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The book presents a series of comprehensive reviews on therelationship between changes in atmospheric circulations andchanges in sea surfacetemperatures (SST), soil moisture,sea ice and snow. The influence of eachof these boundaryconditions is reviewed separately and based on theanalysisof observations and sensitivity experiments with globalclimatemodels. Tropical SST anomalies have a profoundeffect on tropical circulation and rainfall; in some casesthey also influence the extra-tropical atmosphericcirculation.The most important conclusion ofthe book is that formonthly and seasonal predictions it is extremely importantthat the observed initial state of the atmosphere and theboundary conditions of SST - soil wetness, sea ice, snowdepth andsnow cover - be mutually consistent with eachother. ... Read more

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This volume examines important case studies such as NGO campaigns for sustainable water management in Zimbabwe, Botswana and Nigeria and opposition to the fencing of rangelands in Botswana. ... Read more

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The impact of globalization on the environment is a much debated issue. Using case-studies from Latin America, this book sets out these debates and presents new empirical evidence on the key questions. ... Read more

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This book provides the reader a broad grounding in the science of Earth Observation (EO) of our changing planet. It contains a comprehensive sequenced discussion covering the significant themes of global change, their cause, and how they can be monitored through time. In doing so, it represents a good source of basic information, and a general overview of the status of remote sensing technology. The text will serve as an invaluable reference for managers and researchers, regardless of their specialty, while also appealing to students of all ages. ... Read more

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The analysis of polar ice cores has proven to be very instructive about past environmental conditions on the time scale of several climatic cycles, and recent drilling operations have provided information of great value for global change issues. The book presents the most recent data extracted from Greenland ice cores and surface experiments and compares them with former Antarctic results. It contains background articles, original contributions and group reports of interest to scientists, climatologists, atmospheric chemists, and glaciologists involved in global change research. ... Read more

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Northern and Southern views on establishing international regimes for coping with environmental problems. ... Read more

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The main focus of the book is the last deglaciation - a period of intense and rapid climatic changes which affected the global climate approximately 20,000 to 50,000 years ago. Special emphasis is placed on the timing of the last deglaciation in order to provide a common absolute chronological framework for the numerous researchers in the field. Accordingly, results obtained from the various scientific disciplines, relevant for the chronological problem, are reviewed and discussed: from glaciology, varved clay sedimentology, paleomagnetism, dendrochronology and radiochronology (14C and U/Th). ... Read more

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Since the beginning of man's existence on Earth, the adequacy of available water has been as important as any other factor for man's survival and prosperity. The volume comprises comprehensive reviews on: Paleoenvironments of arid land, climate-water-man interactions, water resources in the Minoan era, ancient Greek examples of avoiding water shortages, climatic changes in the eastern Mediterranean region since 5000 B.C., climatic evolution in ancient civilizations based on fossil studies, impact of climatic changes on groundwater and Mediterranean wetlands. The book is written for civil and agricultural engineers, hydrologists, geologists, environmental scientists and researchers. It is also useful as a reference to consulting engineers, agriculturists, environmentalists and students. ... Read more

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Current climate models diverge in their assessment of global warming that will result from the anthropogenic increase in trace gases. This is because they differ in their representation of the hydrological cycle (water vapour, clouds, snow and sea ice, soil moisture) and because a direct validation in terms of sensitivity is not possible. Indirect methods and approaches are therefore necessary to verify the models efficiently. The book provides an overview on different validation approaches. The use of satellite data is particularly stressed. ... Read more

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This is one of the few books dealing with regime theory to be written from a legal point of view. Jurgielewicz's book is part of an effort to promote interdisciplinary research on the nature of the international legal order. Her work explores the concept of international regimes within the international legal order, utilizing the policy-oriented approach to international law. The study uses examples of global environmental change as models. By examining the general international law applicable to climate change and ozone layer depletion, the author attempts to explain the original need for regime formation in these areas. Next, Jurgielewicz looks at the role of regimes within international law, focusing on their formation, maintenance, source of legal obligation, and compliance mechanisms. The book concludes that regimes are present within the international legal order and play a vital role in maintaining that order. This book will appeal to students in law schools, graduate schools, or advanced undergraduate seminars covering international relations, international legal theory, international law, and international organizations. ... Read more

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General circulation models (GCMs) predict certain changes in the amounts and distribution of precipitation, but the conversion of these predictions of impacts on water resources presents novel problems in hydrologic modeling, particularly with regard to the scale of the processes involved. Therefore improved, distributed GCMs are required. New remote sensing technologies provide the necessary spatially distributed data. However, there are many attendant problems with the translation of remotely sensed signals into hydrologically relevant information. This book elucidates how to improve the representation of land surface hydrologic processes in GCMs and in regional and global scale climate studies. It is divided into five sections: Models and Data; Precipitation; Soil Moisture; Evapotranspiration; Runoff. ... Read more

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This book presents a state-of-the-art analysis of the microbiology of the trace gases that affect climate and environmental quality. The microbiological sources and sinks of methane, nitrogen oxides, sulfur gases, halocarbons and other trace gases are reviewed and current work described. Techniques for the detection and analysis of gases and the bacteria that produce and metabolize them are presented. The book is a compilation of chapters prepared by leading authorities in their fields, covering the whole range of trace gas microbiology, biochemistry, molecular biology and genetics. The impact and role of human activities on gas sources and sinks are also identified. ... Read more

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Global Warming and Energy Demand presents a range of current views on the use of economic measures to control greenhouse gas emissions, and discusses the responsiveness of the energy market to changes in prices, taxes and incomes. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Title is too restrictive!
I came to this book by happenstance:An extensive analysis I was doing on Price/Demand Elasticity for Electricity was going nowhere.Not being a trained statistician, econometrician or economist myself, I lacked the technical tools to understand where the problem lied.Further, I couldn't find the research supporting my assumptions as to what was going wrong.For example, the pitfalls of time-series data analysis and how cross-sectional or even panel data helped with some of these shortcomings (in no particular order: high sensitivity of the estimates with respect to variations of the sample period; very limited forecasting power (and over-fitting); multicollinearity; asymmetric elasticity...).

This little book is written in layman's terms, and supports assumptions with references to other studies.It turns out that researchers had had the same problems a couple of decades ago, when trying to measure the effect of oil shocks on energy consumption.Effects are long ranging because you don't simply change your car when gas goes up, just like you don't move home or buy a new A/C unit if electricity prices spike.

"Global Warming and Energy Demand" discusses statistical methodologies in enough details to be useful, yet keeps the math to a minimum and systematically points to additional studies for the interested reader.This allowed me to support my assumptions/recommendations with theories, quotes and references.

For the more ambitious reader, there are additional recommendations of other books.In particular, I suggest the "Analysis of Panel data" by Cheng Hsiao (2nd edition) which does a great job at highlighting the different techniques used with Panel data modeling and tracking an extensive body of research on the subject.If you want to dig deeper in cross-sectional analysis and their comparative advantages and drawbacks, look at Frees' "Longitudinal and Panel Data".Both these books are a little heavier on the math, but the second in particular has a chapter on Matrix Algebra for the less quant-savvy reader.Also, both are very affordable, especially compared to the typical academic work (and I was able to purchase both off Amazon for less than Barker's Global Warming and Energy Demand).If you want an easier read and can just afford one book though, I'd go with Hsiao's.


Ok, back to Barker's book.I do recommend it, and not only for the professional looking to understand the effect of global warming on energy demand.This book has a lot more to offer, don't be stopped by a restrictive title.Also, and while an updated edition would be nice for the energy-demand specific stuff, don't let the date (1994) turn you off:All the work on elasticity is very much a-temporal.Until we fully understand the effect of recent Natural Gas and Oil prices hike (might be in 10 years for all I know), the best historical example we can turn to is the oil shocks in the 70s.The book does an amazing job at that.
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Adopts global environmental change & its repercussions for society, as the coherent integrating theme to reinvigorate the physical geography of the 21st century.Paper. ... Read more

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The challenge of joining physical geographic studies with global environmental change
Chapters: The nature of physical geography, the nature of global env change, understanding past env changes, the challenge for geography, tropical forest dynamics, desertification and the physical geography of the semi-arid env, polar environments and climate change, physical geography in an uncertain env future.

Slaymaker broke ground with this book by attempting to reinvigorate specifically physical geography by claiming the field needs to avoid the temptations of specialization and focus on what it knows best: the study of environmental change.

All of the books in the Understanding Environmental Change series are excellent, but see also Mountain Geomorphology, The Cryosphere, and especially, Geomorphology and Global Environmental Change, all by Slaymaker. ... Read more

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Focusing upon energy conservation and the built environment, this book engages with areas of debate and policy currently dominated by technologists and natural scientists. Based upon empirical research, the book develops a sociological analysis of the science and technology of sustainability and energy efficiency. ... Read more

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Fascinating Subject
This is a most fascinating and well-written account of what would seem to be a most dry and uninteresting subject.Simon Guy brings to life the subject of insulation, explaining why people have resistance to change even when the change might be beneficial in the long run.The subject of this book applies well to the challenge of climate change and why it is so difficult to change attitudes and behavior to adopt the necessary changes in lifestyle to reduce our carbon footprint.This story is compelling, hard to put the book down. ... Read more

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The purpose of this book is to demonstrate that the land-based geomorphological evidence of environmental change from late Pleistocene, Holocene, historical and contemporary time periods remain central to a full understanding of global environmental change both at the global and regional scale. Geomorphology, Human Activity and Global Environmental Change begins with a look at how global Pleistocene climate change affected placation and tectonic instability. The middle section then looks at environments unaffected by human activity in an attempt to explore scenarios that may result from climate change alone in the future. The final two sections look at human activity and global environmental change by monitoring floodplain stratigraphy, cartographic evidence, sediment transport, watershed studies and coastal surveys, and offer practical advice on land management issues. Case studies from Europe, North America and Asia are used.

This book is intended for environmental consultants, civil engineers, postgraduates and researchers in geomorphology, geology, civil engineering, environmental science and geography and as supplementary reading for upper level undergraduates of geomorphology in departments of geography, geology and environmental science. ... Read more

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The subject of this volume is the observation and modelling of the gravity wave field in the atmosphere. The focus is on the question of how to include the effects of small-scale gravity waves in sophisticated global climate models. The book comprises 26 chapters, including contributions from distinguished experts in observation and theory, along with results from studies of gravity wave parameterization within comprehensive climate models. ... Read more

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Selected papers from the International Conference "Global Environmental Change: Challenges for Science and Society in South-Eastern Europe" held 19-21 May 2008 in Sofia, Bulgaria. Covers changes in climate, land use, carbon and water cycles, air quality, etc. ... Read more