History of Climate Change (eBook)

Antonello Provenzale is Director of the Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources at the National Research Council of Italy.

Introduction

1. From the Ocean of Magma to the Great Oxygenation

2. A World of Fire and Ice

3. Light Reflected, Light Re-radiated

4. The Explosion that Changed the World

5. Between Catastrophes and Opportunities

6. The Living Planet

7. Winds Up High and Currents in the Deep

8. The Big Heat

9. Rain, Snow and Clouds: The Planetary Water Cycle

10. The Planet Cools

11. The Breath of the Ice

12. Agitated Ice

13. Conquering the Planet

14. The Age of Humanity

15. Global Warming

16. Arctic Sentinels

17. The Mountain Heat

18. Digital Twins

19. Knowing in Order to Anticipate, Anticipating in Order to Act

Conclusion: The Journey Continues

Bibliography

Notes

Index

'This is a masterly review of the climate crisis from a richly detailed and widely varied point of view. Provenzale, in a clear and thorough fashion, brings the reader through the physical, chemical, biological, social and political aspects of the problem confronting the human race. The author goes deeply into an explanatory tour de force while outlining the challenges that our species faces that must be met if we are to survive, let alone flourish. It is a book that should be read by everyone concerned about our future and the future of our descendants.'
Joseph Pedlosky, Scientist Emeritus, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

'In this lively exposition of Earth's history, Antonello Provenzale covers the facts of climate change over the age of the Earth, along with explanations of these facts that are both solid and easily understandable. A particularly important feature of the book is that it clearly distinguishes between internal factors that drive the climate's natural variability and external ones, like the recent anthropogenic change in atmospheric composition, which modify this natural variability and could rapidly push the climate to extremes that lie well outside humanity's comfort zone. The latter dangers are given sober and convincing consideration.'
Michael Ghil, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, and University of California, Los Angeles

'This comprehensive history of the climate and climate change explains how the planetary climate system works and how the climate has evolved over millions of years. Starting from the catastrophic events that marked the early history of the Earth, including seas of magma, global glaciations and mass extinctions, he demonstrates how the climate has fluctuated between hot and cold periods, shows that today's changes are different from any that humans have ever experienced.'
Climate and Capitalism Ecosocialist Bookshelf