Book Description
In the global-warming debate, definitive answers to questions about ultimate causes and effects remain elusive. In
Global Warming: Myth or Reality? Marcel Leroux seeks to separate fact from fiction in this critical debate from a climatological perspective. Beginning with a review of the dire hypotheses for climate trends, the author describes the history of the 1998 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and many subsequent conferences. He discusses the main conclusions of the three IPCC reports and the predicted impact on global temperatures, rainfall, weather and climate, while highlighting the mounting confusion and sensationalism of reports in the media. After taking a hard look at the reality of the greenhouse effect, the â€~evidence’ from climate models, and the models’ limitations, Leroux postulates alternate causes of climate change and analyzes the trends for global temperatures, rainfall patterns, and sea level. He poses the â€~heretical’ question if warming may be considered a benefit in some regions. Finally Leroux suggests a number of priorities for climatologists to better understand processes of climate change, to integrate them into climate models, and to predict accurately future changes in climate. This timely and controversial book lays out the scientific case of the sizable skeptical scientific community who challenge the accepted wisdom.
Customer Reviews:
A MUST read........2007-08-02
Anyone who claim having an opinion on the issue of Anthropogenic Global Warming cannot ignore this book. This is no journalist romanced account nor a guru dire predictions. This is a scientific demonstration based on observations and accute scientific understanding and reasonning. It should be in every school library and science teachers should have read it answer students' question with knowledge. True it is not light reading but there is no other way to explain the fundamentals of atmospheric circulation, its relation to climates and expose the perversions of cooky cutter science. Should you read one book, this one is the one.
Analysis not Rhetoric.......2007-01-03
Aside from the first four chapters (which provide an excellent, if strident, history of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change), this is a thorough text book on climate analysis for the layman. It develops a cogent theory of how the atmosphere works and explains each of the issues involved from the eccentricity of the earth's orbit, the tilt of the poles, the impact of the solar cycle, to a detailed look at the defects in climate modeling and how one might expect the atmosphere to react if, indeed, the earth were warming or cooling. Great care is taken to explain the impact of each of the green house gases (including the most significant, water vapor, and how its omission from IPCC studies impacts the conclusions). Not light reading, but well worth the effort.
Book Description
Shattered Consensus: The True State of Global Warming convincingly demonstrates the remarkable differences between what we commonly read about global warming and what is really happening. Nine chapters describe major problems with computer simulations of future climate that are the basis for wrenching policies being proposed by world leaders. Anyone who reads this book will come away with a new appreciation of the complexity of the climate issue and will question the need for expensive policies that are likely to have little or no detectable effect on the planet's temperature. Published in cooperation with the George C. Marshall Institute.
Customer Reviews:
The inconvenient truth about An Inconvenient Truth .......2007-08-06
I highly recommend this book. But I suspect that this book will not appeal to most readers. There's none of the intense hyperbole that infects both global warming fanatics and many of their deniers. There are no grand apocalyptic scenarios that garner such strong public appeal. No terrifying future, no living on the brink of disaster. Only quiet nuanced science from those who spend their life in research. One suspects that the politics of global warming has now superseded the science and sad to say, when politics enters the room, truth shuffles its way into the background. This is unfortunate since there are many things about the environment with which we should be concerned - not the least being our consumption of non renewable resources. My fervent hope is that we can move past the exaggerated apocalypse of global warming while addressing the necessary issues of the environment - i.e., the rest of the environment aside from climate change.
In this case of Shattered Consensus, all ten contributors are scientists and experts in their field. Each chapter, and scientific report, covers a separate and distinct aspect of climate. This is really a collection of reports, not a coherent "story". Each contributor has their own style, some being more accessible than others. They present the science as they understand it and in that regard the average reader may find the information dry, or indeed undecipherable. Most of the ten authors include a short conclusion which may be helpful for those unwilling to plow through the science. Nonetheless the reader is left in the end overwhelmed not by the certainty of any position, but by the staggering uncertainty in all aspects related to this Earth's climate. Our ability to measure past trends in climate are dependent on woefully scant data. Our ability to project future trends have no unambiguous models yet. In fact, the variability of the results of the different models are so big as to render them basically useless for anything other than further research. They certainly shouldn't be used to make definitive statements as to future trends. The effects of CO2 are still highly uncertain with some models suggesting no impact and some observations linking CO2 to an indicator of climate change not a driver - i.e., CO2 changes as a result of climate change, not the other way around. Much more research is needed to understand why these discrepancies are observed. Even if global warming is happening, and even if CO2 is at least partly to blame, the impact of global warming in some scenarios is actually beneficial to not only humans, but to some species. Indeed, in all of Earth's history through warming and cooling periods, some species benefit and other lose.
The reader is left with the question, since scientists tell us that the unknowns vastly outweigh the things that are known about climate, what should our policy decisions making framework be based on. Is seems to me that we need to base it on what is known. Air quality, water quality, land use, availability of non renewable resources, are all things we can measure and for which policies can be made. Having a single enemy (CO2, in this case) is certainly more appealing and simple for the average consumer to understand. But simple is not always best.
It should be noted that none of these scientists is involved in the petroleum industry (a favorite disclaimer by those wanting to discredit the validity of anyone critical of global warming science). Some have even been involved in the IPCC directly (the UN Intergovernmental protocol on climate change). Scientists are by nature a conservative lot. A hypothesis lasts as long as the next set of experiments that disprove it, or tenuously as long as further experiments continue to confirm it. Most scientists don't seek a public profile and most are uncomfortable playing the role of a nay-sayer, especially in the face of such publicly popular resources as Al Gore's an Inconvenient Truth. I will rely on the scientific truth to work its way to the surface. I just hope we don't waste too much in the way of public funds on chasing windmills when there are so many important issues in this world that need attention.
Consensus? Right........2007-04-18
This book perfectly illustrates how there is dissent in the thinking of many climate scientists, showing information that proves there is no consensus, or at least none as to the overall causes, specific effects and actions to take on "anthropogenic global warming".
It's like the AAAS's 'Science' magazine publishing an op/ed in their "Essays on Science and Society" section by Naomi Oreskes (Associate professor of history and director of the Program in Science Studies at the University of California at the time). In that piece, it was reported an analysis was made of abstracts in the ISI database under science and with the phrase "global climate change" in them. The keywords specified in the op/ed 3 times were "climate change" (In another issue of 'Science' that was corrected to "global climate change". I would include that, but you have to join AAAS to get to it.) Her closing paragraph in the essay uses the words "anthropogenic climate change".
Although she takes quite a while to say it, in two or more convoluted paragraphs, she claims consensus because of the actions of some organizations; that we can prove statements and reports by the AMS, AGU, AAAS and others don't downplay legitimate disenting opinions, thus proving a consensus. I'm not sure I follow that train of logic, but there you go.
So, how does she "prove" it? By grabbing those publications that are in the ISI database that are in the science section and have abstracts that have the words "global climate change" in the abstract. Do those contradict what the organizations say? No? Consensus!
Not in ISI database? Not in science section? No abstract? Doesn't have "global climate change" in the abstract? Not looked at.
She does make two interesting points in her closing paragraph, although the two have nothing to do with each other. I've broken the paragraph into the two points; while the first is true, the second is not anything she's proven in the op/ed (although it seems she's hoping we will think so):
1. Many details about climate interactions are not well understood, and there are ample grounds for continued research to provide a better basis for understanding climate dynamics. The question of what to do about climate change is also still open.
2. But there is a scientific consensus on the reality of anthropogenic climate change. Climate scientists have repeatedly tried to make this clear. It is time for the rest of us to listen.
That op/ed, Richard Lindzen's op/ed in the WSJ and her rebuttal op/ed in the Washington Post, as well as letters between Roger Pielke Jr and her printed in 'Science' give even more light on the entire issue of the lack of a consensus and the lengths the cult of global warming will go to to keep everyone thinking there is. This book goes a long way towards fighting the misconceptions, and is an excellent strike in the battle against global warming propaganda.
[...]
Down with Globaloney.......2007-04-03
Point-by-point rebuttal of the fallacy of ''global warming''/''climate change'' brought about by human endeavors. Puts paid to AlGores' Oscar-winning docufantasy. Yes, all of us anti-global warming folks are in the pay of Giant Oil and the moral equivalent of Holocaust deniers. NOT!!! Your belief in half-baked computer models (as opposed to real-life atmospheric happenings) and over-blown do-gooder falsehoods doesn't make ''global warming'' a catastrophic happening.
Sample of Scientific Discussions.......2007-03-14
Interesting series of papers on topics of ongoing discussion regarding global warming. The title is a bit overblown, but I guess it matches the assumption, so often printed over and over in the media, that there is a consensus on global warming (or more correctly, human-caused global warming). There's lots of citations given and places to dig into this as deep as you want. I particularly like the part about trying to develop some sort of heat balance between the earth's surface, the various layers in the atmosphere, and the universe to which the earth radiates heat, and all the unexplained measurement error and missing information associated with that.
There was allusion to the plans to try to "Command and Control" the world's economy, based on averting global warming, basically concluding that nothing we can do will change the outcome much anyway, at least in any predictable way. It makes one wonder if the global warming phenomena is being used as a pretext to try "Command and Control" again. This book does not really get into that, but does give a taste of endless unresolved topics associated with global warming.
religion of enviromentalism challenged.......2007-03-01
any book that challenges to apriori assumptions of the enviromentalist religious dogma of man made global warming is needed. Al Gore and his celebrity loving, psuedo scientific friends need to be mocked for their hypocrisy and stupidity
Book Description
In Boiling Point, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Ross Gelbspan argues that, unchecked, climate change will swamp every other issue facing us today. Indeed, what began as an initial response of many institutions-denial and delay-has now grown into a crime against humanity. Gelbspan's previous book, The Heat Is On, exposed the financing of climate-change skeptics by the oil and coal companies. In Boiling Point, he reveals exactly how the fossil fuel industry is directing the Bush administration's energy and climate policies -payback for helping Bush get elected. Even more surprisingly, Gelbspan points a finger at both the media and environmental activists for unwittingly worsening the crisis. Finally, he offers a concrete plan for averting a full-blown climate catastrophe.
According to Gelbspan, a proper approach to climate change could solve many other problems in our social, political, and economic lives. It would dramatically reduce our reliance on oil, and with it our exposure to instability in the Middle East. It would create millions of jobs and raise living standards in poor countries whose populations are affected by climate-driven disease epidemics and whose borders are overrun by environmental refugees. It would also expand the global economy and lead to a far wealthier and more peaceful world. A passionate call-to-arms and a thoughtful roadmap for change, Boiling Point reveals what's at stake for our fragile planet
Customer Reviews:
Enviro-skeptics are barbarians at the gate!.......2006-10-24
Better than your usual global warming book..and there a lot of good ones..(this is one of my favorite genres so to speak). Yes..this is a little more interesting. While it speaks about the science, there is more needed analysis of the "debate" and politics of this pressing and vast subject as well a very much needed scathing indictment of the American press' approach to the subject. The author offers some breathtaking solutions to this problem that could really make for a great new world. If only. If only. I'll mail a copy to the next president. Now..if only someone would write a whole book about how science is too dangerous (biotechnology excepted of course) for America as it threatens to make Americans think and challenge the status quo. Espcially at this point in our history. The Vatican once had America's attitude about science.
The Cusp of a Change.......2006-02-12
Gelbspan argues convincingly that we are all aparticipants in our environmental well-being and that the changes wrought are just beginning to be felt. Climate change, he asserts, has come from our relentless production of greenhouse gases and it seems the weight of scientific opinion is lining up behind him.
The effcts are multi-dimensional including changes in weather patterns with resultant decrements in crop production and distressing increments in disease distribution as insect vectors find the warmer climate more to their liking.
His logic is, unfortunately, hard to refute, his prose easily comprehended and his tone earnest, if alarmist. This book should be read by everybody in congress.
Hot stuff!.......2006-02-06
Gelbspan is angry. His wrath is prominent on nearly every page of this stimulating work. He's irate because he's convinced climate change looms as a threat to our planet. Certain that today's nearly runaway "global warming" is at least accelerated by our society, if not basically initiated by our industrialised lifestyle, he vigorously censures the perpetrators. Living in the USA, and aware of how much his nation contributes to the worsening condition of our biosphere, he addresses his treatise directly at his fellow countrymen. Resource and energy industries have combined to blind North Americans to the results of their high profit commercial ventures. "Wake up!", Gelbspan admonishes. "You've been led into a bad situation! Fix it!"
The author's unsparing in his condemnation of lax standards and half-hearted solutions. No segment of contemporary US society, whether energy producer, consumer, politician is exempted from condemnation. Even environmental activists don't escape his lash. His primary target is the fossil fuel and coal industries. With their long-standing role as the foundation of US economic growth, they've grown nearly omnipotent. That power has been applied to guiding political figures in their development, or dearth, of policies regarding environmental issues. As the planet's largest producer of polluting agents, Gelbspan wants the US to start countering the prowess of industrial lobbyists in his nation. The time for action is overdue. And the solutions are available to be implemented. The first step is for the current adminstration to recognise that climate change is happening and much of it is human-induced. The time for obfuscation and delaying tactics is past.
Knowing how difficult it is for most citizens to cut through the propaganda they've been inundated with, Gelbspan provides a wealth of references to studies justifying his ire. The mass of evidence should convince the "enviro-sceptics" dominating the Bush administration and guiding journalists. Gelbspan recognises the "equal time" philosophy dominating most issues in the US, but charges that "equal time" is a fallacy when "the other side" is producing false or misleading information. Publishing "selective results" is anathema to any researcher worth the name, but it's rich fare for subservient politicians and lobbyists.
The solutions are available, says Gelbspan. He lists and examines several proposed plans of action. Most are found wanting for a variety of reasons. He's clear in why he considers them inadequate, noting that most are good, but cannot provide effective action in the needed time span or geographic scope required. The US may be the planet's worse polluter, but the problem is global, not confined by two oceans, a river and the "world's longest undefended border". His endorsement goes to The World Energy Modernization Plan put together in 1998 by a consortium of executives and experts in various fields. "The World" aspect in the group's title represents the need to gain firm support from many nations to implement the plan. The Montreal Protocol of 1987 diminishing atmospheric flourocarbons is an example the Plan could follow. It drastically reduced a serious threat to the upper atmosphere without impinging on the chemical's manufacturers to continue profitable operation. Where changing to new, safer chemicals worked there, changing to carbon-free energy can have the same effect now. To find out how it works, read Gelbspan's case and proposed solution. [stephen a. haines - Ottawa, Canada]
Important Topic, but Boring and Lacking Credibility!.......2006-01-10
"It is an excruciating experience to watch the planet fall apart piece by piece in the face of persistent and pathological denial." So begins "Boiling Point," a book filled with early symptoms of earth's warming - melting icecaps and glaciers, species moving northward, increasing temperatures, storms, and the severity of those storms. Gelbspan then goes on to place the blame for the U.S. not taking positive corrective action on oil and coal company lobbying, a weak press, and morally corrupt politicians. (President Bush is not the only politician to disappoint Gelbspan - President Putin also rejected the Kyoto treaty, though Gelbspan missed the most obvious reason - warming would benefit Russian agriculture.)
Clearly global warming is a very important topic, as is declining sources of carbon-based fuels. The "good news" is that both issues can be addressed through the same actions, and there are many very good books out there on the coming energy shortage. The "bad news" is that "Boiling Point" is boring and way too long, and that Gelbspan lacks the credibility that a respected scientist would have on this topic.
Re: Boiling Point.......2006-01-08
It's always good to come across some whole truth on this topic, considering how much misinformation and half-truth we see on the web and even in the media. Many people are quick to accept, without further research, things like petitions on climate change, claims that the Arctic (or the globe) is actually cooling, or that we shouldn't be concerned because climate change has happened in the past (which ignores the nature of the current trend - something unseen since a highly volcanic prehistory). Books like this, along with sites like GlobalWarmingTruth.org and RealClimate.org, provide the "rest of the story" and help people understand they're being bamboozled.
Although the book is a little strong on rhetoric in places, I like it's discussion of potential solutions, and the way it encourages people to consider the source of contrarian claims. If it's not firmly rooted in peer-reviewed science, get out the salt.
Average customer rating:
|
The Economics of Global Warming
William R. Cline
Manufacturer: Institute for International Economics,U.S.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
International
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Natural Resources
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Climate Changes
| Climatology
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
The Economics of Climate Change: The Stern Review
ASIN: 088132132X |
Book Description
The most serious environmental problems of the twenty-first century have the potential to alter the course of life on this planet. Global warming, toxic waste, water and air pollution, acid rain, and shrinking energy supplies are frightening challenges th
Book Description
Written by a well-known ecologist with more than forty years of scientific field work on six continents, this book deals with the ecology of planet earth, focusing on the condition of the global environment and the quality of human life. The author describes the scope and meaning of global ecology and gives a brief review of ecological principles relevant to global concerns. The work concentrates on how we as humans affect global ecosystems and how these changes impact our health, behavior, economics, and politics. Specific sections address the ecological components of planet earth, the biosphere, ecosystem ecology, worldwide environmental trends, and the state of human populations. Other chapters deal with competition and conflict, the ecology of war, an agenda for survival, sustainability, and future prospects. Accessible to undergraduates, students in adult and professional education, and general readers, this unique work gives a broader definition of our environment than conventional ecology books, emphasizing economic and social dimensions of the global environment. It covers diverse viewpoints, including good news and favorable trends regarding the future, and helps readers think about current ecological problems and those we will face in the future. It discusses how to relate facts and beliefs, how to assess outcomes, and, finally, how me might view and treat the one world in which we live.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent overview of our global environmental situation.......2000-05-16
This book, though now a decade old, still provides the interested reader with an understandable overview of a range of environmental change that we face.
The book is a publication of the National Academy of Sciences, and was written with a non-technical, but educated audience in mind. The topics are still pertinent, the concepts and problems are well defined, and possible solutions presented still bear consideration.
If you are interested in the environment, and changes that we are faced with, you ought to read this book. Topics include global warming, feeding the human population, forests and deforestation, acidification of water resources, and more.
The afterword by Gro Harlem Grundtland is a fitting end to this book.
An excellent book that still bears consideration.
Average customer rating:
|
The Global Warming Desk Reference
Bruce E. Johansen
Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Reference
| Subjects
| Books
| Almanacs & Yearbooks
| Atlases & Maps
| Audiobooks
| Books on CD
| Books on Cassette
| Business Skills
| Careers
| Catalogs & Directories
| Consumer Guides
| Dictionaries & Thesauruses
| Education
| Encyclopedias
| Etiquette
| Foreign Languages
| Fun Facts
| Genealogy
| General
| Job Hunting
| Large Print
| Law
| Publishing & Books
| Quotations
| Spanish-Language Reference
| Study Guides
| Test Prep Central
| Words & Language
| Writing
Social Services & Welfare
| Poverty
| Current Events
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Meteorology
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Atmospheric Chemistry
| Atmospheric Sciences
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Climate Changes
| Climatology
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ecology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Weather
| Environment
| Outdoors & Nature
| Subjects
| Books
Hazardous Waste
| Environmental
| Civil
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Ecology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Outdoors & Nature Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All Amazon Upgrade
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Engineering
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Outdoors & Nature
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Professional & Technical
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Reference
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
Science
| Amazon Upgrade
| Stores
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0313316791 |
Book Description
With global temperatures rising rapidly during the past quarter century, "infrared forcing," popularly known as the "greenhouse effect," has attracted worldwide concern. This book is a concise, college-level compendium of the research on global warming. It surveys the scientific consensus on the issue, describes recent findings, and also considers the arguments of skeptics who doubt that global warming is a threat. Suggesting that the effects of global warming can be seen in the melting of glaciers and the dying of coral reefs, the work summarizes the potential impact on human health and on plants and animals worldwide. Concluding with possible solutions, the book contains one of the most comprehensive bibliographies on the subject. A growing field of study with a rapidly expanding literature, global warming should be of interest to everyone on Earth. Evidence of the greenhouse effect, due to emissions of carbon dioxide and other trace gases, has been accumulating for a quarter century. This book covers both research from scientific journals and newspaper and magazine reports of present-day evidence. The book will be a valuable resource for individuals concerned with the environment as well as for students of environmental sciences, meteorology, and earth sciences.
Customer Reviews:
READ THIS BOOK!.......2006-07-27
Excellent primer on this unprecedented all-encompassing problem. Although much more updated is "Boiling Point" out in 2004. Beware the glib reviews on this site of detractors that don't support their negative opinions. These could very well be shills for the coal and oil industries deliberately muddying the waters with their reviews. Yes they are doing this, and they are being paid to. Global warming isn't any more debatable now than Newton's Laws. Science has spoken, and Nature has begun to. There ARE solutions but they are exacting and they are hard, and we need to get behind them immediately. Famine, species extinction and disease are the alternatives, and they have already begun. The only group that stands to gain from global warming are insects. They're loving it.
Another global warming demagogue.......2004-09-16
The Earth has a climate, and that climate has been warming up since 1850, when the Little Ice Age ended. During the medieval warming period the climate was warmer than it is today, leaving ruined medieval farmsteads at higher latitudes and altitudes than are possible today. The Vikings headed for the Arctic, even settling there, and rediscovered the Americas.
The atmosphere isn't warming the Earth -- the Earth is orders of magnitude more massive than the atmosphere.
The oceans are not warming at depth.
The planet Mars has about as much atmospheric density as the Earth does at 40 MILES altitude and has never been warmed by greenhouse gases.
The atmosphere of Venus isn't made primarily of CO2. Venus' density is slightly less than that of Earth's, same goes for its diameter. CO2 won't be found at the hideously high pressures known to exist on the Venusian surface.
Surprise! Ross Gelbspan didn't win a Pulitzer, as the DJ claims:
"'The Heat Is On' -- in which Gelbspan complains about how global warming critics distort the truth -- touted Gelbspan as a 'Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist' and Gelbspan has apparently done little in the intervening years to dissuade people of this falsehood despite being called on it on a number of occasions." -- Brian Carnell "Ross Gelbspan's Pulitzer Prize" (Thursday, January 22, 2004)
What a surprise! Global warming shills don't ever say things that are not true, do they?
"We've got to ride the global warming issue. Even if the theory [sic] of global warming is wrong, we will be doing the right thing." -- Timothy Wirth
"Each of us has to decide the right balance between being effective and being honest." -- Stephen Schneider
Invasion of the weather-snatchers.......2004-03-21
Coral reefs in the Pacific and Indian Oceans are dying because of rising water temperatures. Butterflies are migrating northward. Antarctica is melting. Northern hemisphere forests are being decimated by climate-related fires and insect infestations. The Great Plains states are becoming deserts, as are areas of Southern Europe. Tropical diseases such as malaria and West Nile fever are spreading northwards as temperatures rise.
These are all facts that are incontestably documented by science today, and each of them is directly linked to the climate change brought about by global warming. The earth and its species are in for a tough time in the century ahead. Extreme weather patterns caused by the heating up of the planet is already creating climatic chaos: horrible downpours and snow in some areas, rising temperatures and drought in others, hurricanes, tornadoes, forest fires, and so on. And for the most part it's been caused by the incredibly high rate of fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions--6 billion tons (and counting) a year.
Ross Gelspan argues that the science is clear; most of the world's leading scientists agree that fossil fuels are causing the problem. The rub is that the oil and coal industries--at $10 trillion, the largest in human history--have an obvious vested interest in convincing the public and lawmakers that global warming is all Chicken Little stuff. So they fund a handful of dissenting scientists who, like tobacco industry scientists a few years ago, are in the business of convincing the public that global warming is a myth. Conservative lawmakers have been particularly receptive to their line, and this in turn has affected public policy for the worse.
Gelbspan's book is horrifying in its diagnosis of global warming and the extent to which the fossil fuel industry has protected its own interests at the expense of the planet's. But the book also makes clear that the technology to replace the world's use of fossil fuels already exists, and concludes with a plan of action for weaning ourselves from our oil addictions.
Make no mistake about it, however: things will get worse, and perhaps much worse, before they get better. We're only beginning to feel the effects of carbon dioxide emissions from 50 years ago. We've yet to feel the whammy from our current frenzied use. When we do, God help us.
Amazing polarity.......2004-02-20
I found the book to be right on par with my own research into the effects of "global warming". His conclusions are actually pretty tame compared with mid to worst case scenarios I have heard from eminent environmental scientists.
That being said, the fact that there are so many 1 star ratings tells me that the PR campaign is in great force. It is absolutely true that people don't want to believe that there is any threat from global warming or pollution, so they are more susceptible to the falsehoods proposed by the oil, coal and gas companies.
You can meet all of his goals as stated, and even be MORE energy conscious, and not have to give up your car, stereo, twinkies, pizza or boat(s). You can be wealthy or poor (as you like). You can consume to your heart's content. All you have to do is DEMAND ENERGY EFFICIENCY. And of course, the Government has to get out of the oil companies back pocket(s) by ridding us of oil subsidies.
Cars can burn alcohol (like brazil does in 40% of its cars) and/or bio-diesel (like Germany and other european countries do in 30%+ of their vehicles) made from veg-oil. We can make limitless supplies of these two fuels.. why the hell do we need crude oil? Well, it's because oil companies want us to drink crude oil because it is cheaper for them to produce than vegetable based fuels. Also because switching to veg based fuels switches the power base.. now any joe can fuel his car with farm alcohol.. eek! Lost Revenue! Why do you think that the 'New Fuel Cell Technology' being developed is going to use compunds which are completely unfeasible for the backyard chemist to produce?
No, the situation is not as it is depictied by our friendly author here.. its worse. Try to make a change for the better. Make the world a better place for all of its children and burn some corn instead of dead dinosaurs.
This guy is a joke.......2002-02-27
If you want to read distorted facts then go ahead and waste your time. Otherwise stay away. Any respected organization will admit that Gelbspan is a joke.
Average customer rating:
|
Plant Responses to Air Pollution and Global Change
Manufacturer: Springer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Biotechnology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biology
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Botany
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
Biotechnology
| Bioengineering
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Air
| Pollution
| Environmental
| Civil
| Engineering
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Biotechnology
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Botany
| Biological Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
Environmental Science
| Earth Sciences
| Professional Science
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
All Titles
| Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007
| Stores
| Books
ASIN: 4431310134 |
Book Description
The main impetus for climate change is the elevated concentration of CO
2 in the atmosphere. Carbon dioxide and air pollutants arise largely from the same industrial sources and are diffused throughout the world, so that air pollution is also part of global change. The impacts on plants have complex interrelationships and lead to changes in land cover and atmospheric and soil environments. Plant metabolism of CO
2 and air pollutants and gas fluxes in plant ecosystems influence global gas cycles as well. This book includes current topics on plant metabolism of air pollutants and elevated CO
2, responses of whole plants and plant ecosystems, genetics and molecular biology for functioning improvement, experimental ecosystems and climate change research, global carbon-cycle monitoring in plant ecosystems, and other important issues. The authors, conducting research in Europe, the United States, Australia, and East Asia, present a wealth of information on their work in the field.
Books:
- Great Smoky Mountains National Park Angler's Companion
- Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage
- Guide To Undertaking Biodiversity Legal And Institutional Profiles: A Contribution To The Global Biodiversity Strategy (Iucn Environmental Policy and Law Paper)
- Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 3: Environment, Origins, and Population: Environment, Origins, and Population (Handbook of North American Indians)
- Harvard Business Review on Advances in Strategy
- Heart of a Soldier
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
- Hornblower During the Crisis (Hornblower Saga)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- History: Fiction or Science
- Healthy Helpings: 800 Fast and Fabulous Recipes for the Kosher
- Dracula: The Connoisseur's Guide
- Diana Princess of Wales by Mario Testino at Kensington Palace: Princess of Wales
- Cinema for French Conversation: Le Cinema en Cours de Francais, Second Edition
- Galois Theory
- Facing the Lion: Growing Up Maasai on the African Savanna
- Taxation, reimbursement : agreement between the United States of America and the Universal Postal Un
- Ergowise: A Personal Guide to Making Your Workspace Comfortable and Safe
- Prince of Edisto: Brigadier General Micah Jenkins, CSA
Unstoppable Global Warming: Every 1,500 Years
Shattered Consensus: The True State of Global Warming
The Chilling Stars: The New Theory of Climate Change
Meltdown: The Predictable Distortion of Global Warming by Scientists, Politicians, and the Media
It's the Sun, Not Your SUV: Co2 Will Not Destroy The Earth
The Earth's Magnetism: An Introduction for Geologists
Avalanche Dynamics
Groundwater Geophysics: A Tool for Hydrogeology
