Life on our planet depends upon having a climate that changes
within narrow limits - not too hot for the oceans to boil away nor
too cold for the planet to freeze over. Over the past billion years
Earth's average temperature has stayed close to 14-15 DegreesC,
oscillating between warm greenhouse states and cold icehouse
states. We live with variation, but a variation with limits.
Paleoclimatology is the science of understanding and explaining
those variations, those limits, and the forces that control them.
Without that understanding we will not be able to foresee future
change accurately as our population grows. Our impact on the planet
is now equal to a geological force, such that many geologists now
see us as living in a new geological era - the Anthropocene.
Paleoclimatology describes Earth's passage through the greenhouse
and icehouse worlds of the past 800 million years, including the
glaciations of Snowball Earth in a world that was then free of land
plants. It describes the operation of the Earth's thermostat, which
keeps the planet fit for life, and its control by interactions
between greenhouse gases, land plants, chemical weathering,
continental motions, volcanic activity, orbital change and solar
variability. It explains how we arrived at our current
understanding of the climate system, by reviewing the contributions
of scientists since the mid-1700s, showing how their ideas were
modified as science progressed. And it includes reflections based
on the author's involvement in palaeoclimatic research. The book
will transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of
thought about future climate change. It will be an invaluable
course reference for undergraduate and postgraduate students in
geology, climatology, oceanography and the history of science. "A
real tour-de-force! An outstanding summary not only of the science
and what needs to be done, but also the challenges that are a
consequence of psychological and cultural baggage that threatens
not only the survival of our own species but the many others we are
eliminating as well." Peter Barrett Emeritus Professor of Geology,
Antarctic Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington, New
Zealand "What a remarkable and wonderful synthesis... it will be a
wonderful source of [paleoclimate] information and insights."
Christopher R. Scotese Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary
Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA
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