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Index
The pagination of this electronic edition does not match the edition from which it was created. To locate a specific passage, please use the search feature of your e-book reader.
Italic page numbers refer to photographs and charts.
A2 (high carbon emissions) scenario, 39–42
acid rain, 37
acidification of oceans, 10, 34, 40, 72–73, 77, 102–17, 152
activists, climate, 129–30, 240–41
Adelaide, Australia, 136
Adirondack Journal of Environmental Studies, 213, 217
Adirondack Life, 210, 213, 220
Adirondack region
climate changes expected for, 208–22, 224, 226
ice age effects in, 14–16
State Park, 208, 226–27
warming trend in recent years, 210–22
Africa
lakes, 187–88
tropical, 184
See also East Africa; southern Africa
Age of Humans. See Anthropocene epoch
Age of Mammals, 68
agriculture, climate effects of, 9
air, composition of, 237–38
Alaska, 65, 157, 159
algae
Arctic Ocean, 150
lakes, 89–92
ocean, 108, 115–16
Alibrio, Mr. (high school teacher), 119–20
Alley, Richard, 171
alpacas, 194
alpine species, extinction of, 226
Alps, snow and ice retreat, 207
alternative energy sources, switch to, 230, 235–37
amateur naturalists, observations of, 218–20
Amazon rain forest, 197
Americas, ancient, 62
Amsterdam, flooding, in middle ages, 133
Andes, 192–96, 202
animals
alien, invasive, 231
boreal species, 225
Cenozoic, 80–83
death by CO2, 47
evolution of, 5–6
generalists, success of, 151
migration of, following climate changes, 61–62, 66, 82–83, 146–47, 150–55, 225
oxygen “pollution” by, 5–6
stunted in a CO2-rich atmosphere, 81–82
Antarctica
formation of ice sheets, 68, 69, 135, 139–40
ice core sampling from, 23, 50–51, 52, 55–56
ice-free in Cenozoic era, 76
ice sheets, predicted loss of, 11, 35, 42, 123
sea level rise if ice sheet melts, 122–23
seawater flowing from, 108–9
slide-off of ice sheet, possible, 35, 124, 130–31, 140, 164
survival of ice sheets in a warming world, 35, 65
temperature, summer and winter, 140
temperature rise during Eemian interglacial, 53–56
See also East Antarctic ice sheet; West Antarctic ice sheet
Anthropocene epoch (Age of Humans), 1, 4–12
beginning date of, 8–9
changes brought by, 231–32, 241–42
species extinction during, 4, 62–63
Appalachians, 211
aragonite, shells built from, 104–6, 111
Archer, David, 2, 32, 35, 39, 41, 48, 74, 106
Arctic land regions, 153–60
biodiversity of, 153–54
initial formation of ice sheets, 68
invasion of lower latitude life into, 153–54
mineral wealth, 159–60, 174
territorial claims, 158
Arctic Ocean
“Atlantification” of, 150
future productive ecosystem of, 151–52, 173
ice-free future, 139–61
loss of sea ice, 10–11, 58, 65, 140–41
maritime routes across, 156–58
sea-surface temperature in Cenozoic era, 70–71, 76
Arctic Oscillation, 141
Aristotle, 8
Ashjian, Carin, 149
Asia
ancient, 60
climatology of, 184
asteroids, and extinction threat, 44
Atlantic Ocean, 17–21
Australia
ancient, 59, 62
climate changes expected for, 223, 226
southern, drying of, 207
Avalon (ancient landmass), 239
B1 (moderate carbon emissions)
scenario, 33
bacteria, evolution of, 5
Baffin Iron Mines Corporation, 159
Baffin Island, 170
Bangkok, 137
Bangladesh, 134
Barents Sea, 148, 176
basalt, 39
bats, 224
bearded seals, 148
Beaufort Sea, 142, 156, 158
bedrock, rebounding of, 131, 169, 177–79
beetles, 61
Benguela current, 116
Bennike, Ole, 54
Bentley, Charles, 124
Berger, André, 24–25
Bering Strait, 121
bicarbonate molecules, 105
bicarbonate rocks, 38
biodiversity, loss of, 153–54
biological nomenclature, 8
Bittium reticulatum, 54
black holes, and extinction threat, 43
Black Sea, 126
Blanchon, Paul, 130, 136
Blombos Cave, 64
bofedales (Andean wetlands), 194–96, 194
bomb carbon (from nuclear testing), 98–101
&nb
sp; boreal species, 153, 226
Box, George, quoted, 181
brain cells, 100
Broecker, Wallace, 19–20, 229
Brovkin, Victor, 41
brown/grizzly bears, 146–47
Burroughs, John, quoted, 1
calcite, shells built from, 104, 106, 111
calcium, 105
calcium carbonate, 103
Caldeira, Ken, 111, 117
Cameroon, West Africa, 45–47
Canada
climate changes expected for, 225
fossil fuel resources, 160
territorial claims, 157–59
Canadian Arctic Archipelago, 142
Cape Herschel, 154, 155
Cape Province, South Africa, climate
changes expected for, 204–7, 223, 226
carbon
isotopes of, 87–88
saving it for future generations, 234–35
carbon-12, 87–96
carbon-13, 71–74, 87–93
carbon-14, 83, 87–88, 93–101
decay of, 96–97
formation in the upper atmosphere, 87, 95
health hazards of, 95
carbon crisis (turning point in Earth’s
future history), 12, 28, 43, 229
carbon dioxide
in air, 238
decline of, with phasing out of fossil fuels, 10
dissolved in oceans, 36, 103, 106, 115
emissions last “forever,” 32–33, 35–39
extraction of carbon by plants as body substance, 6
and greenhouse effect, 30
invisibility of, 86
massive release from deposits, 72–75
pumping it into the ocean, proposal, 117
reactions with carbonate rocks, 36–38, 103
recycling of, natural cycle of, 7
released from fossil fuel burning, 6–7
smothering by (Lake Nyos disaster), 45–47
carbon dioxide concentration in the
atmosphere
280 ppm (prior to the Anthropocene era), 7
350 ppm (goal of 350.org), 33
387 ppm (present value), 26, 50, 51
550–600 ppm scenario, 33–39, 50
2,000 ppm scenario, 39–42
high, preventing return of ice ages, 25–26
during ice ages, 51
during interglacial periods, 56
lowering of, natural cleanup
mechanisms and time needed for, 29–34, 35–39, 41–42, 160–61
natural fluctuation of, 8–9
stomatal index data indicating, 54
carbon emissions scenarios, 39–42, 40, 41
1,000 Gton (moderate) scenario, 33–39, 49, 134, 223–25
5,000 Gton (extreme) scenario, 39–42, 47–48, 50, 69, 134–35, 226
carbon isotope dating, 87–101
carbon isotope excursion, 71, 93
carbon pollution
doubters and deniers of, 86
effect on geoscientists’ studies, 86–101
long-term effects of, 1–3
carbon sequestration, in ocean, 117
carbonate-bicarbonate buffering system, 102–3
carbonate molecules, 105
carbonate rocks, reactions with carbon dioxide, 36–38, 103
carbonic acid
in the ocean, 103
in rainwater, 37
Cazenave, Anny, 122
cells, body, replacement of, 100
Cenozoic era, 68–69, 78–83
central Asia, climate changes expected for, 223
chalk, 36
change, fear of, 239
Chiarenzelli, Jeff, 219
China
ancient, 60
climate changes expected for, 207
limestone features in, 38
chlorophyll, 5
Chukchi Sea, 158
Churchill, Canada, 157
Churchill, Winston, quoted, 67
clathrate-gun hypothesis, 74
clathrates, 74, 75
clays, 76
climate change
and absence of refuges to escape to, 146
animals migrating in response to, 61–62, 66, 82–83, 146–47, 150–55, 225
calls to “take action,” 200
commitment to, 34
cooling direction of, in recent epochs, 29
“don’t panic and don’t give up,” 228–31
doubters and deniers of, 125, 148, 216–18
fatalistic do-nothing approach to, 48
flexibility in adapting to, 201–2
and geological changes to the land, 154
greenhouse gases and, 8–9, 65–66, 71
humans adapting to, 121, 157, 185–86
nonhuman causes of, 21–26
politicized discussion about, 143
possible benefits of, 102, 156–60, 197
uncertainty about, 130
whiplash effects in, 30–31
winners and losers from, 202, 239–40
See also Anthropocene epoch; global cooling; global warming
Climate Change Institute, University of Maine, Orono, 22
climate control
consciousness-raising about, 233
controlled burning of coal, suggested for, 234–35
obstacles to, from politics and media, 233
climate cycles
computation of, into the future, 23–26
overlapping and interacting, 22–26
climate models, computer-simulated, 31–42
checked against geohistorical studies, 49
El Niño, 199
Greenland, 123, 166, 171
Northeast U.S., 221–22
regional assessments, 209
tropical mountains, 196
climate prediction, for the deep future, 9–12, 23–26
climate system, variability and instability of, 23
Climate Wizard, 223
CLIMBER climate model, 32, 49
Clovis-age cultures, 66
coal
burning of, as suggested climate control measure, 234–35
CO2 released from burning of, 6–7
formation of, 6
coasts
cities on, sinking of, 137–38
collapse of, 156
population living on, effect of sea level change, 125, 133–35
coccolithophores, 108
Collins, Matthew, 199
conservation of matter, 32, 36
continental drift, 79
contrarians (doubters of climate change), 27, 86, 216
The Copenhagen Diagnosis, 184
corals
deepwater, 109–11
fossil, 57, 130, 136
reefs, 104, 130
survival of, in PETM epoch, 77
tropical, 112–13, 115
cosmic rays, 94–95
Cotacachi Glacier, 192
Cowell, Peter, 136
Croll, James, 23
Crutzen, Paul, 4, 8
Currano, Ellen, 82
cyclones, 197
dating, geological, methods of, 83, 87–101. See also carbon isotope dating; oxygen-18 dating; radiocarbon dating
The Day After Tomorrow (film), 17, 19
deep ocean life, 77
Dello, Kathie, 216
delta-13C, 92–93
Denmark
and Greenland, 164, 171–72, 176, 179–80
territorial claims, 157–59, 164
Derocher, Andrew, 143–49
deuterium, 55
diamonds, 159
diatoms, 152
dikes, 134
disease
and extinction threat, 43–44
movement of, through climate zones, 150–51, 225
outbreaks of, with weather change, 198
Distichia plant, 194
Djibouti, 186
Dowling, Matt, 4
drought, 184, 187–88, 196, 206–7
Dubai, 201
Dy
lan, Bob, 202
Earth
axis of rotation, 21–22
orbit around Sun, 21–22
earthquakes, rebound, 169, 177
East Africa, 197, 198
ancient, 59, 187
East Antarctic ice sheet
buildup of, 135, 140
melting of, potential, 123
survival of, 35
East Siberian Sea, 158
Eby, Michael, 35, 41
eccentricity oscillation, 22
Ecclesiastes, quotation from, 49
Ecological Monographs, 220
ecologists, effect of carbon pollution on work of, 87
Ecuador, 192
Eemian interglacial, 52–66
ice persistence in, 146, 169–70
sea level rise in, 130
tree migration in, 211
weather system of, 188, 190
Egypt, 197
Eirik the Red, 162
El Niño, 25, 116, 198–200
electric lighting, ubiquity of, 4
electronic documents, loss of data to obsolescence, 93–94
Ellesmere Island, 79, 154, 157, 159
Ellis, Erle, 240
The End of Nature (McKibben), 209
English Channel, 121
environmental history.
See paleoecology
Eocene epoch, 3, 68, 200
Epic of Gilgamesh, 126
quoted, 118
epochs, geologic, 3–4, 7
Eritrea, 64
Europe, 17–21
ancient, 62
climate changes expected for, 223
population displacement in, from sea level rise, 132–33
European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA), 51
evolution, adaptation of life by, 44
extinctions. See species extinction
Farrell, Mike, 221
Fast, Danna, 219
fat cells, 100
feedback loops, 75
Ferguson’s Gulf, 181–82, 182, 201–2
Findlay, Helen, 111
Fine, Maoz, 112
fire (wild), 207
Firetree (map), 128
fishing industry
Africa, 181–82
Arctic ocean, 173
destructive practices, 111
fish catches, 112, 116
impact on resources, 4
floods
epic (e.g., Noah’s), 118, 125–26
Holland, middle ages, 133–34
unrealistic use of term, 128–29
Florida, 128
shorelines, 129
Foley, Martha, 219
food webs
lakes, 92
north polar cap, 144
ocean, 107, 114–16
foraminifera (forams), 69–70
forensic scientists, work of, affected by carbon pollution, 87, 98
forests
boreal, 153
northward expansion of, 172