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A Short Introduction to Climate Change
A Short Introduction to Climate Change provides a clear, balanced and well documented account of one of the most important issues of our time. It covers developments in climate science over the past 250 years and shows that recent climate change is more than the result of natural variability. It explains the difference between weather and climate by examining changes in temperature, rainfall, Arctic ice and ocean currents. It also considers the consequences of our use of fossil fuels and discusses some of the ways to reduce further global warming. Tony Eggleton avoids the use of scientific jargon to provide a reader-friendly explanation of the science of climate change. Concise but comprehensive and richly illustrated with a wealth of full-colour figures and photographs, A Short Introduction to Climate Change is essential reading for anyone who has an interest in climate science and in the future of our planet.
- GenresScienceClimate Change
248 pages, Paperback
First published October 12, 2012
22 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 30, 2020
The book is a good basic overview of climate change. The sad fact is that so much has got worse with climate change in the past 10 years that this book is now too outdated.
August 11, 2016
This book came to my attention in late January 2014 when it received a glowing review on the Skeptical Science website. I've been reading about climate change for just the past few years, so I figured I could get some benefit from the book. And since I often discuss climate change online with others who know little about it, I thought it might be good to have a book in mind that I could recommend to newcomers who want to learn more.
Eggleton delivers. I can't say I was quite as impressed as many of the nearly-ecstatic reviewers I'd read, perhaps because my expectations had soared so high, but the book has a number of strengths. Eggleton's a retired geologist, not a climatologist, and this works in his favor: He approaches the topic as a scientifically-literate person who wants to find out for himself whether there's anything to the warnings the vast majority of climate scientists have been issuing. Since he's not a climatologist, he's able to explain the climatology-related subjects he's studied without jargon and with a balance he might not otherwise have possessed.
For me, one of the strongest aspects of the book is the persepective Eggleton brings to the table from his training as in the field of geology, where timescales are measured in millions and even billions of years. He uses this perspective to discuss the warmer periods in Earth's distant past--periods that some use to argue that even if the Earth is warming, it's of little consequence. Eggleton writes:
If there's any fault in the book, at times I found its frequent focus on Australia a bit limiting. I'd have preferred it if he'd broadened the scope a bit in some of those passages. That's not much of a criticism, but it's about the best I can manage.
Perhaps the best testament I can give to Eggleton's success is this: I bought and read the book in its Kindle edition. After writing this review, I'll be ordering the paperback copy, even though it's expensive at $37.80 (unfortunately, a hardcover edition hasn't been issued). I'll be putting a durable plastic cover on the paperback and marking its pages with flags and highlighters. The book is chock full of useful information and deserves a place on the bookshelves of anyone who discusses climate change frequently.
Eggleton delivers. I can't say I was quite as impressed as many of the nearly-ecstatic reviewers I'd read, perhaps because my expectations had soared so high, but the book has a number of strengths. Eggleton's a retired geologist, not a climatologist, and this works in his favor: He approaches the topic as a scientifically-literate person who wants to find out for himself whether there's anything to the warnings the vast majority of climate scientists have been issuing. Since he's not a climatologist, he's able to explain the climatology-related subjects he's studied without jargon and with a balance he might not otherwise have possessed.
For me, one of the strongest aspects of the book is the persepective Eggleton brings to the table from his training as in the field of geology, where timescales are measured in millions and even billions of years. He uses this perspective to discuss the warmer periods in Earth's distant past--periods that some use to argue that even if the Earth is warming, it's of little consequence. Eggleton writes:
Back in the age of dinosaurs... from 100 to 200 million years ago temperatures were as much as 10 deg C [18 deg F] warmer than today. Now, that might well have suited a cold-blooded creature like a dinosaur, but heat waves reaching above 50 deg C [122 deg F] would not suit humans. For just one example, there was a severe heat wave in England in 2003. The average summer temperature in southern Englnad is 21 deg C [70 deg F]. For 10 days in early August that year, the maximum temperature was over 32 deg C [90 deg F], with a recored maximum of 38.5 deg C [101 deg F]. During that period 2,139 more poeople died than would normally die, the majority on days of extreme heat. A heat wave in the Cretaceous period would have been much hotter than that--probably around 50 deg C [122 deg F].Well said, Mr. Eggleton. Now, if we can only get more people out there to read those paragraphs.
To say, as some sceptics do, that the world can cope with 10 times as much CO2 as we now have because it did so in the Cretaceous period 100 million years ago ignores a host of issues. Humans were not around then, and the animals that were had evolved to live with that level of CO2. Then, as it slowly declined, so the organisms adjusted--or died.
If there's any fault in the book, at times I found its frequent focus on Australia a bit limiting. I'd have preferred it if he'd broadened the scope a bit in some of those passages. That's not much of a criticism, but it's about the best I can manage.
Perhaps the best testament I can give to Eggleton's success is this: I bought and read the book in its Kindle edition. After writing this review, I'll be ordering the paperback copy, even though it's expensive at $37.80 (unfortunately, a hardcover edition hasn't been issued). I'll be putting a durable plastic cover on the paperback and marking its pages with flags and highlighters. The book is chock full of useful information and deserves a place on the bookshelves of anyone who discusses climate change frequently.
October 27, 2016
A good introduction. This book gives a general overview with a good dose of scientific analysis. A good foundation to build on and very easy to read.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews