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Loading... The Discovery of Global Warmingby Spencer R. Weart
![]() No current Talk conversations about this book. ![]() ![]() As the author describes it: "The future actions we might take are not my subject. This book is a history of how we came to understand our present situation." He traces strands of inquiry that go back to the 1800s: why did ice ages occur? how is the industrial revolution affecting the atmosphere? There are things that cause warming and things that cause cooling and complex interactions and feedback loops that don't make for a one-size-fits-all description of the future. Components of a global system have been gradually discovered, understood from data collection and experimentation, and incorporated into increasingly complex computer models that go back to the 1950s. A handy time line notes the significant developments. The political prominence of the issue arose after much wrangling among scientists about what was too murky and uncertain for presentation, or too alarmingly plausible to remain confined to technical journals. This is not a book for computer geekery about the models. It is about the major players, the broad trends, the difficulties of individuals in a small slice of time struggling to comprehend eons on a global scale. I am, after reading this book, more appreciative of the effort involved. (read 31 Mar 2011) no reviews | add a review
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In 2001 an international panel of climate scientists announced that the world was warming at a rate without precedent during at least the last two millennia. The story of how scientists reached that conclusion was the story Weart told in The Discovery of Global Warming. The award-winning book is now revised and expanded to reflect the latest science. The award-winning book is now revised and expanded. In 2001 an international panel of distinguished climate scientists announced that the world was warming at a rate without precedent during at least the last two millennia, and that warming was caused by the buildup of greenhouse gases from human activity. The story of how scientists reached that conclusion-by way of unexpected twists and turns-was the story Spencer Weart told in The Discovery of Global Warming. Now he brings his award-winning account up to date, revised throughout to reflect the latest science and with a new conclusion that shows how the scientific consensus caught fire among the general world public, and how a new understanding of the human meaning of climate change spurred individuals and governments to action. "Charting the evolution and confirmation of the theory [of global warming], Weart dissects the interwoven threads of research and reveals the political and societal subtexts that colored scientists' views and the public reception their work ??received." -Andrew C. Revkin, New York Times Book Review No library descriptions found. |
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![]() GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)551.6Natural sciences and mathematics Earth sciences & geology Geology, Hydrology Meteorology Climatology and weatherLC ClassificationRatingAverage:![]()
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