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The geologic record contains evidence of greenhouse climates in the earth's past, and by studying these past conditions, we can gain greater understanding of the forcing mechanisms and feedbacks that influence today's climate. Leading experts in paleoclimatology combine in one integrated volume new and state-of-the-art paleontological, geological, and theoretical studies to assess intervals of global warmth. The book reviews what is known about the causes and consequences of globally warm climates, demonstrates current directions of research on warm climates, and outlines the central problems that remain unresolved. The chapters present new research on a number of different warm climate intervals from the early Paleozoic to the early Cenozoic. The book will be of great interest to researchers in paleoclimatology, and it will also be useful as a supplementary text on advanced undergraduate or graduate level courses in paleoclimatology and earth science.
This book examines the physical and economic characteristics of the global oil resource to explain why peak oil has been so poorly understood. The author draws on information held in oil industry datasets that are not widely available outside of the specialist literature, and describes a number of methods that have been successfully used to predict oil peaks. In contrast to the widely-held view that ‘all oil forecasts are wrong’, these methods correctly predicted the current peak in global conventional oil production. Current oil forecasts are then compared to evaluate the expected dates for regional and global oil peaks for conventional oil, all-oils, and all-liquids. The dates of globa...
To understand climate change today, we first need to know how Earth’s climate changed over the past 450 million years. Finding answers depends upon contributions from a wide range of sciences, not just the rock record uncovered by geologists. In Earth’s Climate Evolution, Colin Summerhayes analyzes reports and records of past climate change dating back to the late 18th century to uncover key patterns in the climate system. The book will transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about future climate change. The book takes a unique approach to the subject providing a description of the greenhouse and icehouse worlds of the past 450 million years since land plan...
Life on our planet depends upon having a climate that changes within narrow limits – not too hot for the oceans to boil away nor too cold for the planet to freeze over. Over the past billion years Earth’s average temperature has stayed close to 14-15°C, oscillating between warm greenhouse states and cold icehouse states. We live with variation, but a variation with limits. Paleoclimatology is the science of understanding and explaining those variations, those limits, and the forces that control them. Without that understanding we will not be able to foresee future change accurately as our population grows. Our impact on the planet is now equal to a geological force, such that many geolo...
There are many different approaches to the study of past climates. This is well illustrated by the special publication of the Geological Society. The volume comprises seventeen papers which were presented at the Second European Palaeontological Congress held in Vienna in 1997. In this volume more than half the papers deal with the Quaternary. Despite the title I see no papers dealing with present climates.
Our views and understanding of variations in climate, geomorphological processes and the interrelationships that exist between climatic changes and land surface changes, both now and in the past, have developed greatly over the last decade. This book aims to encapsulate some of these recent advances and focuses on the integration of research that has been conducted by geomorphologists and climatologists on linking climate and land surface changes. This book is divided into two main parts: Section A incorporates research that has concentrated on short-term variations in climate, whilst Section B looks at some of the work on long-term climate variability. The volume concludes with a summary chapter that brings together the various ideas that have been presented in this work and other recent research in this general field. This text will be of interest to upper level students of geomorphology, Quaternary studies, climatology, earth sciences, and environmental studies. It will also be of use to researchers in these fields.
This issue is a collection of the papers read at the 'Workshop on Geomagnetic Observatory and Survey Practice' held during the XIVth General Assembly of IUGG (the International Union of Geology and Geophysics) in Hamburg, August 1983, sponsored by Division V of the International Association of Geomagnetism and Aeronomy (IAGA). The papers represent a snapshot taken at a very important time in the history of Geomagnetism and of the sciences which depend on measurements of one kind or another of the Earth's magnetic field. Research science now demands a much greater amount of information to be prepared and immediately made available to the scientific user. Experimental measurements are now requ...
Encyclopedia of Geology, Second Edition presents in six volumes state-of-the-art reviews on the various aspects of geologic research, all of which have moved on considerably since the writing of the first edition. New areas of discussion include extinctions, origins of life, plate tectonics and its influence on faunal provinces, new types of mineral and hydrocarbon deposits, new methods of dating rocks, and geological processes. Users will find this to be a fundamental resource for teachers and students of geology, as well as researchers and non-geology professionals seeking up-to-date reviews of geologic research. Provides a comprehensive and accessible one-stop shop for information on the subject of geology, explaining methodologies and technical jargon used in the field Highlights connections between geology and other physical and biological sciences, tackling research problems that span multiple fields Fills a critical gap of information in a field that has seen significant progress in past years Presents an ideal reference for a wide range of scientists in earth and environmental areas of study