The research presented in this volume focuses on identifying and quantifying the major vulnerabilities to climate change in the Midwestern United States. By providing state-of-the-art spatially disaggregated information regarding the historical, current, and possible future climate within the region, the contributors assess the risks and susceptibility of the critical socio-economic and environmental systems. Key sectors discussed are agriculture, human health, water, energy and infrastruc...

How much of global warming is due to human activities? How far will it be possible to adapt to changes of climate? Sir John Houghton's definitive, full colour guide to climate change answers these questions and more by providing the best and latest information available, including the latest IPCC findings. The simple, logical flow of ideas gives an invaluable grounding in the science, as well as the physical and human impacts of climate change, for undergraduate students across a wide rang...

The failure of the Copenhagen climate conference in December 2009 revealed major flaws in the way the world's policymakers have attempted to prevent dangerous levels of increases in global temperatures. The expert authors in this specially commissioned collection focus on the likely costs and benefits of a very wide range of policy options, including geo-engineering, mitigation of CO2, methane and 'black carbon', expanding forest, research and development of low-carbon energy and encouragi...

Andrew Sancton combines his own broad knowledge of global changes with an outline and comparison of the viewpoints of prominent social scientists to argue that city regions in western liberal democracies will not and cannot be self-governing. Self-government requires a territory delineated by official boundaries but the multiple boundaries of city-regions unlike the clear and undisputed boundaries of provinces and states continue to move outward due to the constant growth and expansion of urb...

The book—companion to a PBS series—that proves humans are causing global warming and offers a path to the future.Since the discovery of fire, humans have been energy users and always will be. And this is a good thing-our mastery of energy is what separates us from the rest of the animal kingdom and has allowed us to be the dominant species on the planet. However, this mastery comes with a price: we are changing our environment in a profoundly negative way by heating it up.U...

Explaining the what, the how and the why of climate science, this multidisciplinary new book provides a review of research from the last decade, illustrated with cutting-edge data and observations. A key focus is the development of analysis tools that can be used to demonstrate options for mitigating and adapting to increasing climate risks. Emphasis is given to the importance of Earth system feedback mechanisms and the role of the biosphere. The book explains advances in modelling, proces...

What Will Work makes a rigorous and compelling case that energy efficiencies and renewable energy-and not nuclear fission or "clean coal"-are the most effective, cheapest, and equitable solutions to the pressing problem of climate change.

Providing an up-to-date synthesis of all knowledge relevant to the climate change issue, this book ranges from the basic science documenting the need for policy action to the technologies, economic instruments and political strategies that can be employed in response to climate change. Ethical and cultural issues constraining the societal response to climate change are also discussed. This book provides a handbook for those who want to understand and contribute to meeting this challenge. I...

'Big freeze' conditions, storms, severe flooding, droughts, and heatwaves - recent extremes in weather, with their resultant physical, economic and human losses, highlight the vulnerability of society to changes in the atmosphere. Atmospheric pollution, urbanization, natural atmospheric disasters are causing dramatic changes in climatic environments.Applied Climatology examines the effects of climate on physical, biological and cultural environments. Specialist contributors...

The environmental impacts of acid rain: on human health, on buildings and materials, on forests, freshwaters, crops and biodiversity and on global warming have been well-documented. Less is known about the extent and economic costs of these impacts. This book describes the first major implementation of an integrated scientific and economic assessment of the consequences of acid rain. It provides an extensive data review and examines how this unique approach to assessment modelling can be c...

This book is the first to explore the dramatic amplification of global warming underway in cities and the range of actions that individuals and governments can undertake to slow the pace of warming. A core thesis of the book is that the principal strategy currently advocated to mitigate climate change – the reduction of greenhouse gases – will not prove sufficient to measurably slow the rapid pace of warming in urban environments. Brian Stone explains the science of climate change in terms...

The urban climate is continuously deteriorating. Urban heat lowers the quality of urban life, increases energy needs, and affects the urban socio-economy. Urban Climate Mitigation Techniques presents steps that can be taken to mitigate this situation through a series of innovative technologies and examples of best practices for the improvement of the urban climate.Including tools for evaluation and a comparative analysis, this book addresses anthropogenic heat, green areas...