The story of Earth's climate in 25 discoveries : how scientists discovered the connections between climate and life
Prothero, Donald R.2024
Books, Manuscripts
New tools have emerged to allow us to precisely describe the atmospheric conditions, the earth's temperature and climate, and how plants and animals interacted with these over four billion years of earth history. Not only have geoscientists conducted an enormous amount of new research on atmospheric evolution and climate change, but the importance of the intimate connection between climate and life has become much better understood and appreciated. The idea for this book came from Don's teaching a course called "Blue Planet" for a college class of both geology majors and non-majors. There are several textbooks out there for this market, but they are much too detailed and technical for the average undergraduate, especially the undergraduate who is not a geology major. By teaching this course for a general audience of undergraduate non-science majors, Don has learned how to tell the incredible story of earth's climatic evolution, and the amazing interactions between climate and life that make the earth unique among planets, without going too far into the technical details of geochemistry and biochemistry and atmospheric science. This book focuses on the interaction between climate and life. It is written for the general lay reader with minimal training in geochemistry or atmospheric science. As with previous books in this informal ""the story of x in 25 discoveries"" series, this one also introduces the personal stories of the important scientists who made these discoveries, and the remarkable circumstances under which they were made. Each chapter begins with an anecdote of an important scientist, or an individual historical discovery, that led to the ideas discussed in the chapter. The book concludes with the Ice Ages, the climate of the Holocene, and finally the last 50 years of anthropogenic climate change-why we know it's real and human-caused, and what we can do about it.
Main title:
Author:
Imprint:
New York : Columbia University Press, [2024]©2024.
Collation:
x, 466 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm.
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Contents:
Rare earthIn the beginningMoonstruck?Faint young sunThe oceans formGasp : oxygen in the atmospherePlanet of the scumSnowball earthPlankton powerGreenhouse of the trilobitesMass extinctions : the ordovician eventsThe Devonian crisesThe first forestsThe Pangean icehouseThe "great dying"From icehouse to greenhouse : the triassic and jurassicGreenhouse of the dinosaursDeath of the dinosaurs : the KGp extinctionsReturn of the greenhouse : the paleocene-eocene thermal maximumFrom greenhouse to icehouse : the eocene-oligocene transitionSavannas of NebraskaIce planet : the pleistocene ice agesThe death of the megamammalsThe holocene : climate and human civilizationThe future greenhouse planet.
ISBN:
9780231203586 (hardback)
Dewey class:
551.609
Language:
English
BRN:
461727
More Information:
| Location | Collection | Call number | Status/Desc |
|---|---|---|---|
| Penrith | Nonfiction | 551.609 STO | Onloan - Due: 27 Nov 2024 |