Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
Climate change is still, arguably, the most critical and controversial issue facing the world in the twenty-first century. Previously published as Global Warming: A Very Short Introduction, the new edition has been renamed Climate Change: A Very Short introduction, to reflect the important change in the terminology of the last decade. In the third edition, Mark Maslin includes crucial updates from the last few years, including the results of the 2013 IPCC Fifth Assessment Report, the effects of ocean acidification, and the impact of changes to global population and health. Exploring key topics in the debate, Maslin makes sense of the complexities of climate change, from political and social issues to environmental and scientific ones. Looking at its predicated impacts, he explores the controversies, and explains various proposed solutions. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Series: Very Short Introductions
Paperback: 200 pages
Publisher: Oxford University Press; 3 edition (December 1, 2014)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0198719043
ISBN-13: 978-0198719045
Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 0.5 x 4.4 inches
Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #69,031 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #45 in Books > Science & Math > Earth Sciences > Rivers #62 in Books > Science & Math > Earth Sciences > Climatology #67 in Books > Science & Math > Earth Sciences > Weather
This is a very good introduction to climate change, and places some additional but brief focus on interdisciplinary perspectives (like economics), and includes some direct responses to positions/arguments made against the science. It provides a good broad-brush view of the science, and primarily discusses climate change from a scientific standpoint with reference to some scientific data (primarily in the form of graphs) without getting bogged down in highly technical detail (which you may choose to pursue through other sources). It acknowledges what the uncertainties in the science are, and explains why those uncertainties should not be considered indications of invalidity. As such, I would consider this book to be a fairly valuable primer on understanding the scientific perspective.I dinged the book one star in the review for very poor editing as there are a fair number of obvious typos throughout the text.The book is small enough to fit in a back pocket but still includes a fair amount of content. Reasonably priced in my mind.
Maslin covers all of the main topics quickly but does not leave out anything important. His discussion of the science is masterful and highly readable.
This book is an opening door to the concept of climate change. If you consider yourself curious, but uninformed, A Very Short Introduction to Climate Change is for you. It outlines in understandable language exactly what the world is facing in light of the changes our planet is going through. It would do us all a world of good -literally- if more people read this.
Forget the subtitle. This small book is a high-level summary of nearly everything about climate change. Maslin primarily comes from a science angle to cover topics such as the physics, evidence for climate change, and climate surprises (tipping points). However, he also delves into the societal and human aspects with topics of the 'debate', politics and solutions. Climate models are covered in a clear manner -- uncertainty particularly well.Again, this VSI is dense. You will find numbers, tables and graphs with the concise text that are bold in scope and detail. Often these are new and illuminating. In the Solutions section Maslin discusses the seemingly intractable nature of short term politics, economic beliefs and societal norms butting against this issue. To solve it in time we need individual countries and regions to lead boldly, yet all the major players need to be in eventually so there is a world solution to a world problem. Even Maslin, a professor of climatology, leans toward thinking we need a fundamental change in society to solve climate change. Highly recommended!
Since this book is so short it should not be viewed as one that discusses in detail the data and modeling that supports the doctrine of climate change (the use of the word âdoctrineâ here is meant to convey the idea that the field of climate change has become one that is approaching religious dogma, and like the latter permits no dissent from its claims). Readers cannot expect the author to give all the details and supporting data that will validate his assertion of anthropogenic climate change. What they can expect and receive is a brief outline of what has become one of most rancorous debates in the history of science, and definitely one where the level of vituperation has gone beyond all measurable bounds. One might with an element of humor argue that the amount of hot air produced by both sides of the debate is itself responsible for a surge in global temperatures.Even though the author is clearly biased when discussing climate change, it should not be concluded that this book does not have some degree of merit for those readers who have no political or financial agenda but simply want the raw, naked truth about climate change. The book will at least give such readers some impressions about the thought patterns of the adherents of the doctrine of climate change, and why they have been proselytizing both politicians and the public about this doctrine. In this regard it is not uncommon to observe harsh debate among scientists about a particular public project, one example being the construction of the Superconducting Supercollider in the area of physics. But the doctrine of climate change has enlisted a massive army of supporters, some of them popular television personalities and comedians, who clearly do not have the scientific background in climate science or meteorology to assess the validity of climate change, but yet are adamant in smearing the reputations and character of those individuals who are challenging its doctrines.The author is certainly correct when he asserts that science advances by utilizing detailed observation and experimentation, and that this involves an on-going necessity to acquire new data and perform new experiments. The predominant reliance on models though does not by itself satisfy this paradigm, since scientists use models to get an idea about how a physical system is going to behave when they donât have the experimental data available. In the Manhattan project for example, models based on Monte Carlo simulation were invented to study neutron diffusion because the experimental data on neutron diffusion was lacking. Modeling of course, and not just Monte Carlo simulation, is now widely used in many areas of science, medicine, finance, and technology, and the validation of these models by data coming from real measurements is something that its practitioners widely recognize to be necessary if they are to part of the scientific process. In this regard, those scientists who do not support the doctrine of climate change (called âdeniersâ by the author) point out that in the last fifteen years the experimental data indicates a flatness in global temperature change, which has the effect of invalidating the predictions of the climate models.An entire chapter of the book is devoted to modeling, and the author points to several different models being used to assess the likelihood of future climate change. The author points to the fact that the IPCC wants to assume that the output of each of these models is âequally validâ. A more reasonable approach, and one that the author implicitly endorses, is to use some of the tools from a field called uncertainty quantification to more meaningfully quantify the discrepancies in output from these models. And he is well aware of the difficulties in using modeling to make policy decisions, and in that respect he is being more reasonable than other individuals in the climate change debate who it seems do not want to face up to the uncertainties created by the use of models.There are a few places in the book where the author is somewhat careless, as for example omitting error bars in graphs of experimental data, but as a whole the reviewer, who is just getting started in studying the data and conclusions of climate science, holds that this book is much better than others in framing the debate and in its elucidation of some of the key physics. Hopefully, and this is definitely against the seeming trend, both advocates and âdeniersâ of anthropogenic climate change will in the future be able to sit down at the same table and conduct themselves in the best tradition of scientific endeavor, namely that of having no respect for authority or political ideology, but only for facts.
Hits all the main topics you need to know if you know nothing of climate change. Definitely helps you get interested and start a change to help.
Clear and consice
Concise and written in a very accessible manner. Great for people who do not have a science background.
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