In recent years climate change has become recognised as the foremost environmental problem of the twenty-first century. Not only will climate change potentially affect the multibillion dollar energy strategies of countries worldwide, but it also could seriously affect many species, including our own. A fascinating introduction to the subject, this textbook provides a broad review of past, present and likely future climate change from the viewpoints of biology, ecology and human ecology. It will be of interest to a wide range of people, from students in the life sciences who need a brief overview of the basics of climate science, to atmospheric science, geography, and environmental science students who need to understand the biological and human ecological implications of climate change. It will also be a valuable reference for those involved in environmental monitoring, conservation, policy-making and policy lobbying.
• The first book to cover not only the human impacts on climate, but how climate change will affect humans and the species that we rely on • Written in an accessible style, with specialist terms used only when necessary and thoroughly explained • The author has years of experience conveying the views of biological science learned societies to policy-makers
Contents
Introduction; Acknowledgements; 1. An introduction to climate change; 2. Principal indicators of past climates; 3. Past climate change; 4. The Oligocene to the Quaternary: climate and biology; 5. Present climate and biological change; 6. Current warming and likely future impacts; 7. Human ecology of climate change; 8. Sustainability and policy; Appendix 1. Glossary and acronyms; Appendix 2. Bio-geological timescale; Appendix 3. Calculations of energy demand/supply, and orders of magnitude; Index.
Reviews
'This book provides a useful review of past, present and likely future climate change from the viewpoints of biology, ecology and human ecology. It is a useful introduction to the subject, giving a brief overview of the basics of climate science, … The book is also a useful reference for those involved in environmental monitoring, conservation, policy-making and lobbying.' Petroleum Review
'Cowie (formerly, Inst. of Biology, UK) offers an excellent overview of the foremost environmental problem of the 21st century.' Choice
' … refreshing to step back and look at the bigger picture of global change that this book addresses. It should be a useful starting point for environmentalists, policy makers, and teachers. The book does an excellent job of pulling together the complex web of evidence for climate change by carefully setting the current conditions in the context of climate change over the recent and distant past. It will benefit anyone trying to understand the tremendous human consequences of these changes. Summing Up: Highly recommended. All levels.' D. F. Karnosky, Michigan Technological University
'... a perceptive approach to the subject. ... Cowie uses his pen without waving his arms, and has put together a book that is measured, informative, balanced, scientifically sound, and as up-to-date as a book can possibly be in these days of rapid information accretion.' Bulletin of the British Ecological Society
' … anyone who wants to understand climate change and its impacts, but who doesn't have time to earn a PhD on the topic, should by this book.' Bioscience
'Cowie excels in clearly describing complex interactions and explaining the need to consider the influences of multiple interacting factors, the relative importance of which can vary across time. … Cowie makes it easy both to appreciate the degree of societal impact associated with historical and current climate variations and to consider what could happen in the future if more severe climatic changes occur. … Overall, Climate Change: Biological and Human Aspects is a fine treatment of global climate change and interactions with biological systems that can be used to inform a variety of readers. It has value as an educational introduction to climate change for nonscientists as well as a refresher for scientists. Almost everyone is likely to gain a fresh perspective or learn something new.' EOS, Transactions, American Geophysical Union
'The descriptions of the biological interactions with climate are enlightening. The scientist reader will come away with a better idea of how his/her work applies to policy and will gain a better perspective on the big picture.' American Meteorological Society
'Cowie's book … demands to be read. … reader-friendly, quantitative, authoritative but above all, stimulating … intelligently arranged …Cowie is to be congratulated for presenting a highly complex, yet fundamentally vital distil of a problem of literally global proportions that will play out its final scene long into the future.' The Biologist
'…delightful…balanced and reliable - a very good read' The Biologist
Printer friendly version
Email a colleague