Climate Change Biology


Book Description

Climate Change Biology is a new textbook which examines this emerging discipline of human-induced climate change and the resulting shifts in the distributions of species and the timing of biological events. The text focuses on understanding the impacts of human-induced climate change, but draws on multiple lines of evidence, including paleoecology, modelling and current observation. Climate Change Biology lays out the scope and depth of understanding of this new discipline in terms that are accessible to students, managers and professional biologists. The only advanced student text on the biological aspects of climate change Examines recent and deep past climate change effects to better understand the impacts of recent human-induced changes Discusses the conservation and other ecological implications of climate change in detail Presents recipes for coping with accelerating climate change in the future Includes extensive illustrations with maps diagrams and color photographs




Climate Change and Its Biological Consequences


Book Description

Describes the forces that shape the earth's climate and how climate change, particularly greenhouse warming, may impact ecosystems and agriculture. Past climates and past ecosystem changes are reviewed in order to best understand the future. Scientists are predicting a 3 C increase in the Earth's climate within 75 to 100 years. This rate of temperature change and the warmer conditions will stress many organisms and probably realign some ecosystems. Special events, such as El Nino and the stratospheric ozone hole, are significant features of global change considered.




Climate Change Biology


Book Description

Climate change has moved from being a contested phenomenon to the top of the agenda at global summits. Climate Change Biology is the first major textbook to address the critical issue of how climate change may affect life on the planet, and particularly its impact on human populations. Presented in four parts, the first deals extensively with the physical evidence of climate change and various modelling efforts to predict its future. Biological responses are addressed in the second part, from the individual's physiology to populations and ecosystems, and further to considering adaptation and evolution. The third part examines the specific impact climate change may have on natural resources, agriculture and forestry. The final part considers research on the cutting edge of impact prediction and the practical and philosophical limitations on our abilities to predict these impacts. This text will be a useful asset to the growing number of both undergraduate and graduate courses on impacts of climate change, as well as providing a succinct overview for researchers new to the field.




The Biosphere


Book Description

"Vladimir Vernadsky was a brilliant and prescient scholar-a true scientific visionary who saw the deep connections between life on Earth and the rest of the planet and understood the profound implications for life as a cosmic phenomenon." -DAVID H. GRINSPOON, AUTHOR OF VENUS REVEALED "The Biosphere should be required reading for all entry level students in earth and planetary sciences." -ERIC D. SCHNEIDER, AUTHOR OF INTO THE COOL: THE NEW THERMODYNAMICS OF CREATIVE DESTRUCTION




Global Warming and Biological Diversity


Book Description

The biological effects of global warming should be of concern to all thinking individuals, for warming could cause profound disruption of natural ecosystems and could threaten many species with extinction. This important book--the first to discuss in detail the consequences of global warming for ecosystems--includes commentary by distinguished scientists on many aspects of this critical problem. Experts describe responses of animals and plants to previous climate changes, interactions between various environmental components (precipitation and soil chemistry, for example), and synergisms between climate change and human activities such as deforestation. They consider many specific ecosystems, including tropical forests, the deciduous forests of eastern North America, the forests of the Pacific Northwest, Mediterranean-type ecosystems in California, arctic tundra, and arctic marine systems. Offering discussions that are both factual and speculative, the volume points the way to future investigations of the implications of global warming.




Mountain Environments in Changing Climates


Book Description

Home to large numbers of people, sources of water, centres of tourism, and sensitive ecological zones, mountain environments share distinctive climactic characteristics. Once regarded as economically non-viable regions, mountains now attract major investment as sites of tourism, hydro-power and communication routes. This book brings together some of the current work on the physical and human ecology of mountain environments, the impacts of climate change, the processes involved and their observation and prediction.




Climate Change


Book Description

The second edition of this acclaimed text has been fully updated and substantially expanded to include the considerable developments (since publication of the first edition) in our understanding of the science of climate change, its impacts on biological and human systems, and developments in climate policy. Written in an accessible style, it provides a broad review of past, present and likely future climate change from the viewpoints of biology, ecology, human ecology and Earth system science. It will again prove to be invaluable to a wide range of readers, from students in the life sciences who need a brief overview of the basics of climate science, to atmospheric science, geography, geoscience and environmental science students who need to understand the biological and human ecological implications of climate change. It is also a valuable reference text for those involved in environmental monitoring, conservation and policy making.




Climate Change Biology


Book Description

Climate Change Biology, Third Edition, addresses how climate change may affect life on the planet, particularly its impact on biology. Presented in three parts, it deals extensively with the physical evidence of climate change and modeling efforts to predict its future. Biological responses are then addressed, from individual physiology, to populations and ecosystems, adaptation and evolution. The final section examines the specific impact climate change may have on natural resources, particularly relating to human livelihood. This book will be a useful asset to the growing number of both undergraduate and graduate courses on climate change. All sections are updated using the more than 5,000 research papers that have appeared on the topic since the publication of the second edition. Sections on the combined effects of ocean acidification and climate change are especially strengthened, with over six new case studies and end of chapter questions in each chapter. Covers the evolving discipline of human-induced climate change and the resulting shifts in the distributions of species and timing of biological events Offers positive solutions and policy relevant insights on how extinctions can be avoided Includes stunning full-color illustrations from original research




Climate Change and Biodiversity


Book Description

climate changes have had dramatic repercussions, including large numbers of extinctions and extensive shifts in species ranges