Imagine a world of wildly escalating temperatures, apocalyptic flooding, devastating storms and catastrophic sea levels. This might sound like a prediction for the future or the storyline of a new Hollywood blockbuster but it’s actually what occurred on earth in the past. In a day and age when worrying forecasts for future climate change are the norm, it seems hard to believe that such things happened regularly over time. Can humankind decipher the past and learn from it?

As science gains new understanding of how the planet works, it’s becoming increasingly clear that no one place is disconnected from anywhere else. From the Alps to the Andes, seemingly unrelated parts of the world are connected in one way or another. By reading this book you’ll realize that we're facing challenges beyond anything our species has had to contend with before.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 5.0 based on 1 review)

Deciphering the Climates of the Distant Past

This book is absolutely brimming with scientific information. The author, a geologist specializing on past climate changes, takes the reader on a fascinating quest: to quantify the variations in past climates and to understand the mechanisms precipitating these variations. Spanning a period starting about 55 million years ago, the book covers a variety of methods that scientists use to tease out information on past climates. Understandably, determining what has happened in the distant past can be very tricky and is open to interpretation; this is where the author brilliantly illustrates the scientific method at work. It is clear from this book, especially the final chapter, that the author is convinced that humans are at least partly responsible for the currently observed global warming; consequently, he worries about the future if nothing is done soon to remedy the situation. The writing style is quite clear, friendly, authoritative and accessible. This book can be enjoyed by anyone, but would likely be appreciated the most by science buffs - whether they agree with the author's views on the human contribution to climate change or not.
June 18, 2008

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