| Description |
1 online resource |
| Contents |
Title page; Copyright; Foreword; Discovering complexity: a springboard for action; Acknowledgements; About the companion website; Introduction; Aims; The situation in brief . . .; . . . and the questions that arise; The different parts of this book; PART I: THE CLIMATE ENGINE OF THE EARTH: ENERGY; 1. Why are there many different climates on Earth?; 2. Different climates . . . such diversity of life; 2.1 The different climates on Earth; 2.2 Climates, biomes and biodiversity; 2.3 Climate and society; 3. From a patchwork of climates to an average climate; 3.1 Temperature and thermal equilibrium |
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11.3 Three-dimensional models: ever-increasing refinements11.4 Climate models -- what for?; Part II Summary; Part II Notes; Part II Further Reading; PART III: THE DIFFERENT CAUSES OF CLIMATE CHANGE; 12. The choice of approach; 13. The Sun's emission; 13.1 The impact on the climate; 13.2 How emission varies; 13.3 What are the consequences?; 14. The position of the Earth with respect to the Sun; 14.1 An overview; 14.2 Irradiance, determined by orbital parameters; 14.3 Changes in obliquity: the impact on the seasons |
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3.2 The average temperature of the Earth's surface3.3 Precipitation; 3.4 Wind; 3.5 Three major items in energy consumption; 4. The global mean climate; 4.1 The Sun, source of energy; 4.2 The energy equilibrium at the Earth's surface; 5. Atmosphere and ocean: key factors in climate equilibrium; 5.1 Driving forces; 5.2 The atmosphere; 5.3 The oceans; 5.4 Heat transport from the Equator to the poles; Part I Summary; Part I Notes; Part I Further Reading; PART II: MORE ON THE ENERGY BALANCE OF THE PLANET; 6. Thermal radiation, solar and terrestrial radiation |
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6.1 Thermal radiation from a black body6.2 The laws of black-body radiation; 6.3 Solar and terrestrial radiation; 7. The impact of the atmosphere on radiation; 7.1 Scattering and reflection; 7.2 Absorption by a gas -- the cut-off approximation; 7.3 Absorption of solar and terrestrial radiation by atmospheric gases; 7.4 Direct transfer by the atmosphere; 7.5 Major atmospheric constituents involved in radiative transfer; 8. Radiative transfer through the atmosphere; 8.1 Three radiative mechanisms that heat or cool the Earth's surface; 8.2 The greenhouse effect |
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8.3 Radiative transfer: the roles of the different constituents8.4 The radiation balance of the Earth; 9. The energy balance; 9.1 The energy balance at the surface of the Earth in the single-layer model; 9.2 The Earth's energy balance at equilibrium; 9.3 The impact of human activity; 9.4 The present unbalanced global energy budget; 10. Climate forcing and feedback; 10.1 Climate forcing; 10.2 Feedbacks; 10.3 Climate sensitivity; 11. Climate modelling; 11.1 The Energy Balance and Radiative-Convective Models; 11.2 Three-dimensional Atmosphere Global Circulation Models |
| Summary |
This book is designed for first- and second-year university students (and their instructors) in earth science, environmental science, and physical geography degree programmes worldwide. The summaries at the end of each section constitute essential reading for policy makers and planners. It provides a simple but masterly account, with a minimum of equations, of how the Earth's climate system works, of the physical processes that have given rise to the long sequence of glacial and interglacial periods of the Quaternary, and that will continue to cause the climate to evolve. Its straightforward and elegant description, with an abundance of well chosen illustrations, focuses on different time scales, and includes the most recent research in climate science by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). It shows how it is human behaviour that will determine whether or not the present century is a turning point to a new climate, unprecedented on Earth in the last several million years |
| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references and index |
| Notes |
Print version record and CIP data provided by publisher |
| Subject |
Biodiversity.
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Climate change mitigation.
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Climatic changes.
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Global warming.
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Greenhouse effect, Atmospheric.
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| Form |
Electronic book
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| Author |
Maréchal, Chloé.
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| LC no. |
2014039734 |
| ISBN |
1118708490 (ePub) |
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1118708504 (Adobe PDF) |
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9781118708491 (ePub) |
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9781118708507 (Adobe PDF) |
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(paperback) |
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(cloth) |
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(cloth) |
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