attack computerized climate models. Which of course, even though they have been more accurate than not (sometimes by quite a bit) overall, are easy to poke many holes in. It does not mean they are worthless, or tell the real story (or even can tell the real story.)

And this attack upon how climate models are flawed was his key point, from which he was able to assert that climate change concern is overwrought."Since," as he put it:

"Computerized climate models are the main source of concern over manmade global warming."

They are the most popular. They are the easiest to grab a hold of. The most tangible, in some ways, since obviously something that is based in physics, geology and biology and concerns future effects, is otherwise abstract. But they are not the main source of concern. (Or "cause," which is the context Spencer used here, as his basis against the issue itself.) Anyone who writes that they are the main source or cause of concern, let alone uses it as the key basis for his case against climate change, either does not really understand the issue, or is an ideologue.

Spencer is one of the two. Take your pick.

Questions to Spencer pointing out, incidentally, that models are not the main cause for concern but a way for us to at least try and put a tangible handle on more specific (and often limiting) parameters, have never been answered by him, as they might upset his neat little over-simplistic and highly misleading take on the issue; a take which supports a predetermined view.This is something, despite constant protestation and assertions to the contrary, that is driving much of the analysis of the "work" and assertions on this issue today. ... Read more

Product Description
Planning for the protection of human health from the potential impacts of global environmental changes, such as climate change, requires a greatly improved understanding of the disease inducing mechanisms involved, possible synergetic effects, and the vulnerability of populations.An important aspect is the development of theoretical and conceptual methods for the assessment of the health impact of global environmental changes. This book addresses the concepts and methods needed to analyse and understand this complex issue, and will be of great value to researchers and graduate students. ... Read more

Product Description
Climate change is one of the most challenging issues of our time. As key sites in the production and management of emissions of greenhouse gases, cities will be crucial for the implementation of international agreements and national policies on climate change. This book provides a critical analysis of the role of cities in addressing climate change and the prospects for urban sustainability.
Cities and Climate Change is the first in-depth analysis of the role of cities in addressing climate change. The book argues that key challenges concerning the resources and powers of local government, as well as conflicts between local goals for economic development and climate change mitigation, have restricted the level of local action on climate change. These findings have significant implications for the prospects of mitigating climate change and achieving urban sustainability. This book provides a valuable interdisciplinary analysis of these issues, and will appeal to students and researchers interested in sustainability at local and global scales. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Excellent book for policy makers
This is a brilliant book.Well worth the read for policy makers and those professionals looking for a 'resource book'(of sorts) to help them frame policies and strategies aimed at addressing climate change at the local level

The convergence of increased Heat and the Built Environment may = HELL
Good case studies of cities attemtping to mitigate carbon use, but little on nuclear energy for cities of the future. For planners, geographers, architects and others who know what's coming. ... Read more

Product Description

Incorporating the latest scientific research, this text addresses the hot topic of climate change and its impact on the world today.

Product Description

Land has long been overlooked in economics. That is now changing. A substantial part of the solution to the climate crisis may lie in growing crops for fuel and using trees for storing carbon. This book investigates the potential of these options to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, estimates the costs to the economy, and analyses the trade-offs with growing food. The first part presents new databases that are necessary to underpin policy-relevant research in the field of climate change while describing and critically assessing the underlying data, the methodologies used, and the first applications.

Together, the new data and the extended models allow for a thorough and comprehensive analysis of a land use and climate policy. This book outlines key empirical and analytical issues associated with modelling land use and land use change in the context of global climate change policy. It places special emphasis on the economy-wide competition for land and other resources, especially;

• The implications of changes in land use for the cost of climate change mitigation,
• Land use change as a result of mitigation, and
• Feedback from changes in the global climate to land use.

By offering synthesis and evaluation of a variety of different approaches to this challenging field of research, this book will serve as a key reference for future work in the economic analysis of land use and climate change policy.

Product Description
7.2 million YouTube viewers can't be wrong: A provocative new way to look at the global warming debate.

Based on a series of viral videos that have garnered more than 7.2 million views, this visually appealing book gives readers-be they global warming activists, soccer moms, or NASCAR dads-a way to decide on the best course of action, by asking them to consider, "What's the worst that could happen?" And for those who decide that action is needed, Craven provides a solution that is not only powerful but also happens to be stunningly easy. Not just another "change your light bulb" book, this intriguing and provocative guide is the first to help readers make sense-for themselves-of the contradictory statements about global climate change.

The globe is warming! or The globe is not warming.

We're the ones doing it! or It's a natural cycle.

It's gonna be a catastrophe! or It'll be harmless.

This is the biggest threat to humankind! or This is the biggest hoax in history. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (37)

Why we need to veer away from the cliff of climate chaos!
Greg Craven's book is just the one to share with your doubter friends.It examines, in a folksy and modest manner, why even if one disputes the likelihood of human-caused global climate change, we need to take action anyway.I read it after viewing all of his Youtube videos that began with "The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See."These are funny and perfect for a high school student.He presents a simple 4-square graph with his main thesis, which is that the risks are far too great to assume that climate change won't happen, so we had better prepare for it.Lots of excellent information, especially on the issue of who can you trust to have accurate information.I bought a bunch of copies and gave them to my relatives and even my local state representative.Who can you share it with?

The one book on climate change you MUST read
I just finished reading this book and I daresay it's even more fun, energetic, and insightful than the viral videos that preceded the book.The first few chapters were a little slow for me, perhaps because they overlap so much with the videos.But last night I got past that and just couldn't put it down till I finished.

I have been reading many books on climate change recently by both warmers and skeptics to try to figure out what to believe.It can be very infuriating because most of the books are written as if the authors are so certain about what they are saying (particularly the ones by skeptics, which is kind of ironic).But clearly certainty is not a useful criterion for judging truth.It doesn't matter how certain they all are -- they can't all be right!For every damning quote I found, I was finding plausible rebuttals.Then rebuttals to the rebuttals, and so on.

Eventually I just decided that even if you can decide for yourself what you believe to be the most credible position by sifting through the arguments, there is absolutely no way to convince someone *else* of that if they don't want to be convinced.Greg makes this point in his book -- you can always find some evidence that supports your view if you look hard enough. And people who want to be convinced one way or the other will typically rest their case when they find that evidence.So no matter what you say there's always some rebuttal someone can make to refute the point and you're left just staring at each other saying "oh yeh? well you're wrong", "no you are", "no I'm not" ... and not getting anywhere.

And then I realized that you don't really need to know for sure if the warmers are right.The only question that really matters is are they at least credible? Do they genuinely believe what they say?Do they have evidence to back it up?Are they not idiots?Are there a significant number of them? I find the answers to all those to be yes.So I made my conclusion.The risk is significant enough to warrant taking it seriously.

Then I saw Greg Craven's viral video.His little 2x2 grid encapsulated the same basic idea so charmingly that I was hooked at once. Yes!Finally someone not trying to prove which side is right!!That's exactly how you avoid getting sucked in to the endless quagmire.I bought the book at once just as a way to vote with my wallet for Greg's great video.Didn't get around to reading till months later.Didn't think I really needed to read it after seeing the videos, frankly.

But I'm really glad that I did read it.Greg's perspective is such a breath of fresh air (so to speak) in this stale debate about CO2.Having read a number of books on climate change, and having waded through their scientific (and oft not-so-scientific) claims, for the most part I couldn't see myself recommending any of them individually to my friends.You really need to read them all for yourself to get a good picture, and that's a hard sell to someone who's not that interested in the climate debate to begin with.And even if you do slog through them, I don't think that most of what I read would be useful for someone without a science background.But Greg's book cuts through all that in a really nice way. He comes across as an impartial guide to the landscape (ok somewhat partial, but he acknowledges that and tries really hard not to let it get in the way).He doesn't claim to be any sort of expert, or try tell you what to think. He just guides you through his risk analysis idea that tells you how to decide for yourself.

Anyway, the book is great.It's the first book on climate change I've read that I'd wholeheartedly recommend to anyone.Skeptic or warmer, young or old, interested in climate or not.It doesn't matter.This book is well worth the read for all.I just can't say enough nice things about Greg or his book.Watch the videos.Buy the book.And do as he says, and go ahead and buy one for a friend too.I did.At this price you might as well.This would be a great first book to read as an introduction to the issue, before going on to read books by Hansen, Michaels, Singer, Gelbspan, Schneider.Or you know, if you're not that interested in the details, just read this book and leave it at that.

Full of "Confirmation Bias"
Read the Appendix first to understand this authors "Confirmation Bias". This is his global warming activist manifesto. The book claims to be a new method for the layman to sift through and evaluate the several sides of the global warming debate, and then rate the risks of taking action. The problem is that his new methods rely on the reader to rank order the credibility of sources of material while being mindful of the readers own "Confirmation Bias". Since I believe such objectivity is virtually impossible, I consider these methods to be as bogus as the conclusions of the author's manifesto in the Appendix.

This book was written before the Climategate scandal in which the Warmers were exposed falsifying the core temperature data used in the IPCC reports and succeeding in undermining the peer review system, the very things that are supposed to give reputable experts and institutions their credibility. Without these standards of credibility applying to the question of global warming there remains little basis to rank sources using the authors methods.

I thought I would find in this book something new about risk analysis. It does mention some of the big name skeptics but then dismisses them for what I think are silly reasons. (I have read many of the references of the book, both warmer and skeptic). However, I found just anotherglobal warming activist with more pseudo scientific methods, pretending to draw the only logical conclusion that going green is the way to save the planet.

The YouTube spot goes viral.Now we need to get people to read this book!
Millions have viewed the short video, "The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See," by science teacher Greg Craven.In it, he posits a 2 X 2 grid:the 2 rows are "global warming is false," and "global warming is true."The 2 columns are "take significant action now," and "take little or no action now."Then he goes through this decision grid analysis, and decides that reasonable people ought to understand that this simplistic analysis makes it crystal clear that "we" need to take significant action now to combat global climate warming/weirding.

In his book, What's the Worst That Could Happen?: A Rational Response to the Climate Change Debate, he reviews that decision grid and his analysis.Then, using an example involving giant mutant space hamsters, he explains the error of his analysis.

This book is his careful, methodical rebuilding of his argument, with you, the reader.More than three-quarters of this book is preparing you to build your own case, to develop your own conclusion.He discusses our inherent biases, the issue of evaluating credibility, and the nature of science.He gives us anexample of how he evaluates the credibility of both the "warmers" and the "skeptics."And then he asks you, the reader, to come to a conclusion.In the penultimate chapter, he discusses his conclusion (it's not a mystery).

I really like this book for its clear approach to thinking about complex issues outside our individual areas of expertise.After all, what percentage of the world's population, your state's inhabitants, or your city or town's population is a bona fide climate scientist? One thousand of one percent?So it really isn't an issue of you understanding the detailed science.Instead, it is all about how you evaluate credibility, how you tolerate and assess risk, and what you do or don't do.

And the first thing I've done, after reading this book, is order three more.Time for this information, Craven's message, to go viral again, just like the video.Well, "viral" is really not the word here.I'll use "bacterial" instead... slower, but hopefully just as exponential in its growth.

Note: in today's newspaper, there is an article that Lord Christopher Monckton (mentioned on page 145, and labeled as low on Craven's credibility scale), is not a member of the British House of Lords as Monckton claims.The British House of Lords writes "Christopher Monckton is not and has never been a Member of the House of Lords.There is no such thing as a 'non-voting' or 'honorary' member."Perhaps future of editions of this book will make note of this.

The man that want to anounce WW3
Mr. Craven said in a YouTube video (channel wonderingmind42) at 'Utopia Konferenz' in Germany we should announce WW3. Other interesting statements are that WW2 was helping the economy and advancements in technology like nothing else, not even a single critical remark. He goes on with, and I quote here: "You don't even have to believe in global warming but you should better do something about it." In the web videos, there is no single measure though of how to tackle the problem of CO2, if it was one. He is referencing a Prof. Hansen from NASA who is highly controversial and of whom colleagues say that he is exaggerating and lobbying.
Same thing goes for the IPCC and it's falsification of climate data which as it came out struck the Copenhagen clime conference. Also noteworthy is that Mr. Al Gore and Mr. Pachauri (head of the IPCC) are both heavily invested in companies which will profit massively from the CO2 'trading scheme' that they propagate. I do not say that Mr. Craven is a mouthpiece of those individuals but I think he clearly has been fed with wrong data and actively fears the masses with the doom and gloom scenarios we know all to well from Hollywood movies. To be a bit scientific here, think of this: If CO2 was responsible for 'global warming' how can it be than that in 1000 A.D. it was on average one degree Celsius warmer on the planet. What about other planets like Mars that are heating up and 'ice caps melting' there. Could it not be the sun and it's cycles which are mainly responsible for 'our climate' considering also that the sun has 99 per cent of all the mass in the solar system. Just think for yourself and then consider if you want to buy the book or not. ... Read more

Product Description
The volume discusses global commons against the complex global political relations. It explores the nature of the global economic crisis, the search for finding a solution to the climate change problem, and efforts to conserve biodiversity in their centres of origin. The narratives from within India-the desert terrains of Rajasthan, the hills of Darjeeling, and the Western Ghats-reach across the borders to the world of industrial complexes in the North that produce and spew chemicals for disposal and re-use in the South, the soft belly of the globe. ... Read more

Product Description
Global climate change raises important questions of international and intergenerational justice. In this important new book, the author places research on the origins and impacts of climate change within the broader context of distributive justice and sustainable development. He argues that a range of theories of distribution - notably those grounded in ideals of equality, priority and sufficiency - converge on the adoption of the ambitious global climate policy framework known as 'Contraction and Convergence'. "Climate Change, Justice and Future Generations" will be of great interest to academics and students specialising in environmental ethics, politics and environmental sustainability. It will also be of general interest to those concerned with climate change and the environment. ... Read more

Product Description
There is now clear scientific evidence that emissions from economic activity, particularly the burning of fossil fuels for energy, are causing changes to the Earth's climate. A sound understanding of the economics of climate change is needed in order to underpin an effective global response to this challenge. The Stern Review is an independent, rigourous and comprehensive analysis of the economic aspects of this crucial issue. It has been conducted by Sir Nicholas Stern, Head of the UK Government Economic Service, and a former Chief Economist of the World Bank. The Economics of Climate Change will be invaluable for all students of the economics and policy implications of climate change, and economists, scientists and policy makers involved in all aspects of climate change. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A very important and useful report on climate change
This is a very important document on climate change and has won the respect of experts around the world.It was commissioned by the British government in 2005.It took two years to complete and was headed by Nicholas Stern, the former Chief Economist of the World Bank.You may or may not agree with all its findings but it remains one of the most professional studies of whole climate change situation, integrating global economic realities withscience.Stern has written a less expensive book of his views that came out in 2009 The Global Deal: Climate Change and the Creation of a New Era of Progress and Prosperity.I would also recommend Lester Brown's Plan B 3.0: Mobilizing to Save Civilization (Substantially Revised).

Unconvincing
Dr Nicholas Stern was formerly the World Bank's chief economist, so he has huge experience of faulty forecasts. His 2006 review has become the most influential global warming report, embraced by the Blair and Brown governments. He appeared to bring hard-sounding economic calculations into the world of scientific predictions and guesses.
Yet his report is now wholly discredited. Dr. Richard Tol, Principal Researcher at the Institute for Environmental Studies at Vrije Universiteit, and Adjunct Professor at the Center for Integrated Study of the Human Dimensions of Global Change, at Carnegie Mellon University, called it `preposterous'.
Crucially, Stern estimated the cost of additional carbon emissions as $29 a ton, as against Tol's conclusion that the costs were `likely to be substantially smaller' than $14 a ton. Tol said, "In sum, the Stern Review is very selective in the studies it quotes on the impacts of climate change. The selection bias is not random, but emphasises the most pessimistic studies ... Results are occasionally misinterpreted. The report claims that a cost-benefit analysis was done, but none was carried out. The Stern Review can therefore be dismissed as alarmist and incompetent."
... Read more