Whole Story of Climate: What Science Reveals About the Nature of Endless Change

Price: $26.00 - $16.99
(as of Oct 13, 2026 22:44:11 UTC – Details)


In the publicity surrounding global warming, climate scientists are usually the experts consulted by the media. We rarely hear from geologists, who for almost two hundred years have been studying the history of Earth’s dramatic and repeated climate revolutions, as revealed in the evidence of rocks and landscapes. This book, written by a geologist, describes the important contributions that geology has made to our understanding of climate change. What emerges is a much more complex and nuanced picture than is usually presented. While the average person often gets the impression that the Earth’s climate would be essentially stable if it weren’t for the deleterious effects of greenhouse gases, in fact the history of the earth over many millennia reveals a constantly changing climate. As the author explains, several long cold eras have been punctuated by shorter warm periods. The most recent of these warm spells, the one in which we are now living, started ten thousand years ago; based on previous patterns, we should be about due for the return of another frigid epoch. Some scientists even think that the warming of the planet caused by man-made greenhouse gasses tied to agriculture in the past few thousand years may have held off the next ice age. Though this may be possible, much remains uncertain. But what is clearly known is that major climate shifts can be appallingly rapid–occurring over as little as twenty or thirty years. One danger of dumping greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is that they may increase the chance that this “climate switch” will be thrown, with catastrophic effects on worldwide agriculture. Besides her discussion of climate, the author includes chapters on how early naturalists pieced together the complicated geological history of Earth, and she teaches the reader how to interpret the evidence of rock formations and landscape patterns all around us. Accessible and engagingly written, this book is essential reading for anyone looking to understand one of our most important contemporary debates.
ASIN ‏ : ‎ B00ADQQBHW
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Prometheus
Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
Publication date ‏ : ‎ November 20, 2012
Edition ‏ : ‎ Reprint
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 1.6 MB
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Print length ‏ : ‎ 292 pages
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1616146733
Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Best Sellers Rank: #1,295,410 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store) #256 in Weather (Kindle Store) #302 in Geology (Kindle Store) #575 in Rivers in Earth Science
Customer Reviews: 4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars (182) var dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction; P.when(‘A’, ‘ready’).execute(function(A) { if (dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction !== true) { dpAcrHasRegisteredArcLinkClickAction = true; A.declarative( ‘acrLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault”: true }, function (event) { if (window.ue) { ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrLinkClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } } ); } }); P.when(‘A’, ‘cf’).execute(function(A) { A.declarative(‘acrStarsLink-click-metrics’, ‘click’, { “allowLinkDefault” : true }, function(event){ if(window.ue) { ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”, (ue.count(“acrStarsLinkWithPopoverClickCount”) || 0) + 1); } }); });
Customers find the book well-written and easy to understand, providing an excellent presentation of scientific facts while taking readers through the history of climate studies. Moreover, the book receives positive feedback for its unbiased approach, separating climate hype from actual cycles, and customers appreciate that it’s untainted by overt political agendas. Additionally, they praise its readability and engaging style, noting it keeps readers enthralled from beginning to end.