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Runaway Climate - Steven Earle

Runaway Climate

What the Geological Past Can Tell Us about the Coming Climate Change Catastrophe

(Autor)

Buch | Softcover
256 Seiten
2024
New Society Publishers (Verlag)
978-0-86571-989-7 (ISBN)
CHF 29,65 inkl. MwSt
56 million years ago our planet experienced rapid, intense warming known as the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum, resulting in a global temperature increase of about 7°C. Runaway Climate explores the causes of this catastrophic event, its dramatic impact on life on Earth, and its stark lessons for our climate future.
With tipping points and extreme global warming looming, the key to understanding our climate future lies in our distant past


"If you care at all about our future, you must read Runaway Climate." —Richard Heinberg, Senior Fellow, Post Carbon Institute,


With rising emissions, we are on track to cause rapid global warming with devastating con- sequences. But how bad could climate change get and what might it do to planet Earth and humanity?


Fifty-six million years ago our planet experienced a period of intense warming known as the Paleocene Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM), resulting in a rapid global temperature increase of about 7°C. Triggered by natural geological processes over millennia and magnified by strong climate feedback loops, the PETM lasted for about 180,000 years and drastically altered life on Earth. Yet in only a few short decades we've pumped similar amounts of greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere, making the PETM an unsettlingly apt analogy for our current predicament. This deeply cautionary tale explores:




The runaway feedbacks that pushed the PETM's climate past the tipping point
Subsequent cascades of environmental devastation—from plant and animal migrations to ocean acidification, extreme weather, and mass extinctions
A sobering vision of life on hothouse Earth—a hostile world of desertification, sea-level rise, climate refugees, and agricultural collapse
The urgent need for decisive individual and collective actions to slash carbon emissions, stabilize the climate, and undertake a rapid transition to a cleaner and healthier future.


Scientifically rigorous, yet accessible to a wide audience, Runaway Climate is essential reading for every- one committed to understanding and taking action on the climate emergency.

Steven Earle, PhD, has worked as a geologist and developed and taught university-level courses in earth sciences and climate change for over four decades. He is the author of the IPPY award-winning A Brief History of the Earth's Climate and the widely used post-secondary textbook Physical Geology, now in its second edition. A dedicated community activist, he spearheads local engagement with climate change solutions including low-carbon transportation initiatives, heating systems, and land stewardship. Steven and his family live in a nearly net-zero house on a small sustainable farm on Gabriola Island, BC, Canada.

Synopsis

Acknowledgments

Preface


Part I What Happened in the Past?

Chapter 1: The Bighorn Basin

Chapter 2: The Late Paleocene World

Chapter 3: Understanding Past Climates

Chapter 4: Changes in the Oceans During the PETM

Chapter 5: Changes on Land During the PETM

Chapter 6: What Caused the PETM Runaway Climate?

Chapter 7: What Is Similar Now and What Is Different?


Part II Where We Are Heading If We Don’t Change Course

Chapter 8: How the Oceans Might Change Under PETM Conditions

Chapter 9: How the Land Might Change Under PETM Conditions

Chapter 10: Where Will Everyone Go?

Chapter 11: What Do We Need to Do Now?


Abbreviations

Appendix

Endnotes

Index

About the Author

A Note About the Publisher

Erscheinungsdatum
Zusatzinfo 50 Illustrations, black and white
Verlagsort Gabriola Island
Sprache englisch
Maße 152 x 229 mm
Gewicht 404 g
Themenwelt Naturwissenschaften Biologie Ökologie / Naturschutz
Naturwissenschaften Geowissenschaften Geologie
Naturwissenschaften Geowissenschaften Meteorologie / Klimatologie
ISBN-10 0-86571-989-6 / 0865719896
ISBN-13 978-0-86571-989-7 / 9780865719897
Zustand Neuware
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