For any science or social science course in need of a basic understanding of IPCC reports. Periodic reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) evaluate the risk of climate change brought on by humans. But the sheer volume of scientific data remains inscrutable to the general public, particularly to those who may still question the validity of climate change. In just over 200 pages, this practical text presents and expands upon the essential findings in a visually stunning and undeniably powerful way to the lay reader. Scientific findings that provide validity to the implications of climate change are presented in clear-cut graphic elements, striking images, and understandable analogies.

Table of Contents

Introduction to the Goals of the Book and the IPCC Report Part 1: Climate Change Basics The Relative Impacts of Humans and Nature on Climate Taking Action in the Face of Uncertainty: The Role of the Scientist in Global Change Policy Making Why is it Called The Greenhouse Effect? Feedback Loops Compound the Greenhouse Effect What Are the Important Greenhouse Gases and Where Do They Come From? Isn't Carbon Dioxide Causing the Hole in the Ozone Layer? Greenhouse Gases on the Rise It's Getting Hotter Down Here! Surface Temperature Observations: Is Our Atmosphere Really Warming? Back to the Future: Deep Time Holds Clues to Greenhouse Climates But Weren't Scientists Warning Us of an Imminent Ice Age Only Decades Ago? How Does Modern Warming Differ from Past Warming Trends? Signs of Things to Come: A Decade of Western North American Drought Signs of Things to Come: The European Heat Wave of Summer 2003 A Tempest in a Greenhouse: Have Hurricanes Become More Frequent and Intense? The Vanishing Snows of Kilimanjaro: An Icon of Climate Change? The Day after Tomorrow: Will the Ocean's Conveyor Belt Shut Down? The Last Interglacial Period as Analogue For the Future How to Build a Climate Model James Hansen Biographical Sketch Climate Models Help Us to Assess Changing Climate Trends Regional vs. Global Trends 'Fingerprints' Can Distinguish Human and Natural Impacts on Climate Part 2: Projections of Future Climate Change How Sensitive is the Climate? Modern Observations How Sensitive is the Climate? Evidence from Past Centuries How Sensitive is the Climate? Evidence From Deep Time Fossil Fuel Emission Scenarios: Predicting the Possibilities The Next Century: How Will The Climate Change? Part 1 The Next Century: How Will the Climate Change? Part 2 The Geographical Pattern of Future Warming Carbon Cycle Feedbacks: Nature's Response to Increasing Atmospheric CO2 Coral Reefs: Will Ocean Acidification be their Demise? Melting Ice and Rising Sea Level Future Changes in Extreme Weather Stabilizing Atmospheric CO2: Is a Greenhouse World a Better World? Part 3: The Impacts of Climate Change The Rising Impact of Global Warming Is it Time to Sell that Beach House? Ecosystems: Worth Saving? The Highway to Extinction? James Lovelock Biographical Sketch ( Water: Too Much and Too Little Is Warming from Carbon Dioxide Leading to More Air Pollution? War... Famine... Pestilence and Death Earth, Wind, and Fire: Impacts on North America Too Wet and Too Hot: Impacts on Europe The Polar Meltdown Part 4: Vulnerability and Adaptation to Climate Change Is Global Warming the Last Straw for Vulnerable Ecosystems? How Human Activity has Changed the Rules of the Game To Adapt or To Mitigate? What is the Best Course for the Coming Century It's the Economy, Stupid: The Cost of Action vs. Inaction A Finger in the Dike: Adapting to Sea Level Rise Water Management A Hard Row to Hoe: Adapting Farming and Agricultural PracticesPart 5: Solving Global Warming Solving Global Warming Where Are All Those Emissions Coming From? Global Energy Supply: Keeping the Power Turned On On the Road Again Building Green Odorless, Colorless, and Non-toxic, but Still a Threat: Industrial CO2 Pollution Greener Acres Forests: Source or Sink for Atmospheric CO2? One Person's Garbage is Another's Carbon Mitigation Strategy Geoengineering: Having Our Cake and Eating it Too! But What Can I Do About It? What's Your Carbon Footprint? Global Problems Require International Cooperation Can We Achieve Sustainable Development? The Ethics of Climate Change The Known Unknowns and the Unknown Unknowns The Urgency of Climate Change: Why We Must Act Now