John Houghton’s market-leading textbook is now in full color and includes the latest IPCC findings, making it the definitive guide to climate change. Written for students across a wide range of disciplines, its simple, logical flow of ideas gives an invaluable grounding in the science and impacts of climate change and highlights the need for action on global warming. Is there evidence for climate changing due to human activities? How do we account for recent extremes of weather and climate? Can global electricity provision and transport ever be carbon free? Written by a leading figure at the forefront of action to confront humanity’s most serious environmental problem, this undergraduate textbook comprehensively explores these and other issues, allowing students to think through the problem, assess the data and draw conclusions on the action that should be taken, by governments, by industry and by each and every one of us.
Contents
Introduction to the first edition; Introduction to the second edition; Introduction to the third edition; Introduction to the fourth edition; 1. Global warming and climate change; 2. The Greenhouse effect; 3. The Greenhouse gases; 4. Climates of the past; 5. Modelling the climate; 6. Climate change for the twenty-first century and beyond; 7. The impacts of climate change; 8. Why should we be concerned?; 9. Weighing the uncertainty; 10. Strategy for action to slow and stabilize climate change; 11. Energy and transport for the future; 12. The Global Village; Glossary; Index.
Reviews
Sir John Houghton, in this Fourth Edition of his book: "Global Warming: The Complete Briefing”, has written what should be the last word in this magisterial presentation of the latest science based very much on the IPCC Assessments. ... The book, almost seductively, leads the reader through the essential science behind the issue of climate change. ...[it] treats the science in a balanced, understandable and rigorous manner." - John Stone, Bulletin of the Canadian Meteorological and Oceanography Society
Praise for the 3rd Edition: "...this book definitely lives up to its title. Highly recommended." R.M. Ferguson, Eastern Connecticut State University, CHOICE
"...the best single-volume guide to the science of climate change." Times Literary Supplement
"...I highly recommend this textbook." EOS, Keith Alverson
"...a widely praised book on global warming and its consequences." The Economist
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