Details

Global Climate Change and Human Life


Global Climate Change and Human Life


1. Aufl.

von: M. A. K. Khalil

33,99 €

Verlag: Wiley
Format: PDF
Veröffentl.: 26.05.2022
ISBN/EAN: 9781118526156
Sprache: englisch
Anzahl Seiten: 288

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Beschreibungen

<p>In our time, the global population has become large enough to cause perceptible environmental changes all over the world. With it, a new science of global change has emerged, mostly as a practical matter to understand and manage the earth’s habitability and create a sustainable environment for some time to come – one which balances the benefits of technological and societal advances with their potential, less desirable side effects. These concerns began with the depletion of the ozone layer and its possible adverse consequences on human health, and have, in recent decades, shifted to climate change driven by ongoing global warming.   </p> <p>Why are these global changes occurring? How will they affect our lives? If we find the effects undesirable, what should we do? This book will attempt to answer these questions. It will show how to accomplish the goal of managing our climate, what it will take, and when it needs to be done. Such a management process has to be dynamic, making it more complex and less didactic, requiring changes in strategy to achieve a longer-term goal as our knowledge advances. </p> <p><i>Global Climate Change and Human Life</i> is a comprehensive and cohesive look at the emerging field of global change science. Using models that take the theoretical or conceptual understanding and translate them into mathematical forms, the book lays out a holistic view of the science that develops and teaches the main principles, concepts and conclusions. In the end, readers will be empowered to use science and the scientific method to decide how important and timely climate change is as a social issue and which solutions can succeed.   </p>
<p>Preface ix</p> <p>About the Companion Website xi</p> <p><b>1 Introduction 1</b></p> <p>1.1 What Is Global Change Science? 1</p> <p>1.2 Current Global Change 2</p> <p>1.3 Raising Fundamental Questions 2</p> <p>Endnotes 3</p> <p><b>2 The Framework 5</b></p> <p>2.1 The System 5</p> <p>2.2 Scales of Action 5</p> <p>2.3 What Determines Climate? 8</p> <p>2.4 The Benchmark Average Climate 12</p> <p>2.5 Irreducible Uncertainties 15</p> <p>2.6 The Plan 16</p> <p>Review of the Main Points 18</p> <p><b>3 Atmospheric Composition 19</b></p> <p>3.1 Trace Gases and Their Roles in Climate and the Environment 19</p> <p>3.2 Quantifying the Atmospheric Composition 22</p> <p>Review of the Main Points 27</p> <p>Endnotes 29</p> <p><b>4 Mass Balance Theory and Small Models 33</b></p> <p>4.1 The Components 33</p> <p>4.2 Global 35</p> <p>4.3 Hemispherical and Horizontal 40</p> <p>4.4 Vertical 43</p> <p>Review of the Main Points 46</p> <p>Endnotes 48</p> <p><b>5 Transport Processes 51</b></p> <p>5.1 Vertical Transport and Convection 51</p> <p>5.2 Horizontal Motion and the General Circulation 56</p> <p>5.3 Turbulent Transport 61</p> <p>5.4 Quantifying Transport Processes 66</p> <p>Review of the Main Points 69</p> <p>Endnotes 70</p> <p><b>6 Mechanisms of Sources and Sinks 73</b></p> <p>6.1 Reservoirs and Source-Sink Relationships 74</p> <p>6.2 Atmospheric Chemistry 77</p> <p>6.3 Global Environmental Applications 82</p> <p>6.4 Cross-Media Transport: Oceans, Soils, and Biota 90</p> <p>Review of the Main Points 100</p> <p>Endnotes 102</p> <p><b>7 Balance of Climate Gases and Aerosols 107</b></p> <p>7.1 Anthropogenic vs Natural Components 107</p> <p>7.2 Greenhouse Gases 110</p> <p>7.3 Aerosols 123</p> <p>Review of the Main Points 126</p> <p>Endnotes 127</p> <p><b>8 The Science of Climate 131</b></p> <p>8.1 Solar Radiation 131</p> <p>8.2 Albedo 135</p> <p>8.3 Radiative Transfer 137</p> <p>8.4 Heat Storage and Balance 150</p> <p>8.5 Precipitation 152</p> <p>Review of the Main Points 154</p> <p>Endnotes 156</p> <p><b>9 Instructive Climate Models 159</b></p> <p>9.1 Base Temperature Model – Lessons, Flaws, and Resolution 159</p> <p>9.2 Radiative Forcing and Climate Sensitivity 166</p> <p>9.3 Practical Relationships between Greenhouse Gases and Surface Warming 168</p> <p>9.4 Role of the Oceans 171</p> <p>9.5 Role of Clouds 174</p> <p>9.6 Horizontal Transport of Heat 175</p> <p>Review of the Main Points 178</p> <p>Endnotes 180</p> <p><b>10 Climate Feedbacks 183</b></p> <p>10.1 How They Work 183</p> <p>10.2 Feedbacks Classified and Delineated 188</p> <p>10.3 Physical Feedbacks 189</p> <p>10.4 Role of the Living World 192</p> <p>Review of the Main Points 197</p> <p>Endnotes 199</p> <p><b>11 Match of Climate Change Observed and Modeled 201</b></p> <p>11.1 What Is Global Warming? 201</p> <p>11.2 Causes of Observed Warming 204</p> <p>11.3 Differential Effects of Climate Change 207</p> <p>Review of the Main Points 210</p> <p>Endnotes 210</p> <p><b>12 Population, Affluence, and Global Change 213</b></p> <p>12.1 Basic Relationships 213</p> <p>12.2 Societal Factors in Climate Change 215</p> <p>12.3 Population Growth and Resources 218</p> <p>12.4 Vulnerability Theory 222</p> <p>Review of the Main Points 225</p> <p>Endnotes 226</p> <p><b>13 Impacts of Climate Change on Human Life 229</b></p> <p>13.1 Impacts Classified 229</p> <p>13.2 Health 230</p> <p>13.3 Habitability 234</p> <p>Review of the Main Points 239</p> <p>Endnotes 240</p> <p><b>14 Climate Management 243</b></p> <p>14.1 Tragedy of the Commons 243</p> <p>14.2 Compounding Forces of Resistance 248</p> <p>14.3 Mechanisms for Managing the Climate 249</p> <p>14.4 Geo-engineering 251</p> <p>14.5 Trading Gases: The Global Warming Potential 253</p> <p>Review of the Main Points 255</p> <p>Endnotes 256</p> <p><b>15 Possible Futures 257</b></p> <p>15.1 Projections 257</p> <p>15.2 The Metaphysics of Climate Change 259</p> <p>Endnote 261</p> <p>List of Symbols Used 263</p> <p>Index 267</p>
<p><b>About the Author</b></p> <p><b>M. A. K. Khalil </b>is Professor of Physics at Portland State University, USA. He holds BA degrees in Mathematics and Psychology and a Bachelor of Physics degree from the University of Minnesota; MS in Physics from Virginia Polytechnic Institute; PhD in Theoretical Physics from the Center For Particle Theory, University of Texas, and a PhD in Environmental Science and Engineering from OGC, now Oregon Health and Sciences University. He has published more than 200 papers in the environmental sciences and theoretical physics, and was named one of the world’s most highly cited authors by ISI.
<p>In our time, the global population has become large enough to cause perceptible environmental changes all over the world. With it, a new science of global change has emerged, mostly as a practical matter to understand and manage the earth’s habitability and create a sustainable environment for some time to come – one which balances the benefits of technological and societal advances with their potentially harmful or undesirable side effects. These concerns began with the depletion of the ozone layer and its possible adverse consequences on human health, and have, in recent decades, shifted to climate change driven by an ongoing global warming. Why are these global climatic changes occurring? How will they affect our lives? If we find the effects undesirable, what should we do?</p> <p><i>Global Climate Change and Human Life </i>will attempt to answer these questions. It will show how to accomplish the goal of managing our climate, what it will take, and when it needs to be done. The book is a comprehensive and cohesive look at the emerging field of global change science. Using models that translate the theoretical or conceptual understanding into minimalistic mathematical forms, the book lays out a holistic view of the science that develops and teaches the main principles, concepts and conclusions. Moreover, the book aims to empower readers to use the scientific method to decide how important and timely climate change is as a social issue and which solutions can succeed.

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