ABSTRACT
'An impressive accomplishment. Al Gore, Former Vice President of the US, co-recipient of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, and author of An Inconvenient Truth Offers positive solutions that no rational person, organization or government can ignore - except at their peril. Stephen H. Schneider, Professor for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies, Stanford University, and author of The Genesis Strategy: Climate and Global Survival The science is clear and the message of this book is that there is no more time for delay. Rosina M. Bierbaum, Dean, University of Michigan While changes in emissions and atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases are projected to be slow and smooth, the intensity and impacts of climate change on the environment and society could be abrupt and erratic. Surprising and nonlinear responses are likely to occur as warming exceeds certain thresholds, inducing relatively rapid and disruptive changes in the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, precipitation intensity and patterns, coastal inundation, the occurrence of wildfire, the ranges of plant and animal species and more. Written by a transdisciplinary group of internationally respected researchers, this book explores the possibilities of such changes, their significance for society and efforts to move more rapidly to limit climate change than current government measures.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
part I|37 pages
The Potential for Rapid Changes to the Weather and Climate
part II|36 pages
The Potential for Rapid Melting of Ice and Amplification of Sea Level Rise
chapter 6|6 pages
Why Predicting West Antarctic Ice Sheet Behavior is so Hard
part III|78 pages
The Potential for Dramatic Changes in Coastal Regions
chapter 8|18 pages
The Northern Gulf of Mexico Coast
chapter 10|10 pages
Increasing the Resilience of Our Coasts
part IV|45 pages
The End of Evolution? The Potential for Rapid Changes in Ecosystems
part V|85 pages
The Potential for Accelerating Action to Limit Climate Change