TY  - BOOK
AU  - Pittock, A. Barrie
TI  - Climate change : the science, impacts and solutions
SN  - 1844076482
U1  - 333.7 
PY  - 2009///
CY  - London
PB  - CSIRO Pub. Australia & Earthscan
N1  - CONTENTS Foreword   ix Acknowledgements    xi Introductionxiii 1. Climate change matters  1 Turning up the heat    2 Why is the present rapid warming happening?  7 The importance of delayed climate responses 1  0 Observed impacts  12 Trends in human vulnerability  15 Projections of future climate change  16 Facing the challenge  17 Conclusion  18 Endnotes    19 2. Learning from the past  23 Proxy data: clues from the past  24 The record of the ice ages  26 The causes of past climate change  27 Variations in the Earth's orbit  28 Role of greenhouse gases in amplifying climate changes  29 Variations in solar output  30 Volcanoes, cosmic collisions and aerosols  31 Rapid climate changes in the past  32 The last 10 000 years  35 Conclusions from the past record  37 Endnotes    39 3. Projecting the future  43 The need for, and nature of, foresight  43 Predictions, scenarios and projections  44 The emissions scenarios used by the IPCC  45 Projections of socio-economic futures  49 Forecasting the weather  51 Why climate projections are different  52 How good are climate models?  53 The state of climate projections  56 Endnotes  57 4. Uncertainty is inevitable, but risk is certain  59 Despite uncertainties, decisions have to be made  59 Uncertainty in climate change projections  60 From polarisation to probability and risk  63 Estimating risk  67 Uncertainty and the role of sceptics  69 Application of the 'precautionary principle'  73 Endnotes  74 5. What climate changes are likely?  77 Projected climate changes  78 Surface warming  80 Regional warmings  82 Precipitation and evaporation  82 Extreme events  84 Sea-level rise  87 Thresholds and abrupt or irreversible changes  93 Scenarios in a nutshell  97 Endnotes  99 6. Impacts : why be concerned?  107 Climate change impacts - reasons for concern  109 Thresholds and abrupt changes  110 Risks to unique and threatened systems  111 Risks from extreme climate events  115 Distribution of impacts  118 Aggregate impacts 121 Waking the sleeping giants  122 Effects of a breakdown in the ocean circulation  122 Rapid sea-level rise from melting ice sheets  124 Runaway carbon dynamics  125 Security implications  126 Stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations  126 Growing reasons for concern  128 Endnotes  129 7. Adaptation: living with climate change  133 Adaptation concepts and strategies  133 Costs and benefits of adaptation  136 Implementation  137 Effects of different rates of climatic change  140 Equity issues in adaptation  141 Enhancing adaptive capacity  144 Endnotes  145 8. Mitigation: limiting climate change  149 Why mitigation is necessary  149 Targets  : how much mitigation is needed?  150 Where we are now  157 How difficult is mitigation?  159 The looming peak in oil production  165 Mitigation options  167 Increased energy efficiency  167 Changes in infrastructure and behaviour  170 Fuel substitution  172 Nuclear power  174 Hydropower  176 Solar energy  177 Wind power  180 Biomass energy  182 Tidal and wave energy  186 Geothermal power  187 The hydrogen economy  188 Carbon capture and sequestration  190 Land-based carbon sinks  194 Geoengineering possibilities  197 Technological innovation: attitude is vital  201 The road to effective mitigation  202 Endnotes  206 9. Climate change in context  223 Surface air pollution and climate change  225 Stratospheric ozone depletion225 Land-use change, biodiversity, agriculture and forestry226 Land degradation and desertification227 Freshwater supply  227 Population growth  229 Synergies and trade-offs  231 Integration, sustainable development and equity  232 Postscript: connections between economic and climate crises  234 Endnotes  236 10. The politics of greenhouse  239 Is the science credible?  239 What about the uncertainty?  241 How realistic are the scenarios?  242 Choosing global and local emissions targets  243 How urgently do we need to act?  246 How much will reducing emissions cost?  247 Meeting targets most efficiently  249 International equity: what is fair? 254 The importance of equity within countries  260 Equity between generations  261 The role of governments and NGOs  262 What role should business take?  264 ihe role of state and local governments  268 So what are the politics of greenhouse? 270 Endnotes  271 11. International concern and national interests  277 A brief history  277 The Kyoto Protocol  280 National interests and climate change  282 African nations  283 Australia and New Zealand  284 China  289 European Union  291 India, Pakistan and Bangladesh  293 Latin America  295 The Russian Federation  296 Small Island States  298 United States of America  300 The common interest in global solutions  306 Endnotes  307 12.  Accepting the challenge  317 Looking beyond the Kyoto Protocol  321 Addressing the key issues 324 Endnotes  326 Glossary (with acronyms)  329 Index  337
ER  -