Global Climate Change and Human Life

ISBN-13: 9780470665787 / Angielski / Miękka / 2015 / 416 str.

Aslam Khalil

Opis

The current warming of the Earth is leading to important socialquestions being raised: How warm will the Earth become and when?What effect will it have on human life? Should we try to slow downthese trends? If so, how do we do this while balancing the economicneeds of society? Global Climate Change and Human Life attempts to answer some of these questions, providing facts andtheories that will help the reader formulate rational opinions andgain a new way to think about the complexities of the subject andthe future of the global environment and climate. Divided into three parts, this book covers the compositionof the atmosphere, the workings of the earth s climateand how the changing global climate will affect the environment andhow that will affect human life. Featuring numerous questionsand exercises and worked examples throughout the text, this book isintended for undergraduate students taking courses in globalclimate change. Based on a course that the author has given to students from anumber of subject disciplines the book will appeal to all needing awell-written, unified introduction to the subject.

Spis treści

Preface ixAbout the Companion Website xi1 Introduction 11.1 What Is Global Change Science? 11.2 Current Global Change 21.3 Raising Fundamental Questions 2Endnotes 32 The Framework 52.1 The System 52.2 Scales of Action 52.3 What Determines Climate? 82.4 The Benchmark Average Climate 122.5 Irreducible Uncertainties 152.6 The Plan 16Review of the Main Points 183 Atmospheric Composition 193.1 Trace Gases and Their Roles in Climate and the Environment 193.2 Quantifying the Atmospheric Composition 22Review of the Main Points 27Endnotes 294 Mass Balance Theory and Small Models 334.1 The Components 334.2 Global 354.3 Hemispherical and Horizontal 404.4 Vertical 43Review of the Main Points 46Endnotes 485 Transport Processes 515.1 Vertical Transport and Convection 515.2 Horizontal Motion and the General Circulation 565.3 Turbulent Transport 615.4 Quantifying Transport Processes 66Review of the Main Points 69Endnotes 706 Mechanisms of Sources and Sinks 736.1 Reservoirs and Source-Sink Relationships 746.2 Atmospheric Chemistry 776.3 Global Environmental Applications 826.4 Cross-Media Transport: Oceans, Soils, and Biota 90Review of the Main Points 100Endnotes 1027 Balance of Climate Gases and Aerosols 1077.1 Anthropogenic vs Natural Components 1077.2 Greenhouse Gases 1107.3 Aerosols 123Review of the Main Points 126Endnotes 1278 The Science of Climate 1318.1 Solar Radiation 1318.2 Albedo 1358.3 Radiative Transfer 1378.4 Heat Storage and Balance 1508.5 Precipitation 152Review of the Main Points 154Endnotes 1569 Instructive Climate Models 1599.1 Base Temperature Model - Lessons, Flaws, and Resolution 1599.2 Radiative Forcing and Climate Sensitivity 1669.3 Practical Relationships between Greenhouse Gases and Surface Warming 1689.4 Role of the Oceans 1719.5 Role of Clouds 1749.6 Horizontal Transport of Heat 175Review of the Main Points 178Endnotes 18010 Climate Feedbacks 18310.1 How They Work 18310.2 Feedbacks Classified and Delineated 18810.3 Physical Feedbacks 18910.4 Role of the Living World 192Review of the Main Points 197Endnotes 19911 Match of Climate Change Observed and Modeled 20111.1 What Is Global Warming? 20111.2 Causes of Observed Warming 20411.3 Differential Effects of Climate Change 207Review of the Main Points 210Endnotes 21012 Population, Affluence, and Global Change 21312.1 Basic Relationships 21312.2 Societal Factors in Climate Change 21512.3 Population Growth and Resources 21812.4 Vulnerability Theory 222Review of the Main Points 225Endnotes 22613 Impacts of Climate Change on Human Life 22913.1 Impacts Classified 22913.2 Health 23013.3 Habitability 234Review of the Main Points 239Endnotes 24014 Climate Management 24314.1 Tragedy of the Commons 24314.2 Compounding Forces of Resistance 24814.3 Mechanisms for Managing the Climate 24914.4 Geo-engineering 25114.5 Trading Gases: The Global Warming Potential 253Review of the Main Points 255Endnotes 25615 Possible Futures 25715.1 Projections 25715.2 The Metaphysics of Climate Change 259Endnote 261List of Symbols Used 263Index 267

O autorze

About the AuthorM. A. K. Khalil is Professor of Physics at Portland State University, USA. He holds BA degrees in Mathematics and Psychology and a Bachelor of Physics degree from the University of Minnesota; MS in Physics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute; PhD in Theoretical Physics from the Center For Particle Theory, University of Texas, and a PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering from OGC, now Oregon Health and Sciences University. He has published more than 200 papers in the environmental sciences and theoretical physics, and was named one of the world's most highly cited authors by ISI.