Climate, History and the Modern World [Paperback]

Hubert H. Lamb (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 1995 | ISBN-10: 0415127351 | ISBN-13: 978-0415127356 | Edition: 2

We live in a world that is increasingly vulnerable to climatic shocks - affecting agriculture and industry, government and international trade, not to mention human health and happiness. Serious anxieties have been aroused by respected scientists warning of dire perils that could result from upsets of the climatic regime. In this internationally acclaimed book, Emeritus Professor Hubert Lamb examines what we know about climate, how the past record of climate can be reconstructed, the causes of climatic variation, and its impact on human affairs now and in the historical and prehistoric past. This 2nd Edition includes a new Preface and Postscript reviewing the wealth of literature to emerge in recent years, and discusses implications for a deeper understanding of the problems of future climatic fluctuations and forecasting.

Editorial Reviews

Review

From reviews of the first edition:

. . . written in a popular style that allows the book to be effectively used by readers not formally trained in the atmospheric sciences. Geographers across the discipline will be comfortable with the technical level used throughout the book.
–Economic Geography

From reviews of the first edition:
uL This fascinating book builds upon a lifetime of study of past climates. . . . The book is strongly recommended to all who need to assess the significance of climatic change.
–Australian Meteorological Magazine

Any book from the prolific pen of Professor Hubert Lamb is always welcome, as one knows that it will be entertaining, wide-ranging and full of good sense. The present work is no exception.
–International Journal of Environmental Studies

Climate, History and the Modern World will join that list of very important books which achieve a wide readership, perhaps fuel a next stage of thinking about the subject . . ..
–Progress in Human Geography

About the Author

H. H. Lamb is Emeritus Professor in the School of Environmental Sciences and was the founder and first director of the Climatic Research Unit at the University of East Anglia. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 2 edition (August 17, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415127351
• ISBN-13: 978-0415127356
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #700,757 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

25 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Scholarly Overview of Climatic Changes in Historical Times, October 8, 2000

By 

Pamela Cook (Russellville, AR USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Climate, History and the Modern World (Paperback)

I used this book as a reference to write a position paper on global warming for a graduate course in Environmental Science. Professor Lamb's book is a fascinating account of how climate has impacted human history. Originally published in 1982 the new edition (1995) includes material on global warming, atmospheric pollution, population growth, and implications for future climatic fluctuations. This is a one stop reference.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Where is North America ?, December 30, 2008

By 

William C. Foster - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Climate, History and the Modern World (Kindle Edition)

Lamb's subject is global and his coverage reflects it. It is his lack of balance that bothers me. His origial work all but ignored North America; this was .corrected somewhat in the second edition. But there is substantial evidence of the Medieval Warm Period and the Little Ice Age in archeological studies and in 16th and 17th century diaries and journals of European expeitions in North America that Lamb ignors. Still, no one else has focused on the available information in any systematic way that has been published to my knowledge...so five stars...there simply is nothing better on North America to date.