Climate change is a major topic of concern today, scientifically,
socially, and politically. It will undoubtedly continue to be so
for the foreseeable future, as predicted changes in global
temperatures, rainfall, and sea level take place, and as human
society adapts to these changes. In this remarkable new work, Jan
Zalasiewicz and Mark Williams demonstrate how the Earth's climate
has continuously altered over its 4.5 billion-year history. The
story can be read from clues preserved in the Earth's strata - the
evidence is abundant, though always incomplete, and also often
baffling, puzzling, infuriating, tantalizing, seemingly
contradictory. Geologists, though, are becoming ever more ingenious
at interrogating this evidence, and the story of the Earth's
climate is now being reconstructed in ever-greater detail - maybe
even providing us with clues to the future of contemporary climate
change. The history is dramatic and often abrupt. Changes in global
and regional climate range from bitterly cold to sweltering hot,
from arid to humid, and they have impacted hugely upon the planet's
evolving animal and plant communities, and upon its physical
landscapes of the Earth. And yet, through all of this, the Earth
has remained consistently habitable for life for over three billion
years - in stark contrast to its planetary neighbours. Not too hot,
not too cold; not too dry, not too wet, it is aptly known as 'the
Goldilocks planet'.
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My review
Wed, 27 Jun 2018 | Review
by: Tanya K.
The Goldilocks Planet: The Four Billion Year Story of Earth's Climate takes a look at the Earth's climate from the planet's formation to the current age and then takes a look at what our future climate might look like. In this book, the authors reconstruct and describe how the Earth's climate has continuously altered over its 4.5 billion-year history. The story can be read from clues preserved in the Earth's strata, in fossils, in ancient air samples, in mineral samples, extinction events etc. The book describes how changes in the global and regional climate range from bitterly cold to sweltering hot, from arid to humid, and they have impacted enormously upon the planet's evolving animal and plant communities, and upon its physical landscapes of the Earth. However, in spite of this, the Earth has remained consistently habitable for life for over three billion years - in stark contrast to its planetary neighbours. Not too hot, not too cold; not too dry, not too wet, it is aptly known as 'the Goldilocks planet'.
This book is wonderfully written! And so interesting! Minimal personal anecdotes, not too much biographical detail (just enough to be interesting) and lots of lovely, juicy science - all explained to be easily understandable but not simplified to be completely useless. The authors have also included numerous helpful diagrams and graphs. I wouldn't call this a popular science book, but it isn't a text book either. I wish more science books were written like this book.
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