The White Planet: The Evolution and Future of Our Frozen World
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carbon monoxide (CO), 170, 269
carbonates, 134
Caribbean, the, 216
Casey Base, 104
cellulose, 59
Chacaltaya Glacier, 23, 223
Champollion, Jean-François, 54
Chappellaz, Jérôme, 112, 147
Charcot, Jean-Baptiste, 32, 34, 86
Charcot base, 255
China, 23, 58, 63, 151, 216, 220; CO2 emissions in, 171; increase in CO2 emissions in, 233
chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), 162, 170, 270, 271
chloride (Cl–), 71, 170; chloride 36, 128
Chomette, Guy-Pierre, 225
chronology, 59, 110, 112, 126, 135, 137, 151, 154; of ice core samples, 78–79; of volcanic eruptions, 78
clathrates, 210; decomposition of, 44
Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), 232
climate, future of, 201; climate models concerning, 202–3; climatic projections derived from models, 205–6; the true threat of climate upheaval, 202–6. See also glaciers, future of
climate change: adaption to, 241–42; during the last millennium, 183–85; ice as an indicator of, 14, 16; importance of research concerning, 247–49. See also aerosols; climate/temperature oscillations; Earth, history of temperature and climate change on; greenhouse effect; greenhouse gases; human activity, awareness of the impact of human activity on the climate; human activity, and the composition of the atmosphere
Climate Conference. See United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)
“Climategate,” 189–90, 194
Climate/Long Range Investigation Mappings and Predictions Project (CLIMAP), 110
climate/temperature oscillations, 130, 149, 191, 193; and catastrophic events during warm periods, 139–42; clear indications of, 132–33; confirmation of, 134–37; connection of to the ocean, 143–44, 146; consequences of on a planetary scale, 147–48; initial evidence of, 91–92, 130–32; initial underestimating of temperature changes, 142–43
climatologists, 174–75
clouds, 87, 115, 116, 161, 175; cumulonimbus clouds, 4; effect of aerosols on, 181; and retroactions, 203–4
CNRS, 79
coccolites, 61
Cold Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL), 83, 84, 89, 91
Commissariat à l’Energie Atomique (CEA), 83, 87
Concordia Station, 252, 258–60
Conference of Parties (COP), 230–31, 234–35
Congo, 23
continental archives, 62–64; dating of, 64–66
continental biosphere, 77, 115
Cook, James, 18, 31
Copenhagen, 82, 84, 136
Copenhagen conference, 236; failure of, 189, 238–39
copper (Cu), 264–66
coral/coral reefs, 60; of Barbados, 137; effect of global warming on, 221; formation of “terraces” on, 62; measurement of carbon 14 in, 64–65
cosmic rays, 152
Courtillot, Vincent, 189
Craig, Harmon, 96
Creseveur, Michel, 94
Croll, James, 39, 48, 76
Crutzen, Paul, 271, 274
cryosphere, 5, 14, 19, 199, 212, 248
Danish Istuk drill, 100
Dansgaard, Willi, 82, 83, 94, 96, 97, 98, 131, 132, 173
Dansgaard-Oeschger events, 92, 139, 142, 144, 148; and the analysis of stalagmites, 146, 147
Darwin glacier (Chile), 6
David, Hélène, 225
deforestation, 153, 168, 171, 238, 269
deglaciation, 116, 125, 136, 148, 149
Delmas, Robert, 89, 90, 111
dendroclimatology, 59, 60
Denmark, 28, 97, 100, 225, 249
deuterium (D), 54, 55, 70, 76, 85, 120, 128; analysis of on the ice of Antarctica and Greenland, 90, 146
diatoms, 61
Dôme A, 260
Dôme C, 97, 100, 103, 111, 119, 122–23, 148, 155, 165, 253, 254, 259; dating of ice cores in, 78, 126; drilling to reach the bedrock of, 98–99; ice core drilling in, 88–90, 92, 108, 124–26; interest of astronomers and astrophysicists in, 260
Dôme Fuji, 103, 108, 109, 123, 126
Donnadieu, Yannick, 43
Donnou, Daniel, 89
Drake Passage, 45
Drewry, David, 100
Dreyfus, Gabrielle, 119, 126
Drobriansky, Paula, 235
Dronning Maud Land (DML), 100, 147–48
Dubois, Jacques, 86
Dumont d’Urville, Jules, 7, 31, 86
Dumont d’Urville Base, 86, 88, 99, 100, 258; average temperature recorded at, 7
dust, 71, 72, 78, 90, 111, 115, 135, 137, 144, 254, 263; fallout of desert dust, 119; magnetic dust, 42; radioactive dust, 268
Duval, Paul, 90
Dye3, 92, 110, 111, 132, 134, 135, 137; changes recorded at, 143
Earth, 40, 75, 116, 203, 248; absorption of the Sun’s energy by, 159–60; axis of rotation of, 7, 159; connection between Earth’s position and its orbit around the Sun, 39; inversion of the Earth’s magnetic field, 126, 128–29; magnetic field of, 261–62; orbit of and glacial periods, 46–47, 79, 173; “Snowball Earth,” 43; surface temperature of, 40, 161–62; water content of, 3. See also Earth, history of temperature and climate change on
Earth, history of temperature and climate change on: and the accumulation of data from oceanic and continental archives, 66–67; and the distant past, 60; limitations of the historical approach to climate measurement, 58–59; and the recent period, 57–60. See also continental archives; human activity, and the composition of the atmosphere; loess, climatic indications present in
Earth Summit, 227
East Africa, 23
East Antarctica, 12, 13, 34–35, 87, 100, 103, 123, 199, 255, 256
East Germany, 231
Eastern Europe, 231
Échets, 146
Eemian period, rapid/catastrophic events of, 139–42
Egypt, 58
Ekström, Göran, 198
El Niño, 105, 148, 150, 185
El Salvador, CO2 emissions in, 171
Elephant Island, 27
Elkohlm, Nils, 75
emperor penguins, 250–51
Endurance, 26, 32
England. See United Kingdom
Ente per le Nuove Technologie l’Energia e l’Ambiante (ENEA), 99
Eocene/Oligocene transition, 44–45
EPICA (European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica), 100, 108–9, 122, 126, 154, 259
Erebus, 24
Eric the Red, 28
Eurasia, 45
Europa, 257
Europe, 152, 220, 235; reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in, 233. See also Eastern Europe; Western Europe
European Community (EC), 231, 233
European “Great Challenges,” 100
European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica. See EPICA (European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica)
European Remote Sensing (ERS 1) satellite, 30–31, 256
European Science Foundation (ESF), 97, 100
European Space Agency (ESA), 31
evaporation, 94, 174, 176, 202, 222; and “latent heat,” 163; of ocean water, 16, 60, 62, 163, 174, 176
Expéditions Polaires Françaises (EPF), 86, 99
Filchner Shelf, 34
Finland, 249
fission, 65
Florida, 221
fluoride (F), 71
foraminifera, 61; concentration of chemical elements in, 62; concentration of oxygen 18 in, 61–62; marine foraminifera, 131
fossil fuels, 164, 165, 168, 178, 181, 210, 228, 233, 237, 264, 269, 272; CO2 emissions from, 171–72, 204
Foucart, Stéphane, 191
Fourier, Joseph, 75, 76, 163
fractionation: of gaseous compounds, 143; isotopic fractionation, 55–56, 76; and precipitation, 61; water and the fractionation process, 55–57. See also calcium carbonate (CaCO3), and isotopic fractionation
Fram, 24
Français, 32
France, 22, 63, 97, 1
00, 101, 121, 189, 231, 255; effects of global warming in, 222–23; generation of electricity in, 172; reduction of greenhouse gases in, 233 (see also Grenelle de l’environnement); temperature record of, 58
Franklin, John, 23–24
Franz Josef Land, 25
Franz-Josef glacier, 208
French Académie des Sciences, 195
Gauss, 32
Gébroulaz glacier, 208
Gendrin, Roger, 101
General Circulation Models, development of, 202
geodesic chaining, 29
geophysicists, and the “inverse” methods, 80
geothermal flux, 30
Gerlache, Adrien de, 32
Germany, 60, 97, 99, 100; reduction of greenhouse gases in, 233
Gif-sur-Yvette, 111
Gillet, François, 89
glacial archives, 68; and air bubbles, 74–77; multiple sources of impurities in, 71–73
glacial lakes, 102, 120–21, 149
glacial periods, 131–32
glacial-interglacial cycle, 112, 149, 154–55, 253
glaciations, 123, 253, 254; alignment of glacial deposits, 42–43; in Antarctica, 45; and atmospheric CO2, 39; in Europe (the Wurm, Riss, Mindel, and Gunz glaciations), 39, 41; magnetic dust in glacial deposits, 42; Ordovician glaciation, 44; past glaciations, 41–46; Permian glaciation, 44; of the Quaternary and astronomic theory, 46–49, 163; theories of past glaciations, 38–39, 41
Glacier de Leschaux, 20
Glacier de Saint-Sorlin, 21
Glacier de Talèfre, 20
Glacier des Périades, 20
Glacier du Géant, 20
glaciers, 16, 18, 197–98, 200; Alpine glaciers, 6, 21, 23, 88, 180, 206–7; area covered by mountain glaciers, 6; dynamics of, 19–20; decrease in albedo of, 206–7; future of, 206–9; loss of through ablation, 206; mass balance and glacier health, 21–23; mountain glaciers, 5–7; number of mountain glaciers, 6; position of the terminal tongue (front of a glacier), 20–21; variations in length of, 20–21. See also specific individually listed glaciers
glaciochemists, 72
glaciological models, 79–80
glaciologists, 68, 70
Global Carbon Project, 168, 233
Global Change program, 177
global warming, 116, 179–80, 273–74; acceleration of, 185–86, 197–98; certainty of, 185–87; differences between warming measured on Earth’s surface and the atmosphere, 194; skepticism concerning, 189–91, 193–95; and the white planet, 195–200. See also global warming, multiple consequences of; global warming, solutions for
global warming, multiple consequences of, 218; for agriculture, 219; for animals, 223–24; for coastal areas, 220; for coral, 221; economic and political consequences, 225–26; and general global upheaval, 218–22; for human health, 221–22; for human populations in the Arctic, 224–25; for mountain ranges, 222–23; and the possibility of “climate refugees,” 220–21, 225; for polar ecosystems, 223–25; for tourism, 221, 222, 223, 248; water resource problems, 219–20
global warming, solutions for, 227; meeting the challenges of slowing global warming, 236–37, 248; stabilizing the greenhouse effect, 228–30. See also Bali Conference; Grenelle de l’environnement; Kyoto Protocol
Gondwana, 44
Gorbachev, Mikhail, 250
Gore, Al, 209–10, 221, 234, 275
GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment), 31, 36
grape harvests, and the recording of summer temperatures, 58
gravity, 76
Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment. See GRACE (Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment)
greenhouse effect, 74–75, 129, 176, 183, 203, 250; as a beneficial natural phenomenon, 159–63; and climate, 113–16, 118; as a result of human activity, 163–66, 168–72; stabilization of, 228–30
greenhouse gases, 43–44, 116, 162, 203, 221, 250, 254, 269, 273; anthropogenic greenhouse gas concentrations, 185, 187, 271; “indirect” greenhouse gases, 172; reduction of in Europe, 233; stabilization of, 227
Greenland, 7, 12, 18, 25, 35, 38, 49, 68, 71, 72, 73, 85, 125, 130, 132, 141, 180, 194, 221; accumulation and ablation conditions of, 29–30; atmospheric pollution of, 264–65; climate relationships between Greenland and the North Atlantic, 144–45; coastal regions of, 197–98; contribution of to the rise in sea levels, 212, 213, 214; dating of ice cores in, 78; first glaciological measurements of, 28–29; highest region of the Greenland Plateau, 97; ice sheets of, 5, 10–11, 30, 46, 82–83, 200, 247, 253, 260; impurities in the ice of, 134; inhabitation of, 28; isotopic records of, 111; lead pollution in, 262–64; methane in the ice of, 149–50; mini-glacial earthquakes in, 198; movement of ice in, 69; and negative mass balance, 28–31; “sawtooth” sequences/structure of Greenland ice, 137, 144, 148; size of, 10; subglacial river discovered under the ice of, 107; sulfates in, 266–67; surface of covered by ice, 11; temperature measurements, 76, 146, 147, 148, 149; temperature variations in the ice of, 136–37, 149. See also Greenland, ice drilling in by researchers from Europe and the United States
Greenland, ice drilling in by researchers from Europe and the United States, 96–98, 106–7. See also GRIP (Greenland Ice Core Project); GISP (Greenland Ice Sheet Project
Greenland Ice Core Project (GRIP). See GRIP (Greenland Ice Core Project)
Greenland Ice Sheet Project. See (GISP) Greenland Ice Sheet Project
Greenland Sea, 25
Grenelle de l’environnement, 242–44, 274
Grenoble, 79, 88, 89, 90, 94, 98, 104, 108, 119, 128
GRIP (Greenland Ice Core Project), 97, 100, 103, 106, 125, 134, 147; dating of the GRIP ice cores, 135–37; instabilities in the GRIP records, 140–41; North GRIP, 107 109, 146, 253; origins of, 97–98; success of, 99; work of in the “scientific trench,” 135–36
GISP (Greenland Ice Sheet Project), 91; GISP2, 97, 98, 106, 125, 134, 137, 141
growth rings, of trees. See dendroclimatology
Gulf Stream, 12, 134, 144; possible halting of, 214–17
Gunderstrup, Niels, 91
Haiti, CO2 emissions in, 171
Halligen Islands, 220
halogen, 71
halogen compounds, 162, 168–69, 170–71, 172
Hansen, Jim, 176, 185–86, 193–94, 203
Hayes, Jim, 49, 65, 90, 110
Heinrich layers, 143, 144
heliothermometer, 163
Highjump operation, 32–33
Himalayas, 6, 105
Högbom, Arvid, 75
Hoggar, 44
Holocene period, 66–67, 104, 132, 149, 150, 166, 272; monsoons during, 150; stability of the climate during, 123–24; volcanic eruptions during, 78. See also human activity, and the composition of the atmosphere
Homo erectus, 272
Homo habilis, 272
Howard, John, 232
Huet, Sylvestre, 191
human activity, 272–73; awareness of the impact of human activity on the climate, 174–76, 201; and the composition of the atmosphere, 152–55, 168–72, 173–74; and the rise of pollution, 261–62; and temperature changes in the Northern Hemisphere, 183–85
Humboldt Glacier, 11–12
hydrocarbons, 172
hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs), 170–71
hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), 171
hydrosphere, 3, 3–5, 8, 257; as an agent and indicator of climate change, 14, 16; air bubbles in, 74–77; blending of ice layers and the dating of ice cores, 141–42; chemical composition of modified by volcanic activity, 151; CO2 content of, 87; decrease in sea ice, 176; electrical conductivity of, 136; ice older than that at Vostok, 123–26; isotopes of, 70–71; issues concerning ice dating, 77–81; microbiology of, 255–58; plasticity of, 19, 69; “sawtooth” sequences/structure of Greenland ice, 137, 144, 148; sea ice, 5, 12, 16, 24–25, 31, 32, 62, 78, 83, 99, 115, 116, 150, 176, 196–97, 198–99, 201, 223–24, 248 (see also Arctic Ocean); transition between water vapor and ice, 16
ice caps, 5–7, 11, 14, 16, 18, 37, 38, 70, 88, 158, 200, 2
01, 219, 212, 248, 254; altitude of glacial ice caps, 77; glacial ice caps, 6–7, 10; in Iceland, 6; total area of, 6–7
ice core drilling, 110–11; and the dating of ice cores, 78–81; deep core drilling in central Antarctica, 103–5; deviations in drilling of ice cores, 92; drilling by the Japanese, 103; drilling in Greenland, 106–7; initial deep ice core drillings, 82–85; objectives of glacial ice coring, 253–54; problems with drilling for ice cores, 141. See also Dôme C; European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica (EPICA); Greenland, ice drilling in by researchers from Europe and the United States; Vostok/Vostok Station
ice platforms, 10–14
ice sheets, 14, 16, 18, 30, 38, 40, 42, 44, 62, 70, 77, 86, 112, 118, 151, 187, 191, 272, 274; of Antarctica, 5, 12–13, 247, 260; density of, 69; depletion of oxygen 18 in, 61; of Greenland, 5, 10–11, 30, 46, 82–83, 200, 247, 253, 260; loss of, 200; of North America, 144, 149; of the Northern Hemisphere, 46, 122–23
ice shelves, 11, 199–200, 252; Larsen B Ice Shelf, 199; of West Antarctica, 13–14; Wilkins Ice Shelf, 199
icebergs, 12, 13–14, 144; dating of Greenland icebergs, 83; influence of on deep water circulation, 66
Iceland, 6, 97, 250
Imbrie, John, 37–39, 49, 90, 110
Imbrie, Katherine, 38–39
India, 150, 220; increase in CO2 emissions in, 233
Indian Ocean, 147, 165; dating of cores from, 65
infrared radiation, absorption of by the atmosphere, 162
inlandis (“ice in the middle of the land”), 10
insolation, 77, 118, 150, 159–60; measure of by astronomical parameters (eccentricity, obliquity/tilt, precession of the equinoxes), 46–48, 160
Institut de Recherche et Développement (IRD), 106
Institut Français de Recherche et de Technologies Polaires (IFRTP), 99, 100, 101, 104, 252
Institut Pierre-Simon-Laplace, 202
Institut Polaire Français Paul Emile (IPEV), 104, 252, 254, 259
Institute of Microbiology of the Academy of Sciences (Russia), 256
InterAcademy Council, 190
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. See IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change)
International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), 177, 249, 251
International Energy Agency (IEA), 230
International Geophysical Year (IGY [1957–1958]), 29, 34, 85, 86, 249, 255, 261; launching of satellites during, 250