The International Year of Planet Earth (IYPE) was established as a means of raising worldwide public and political awareness of the vast, though frequently under-used, potential the Earth Sciences possess for improving the quality of life of the peoples of the world and safeguarding Earth’s rich and diverse environments. The International Year project was jointly initiated in 2000 by the International Union of Geological Sciences (IUGS) and the Earth Science Division of the United Nations ...

The second edition of Environmental Oceanography is the first textbook to link the needs of the coastal oceanographer and the environmental practitioner. The ever-increasing human impact on the environment, and particularly on the coastal zone, has led governments to carefully examine the environmental implications of development proposals. This book provides the background needed to undertake coastal oceanographic investigations and sets them in context by incorporating case studies and s...

Global Change and Future Earth is derived from the work of several programs of the International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics (IUGG). It demonstrates how multi- and inter-disciplinary research outputs from the geoscience community can be applied to tackle the physical and societal impacts of climate change and contribute to the Future Earth programme of the International Council for Science. The volume brings together an international team of eminent researchers to provide authoritative...

The Earth's climate is already warming due to increased concentrations of human-produced greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and the specter of rising sea level is one of global warming's most far-reaching threats. Sea level will keep rising long after greenhouse gas emissions have ceased, because of the delay in penetration of surface warming to the ocean depths and because of the slow dissipation of excess atmospheric carbon dioxide. Adopting a long perspective that interprets sea level ...

Atmosphere, Weather and Climate presents a comprehensive introduction to weather processes and climatic conditions around the world, their observed changes and projected future trends. This updated and expanded eighth edition of Atmosphere, Weather and Climate will prove invaluable to those studying the earth's atmosphere and world climate, whether from environmental and earth sciences, geography, ecology, agriculture, hydrology or related disciplinary perspectives.

In this wide-ranging Very Short Introduction to climate, Mark Maslin considers all aspects of the global climate system, exploring and explaining the different components that control climate on Earth. He considers the processes that allow energy to reach the Earth and how it is redistributed around the planet by the ocean-atmosphere system; the relationship and differences between climate and the weather; how climate has affected life on Earth and human settlements; and the cycli...

The world's oceans account for roughly 71 percent of the planet's surface and 99 percent of its livable volume. Any study of this huge habitat requires a solid foundation in the principles that underlie marine biology and physical and chemical oceanography, yet until now undergraduate textbooks have largely presented compilations of facts rather than explanations of principles. How the Ocean Works fills this gap, providing a concise and accessible college-level introduction to mar...

This book is based on the author's 34 years of experience as a teacher/researcher of coastal engineering and management and on recent reflections on newly relevant issues, such as consequences of failure, impacts of rising sea levels, aging infrastructure, real estate development, and contemporary decision making, design and education.This textbook for undergraduate students, postgraduate students and practicing engineers covers waves, structures, sediment movement, coastal management, and...

Sea level rise will happen no matter what we do. Even if we stopped all carbon dioxide emissions today, the seas would rise one meter by 2050 and three meters by 2100. This -- not drought, species extinction, or excessive heat waves -- will be the most catastrophic effect of global warming. And it won't simply redraw our coastlines -- agriculture, electrical and fiber optic systems, and shipping will be changed forever. As icebound regions melt, new sources of oil, gas, minerals, and arabl...

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...

An authoritative and wide-ranging new edition of A Dictionary of Weather containing almost 2,000 entries on all areas of the subject. Provides clear definitions and illustrative examples of terminology taken from meteorology, forecasting, and climatology. Revised and fully updated, this edition includes 300 new and revised entries, such as A-Train, Pineapple Express, and Watermelon snow, and added feature entries highlighting actual occurrences of extrem...

For generations, the ground beneath the feet of our ancestors seemed solid and unchanging. Around 30 years ago, two things happened that were to revolutionize the understanding of our home planet. First, geologists realized that the continents themselves were drifting across the surface of the globe and that oceans were being created and destroyed. Secondly, pictures of the entire planet were returned from space. As the astronomer Fred Hoyle had predicted, this 'let loose an idea as powerf...