Customer Reviews

Global Warming: The Complete Briefing

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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(3)

 

 

I have to take immediate issue with the [anonymous] reviews below that claim that this book doesn't address the difference between natural climate cycling and anthropogenic climate change: that difference, in a nutshell, is PRECISELY what this book deals with. Those reviewers never read it, or failed completely to follow its line of reasoning. This is NOT a partisan, political, ideological book. It is simply a guided tour of the science of climate change, revised in 2004. It carefully parses the current research. Read the table of contents [you can click on it at the top of the page] and see that the book is organized around the following inevitable questions: Is climate changing? How much is it changing? How much of that change is caused by people? What are the likely effects, short- and long-term, of these changes? What can we do about it? In the case of climate change, despite all of the political complications that have accrued to what was originally science, these questions are PRECISELY the ones a thinking person needs to ask. To have a book structured around them, referring, as it does, to the best [scientific, independently-refereed] research is a gift. It seems that almost everybody today picks their position on climate change as part of an ideological package-deal: most American conservatives almost automatically disdain the science because the Bush White House and Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter disdain it. Most American progressives almost automatically embrace the NOTION of climate change without actually knowing the science, because Al Gore, et al, have told them to. Both positions, taken in ignorance of the science, are ideolgical and symptomatic of the worst party-line politics. I urge you to read the science. It will take some effort, but that effort is our civic duty. This book has no agenda other than compiling the research and putting it before the reading public in an accessible format.

This is the first book I have read on global warming. Sir John Houghton has provided a carefully written account, with good explanations, fairly thorough referencing, and informative charts and figures. The subject of global warming is presented from a multifaceted perspective, with both informative factual material as well as elements of a personal perspective, introduced in a non-forceful but persuasive manner.

The book is aimed at those who know little about climatology or global warming. It will help to have some general scientific background. The pertinent facts - how much we have increased the atmosphere's CO2 concentration, in what way this gas effects the earth's energy balance, etc. - are available here, and the information is referenced to primary scientific sources. The prognosis for a warming of the atmosphere is gently asserted in the affirmative, but the uncertainties are also presented. Without being a climatologist, I found most of my qestions of this nature were answered. The only point I was curious about but found missing was what recent changes in glaciers tell us about the present tendency of global temperature.

After presenting the data, the models and arguing gently for a moderate warming tendency, Houghton presents several nice chapters on effects (potentially severe) and responses to the problem, with a particular emphasis on energy. The suggested responses leave one with the sense that Houghton is an optimist. He incites to action, where it is hard to imagine today's politicians asking us to change our habits so fundamentally.

This book is stimulating, both on the subject of global warming (whether or not it is occurring, how much, what is our role), as well as on the potential consequences and suitable responses. Considering that a response is advisable - a point of view which Houghton advances - one is left with a sense of the large scale of the responses which are necessary to reverse the accumulation of CO2: is mankind's ability to improvise its way out of a fix capable of dealing with a problem whose solution would require changes of this magnitude?

I have just gotten half way through this book but am already finding it an excellent source of background information on global warming and climate change. It has a lot of technical information but is written at a level that most people can understand. I'm using it to prepare for a community education class I'll be teaching and finding it most helpful with facts on the science behind global warming. I recommend this book to anyone that wants to delve into the reasons behind what you're hearing in the news. The author is an internationally recognized expert and obviously knows what he's taking about. The book it written in a well balanced way pointing out the uncertainties and sticking to the facts. I'm looking forward to completing the rest of the book this week.

The title of the book "Global Warming - The Complete Briefing" is aptly named, as it is an excellent briefing, or primer, on the subject of global warming. The book avoids the politics of global warming, which can grow tiresome to those of us who actually work in the climate change field. Instead, the book focuses on the basic science behind global warming, and is a very balanced, non-partisan approach to causes, effects, uncertainties, and potential impacts.

The reading level of the book is college level science, similar to a beginning or intermediate level physical science or meteorology class. If you are looking for an over-all guide to the science of global warming, this is a great book. If you are looking for a less academic, more popular-culture point of view on global warming, look into "Hell and High Water - Global Warming - The Solution and the Politics and What We Should Do" by Joseph Romm for an eminently enjoyable, easily readable guide to some of political and cultural aspects of global warming.

This is an essential book for anyone who wants to move past the media hype on this important subject. It covers the breadth of the science in an accessible manner, looking at mechanisms, measurements and the broad sweep of science informing the global warming debate. It is notable that the only people who profess dislike of this book are people who have not read it. No one can deny that the author has brought together a huge mass of information and presented it in an accessible manner which nevertheless dispenses with alarmism and lays any residual scepticism to bed.

Unusually for such a work, chapter 8 looks at why we should be concerned. Or rather, why we should care if - as is the case - there will be winners as well as losers from climate change. Houghton discusses his personal belief there, and successfully brings issues of religion and ethics into the debate - something which, as he points out, is all too often deliberately left out of the discussion.

Some people dislike such an approach in a book on science. Some will think that a breath of fresh air. Whether you agree with him or not, it is good to read a Christian writer explaining why Christians should not be siding with the climate change sceptics. Nevertheless if you don't want that in a book then just ignore that chapter - the book is still more than worth its price.

The book is well put together with many visuals and to-the-point facts. A good source to learn more on Global Warming and generally the world we inhabit.

The book that I read is the second edition. Because the book is priced at $50+ I chose to do an interlibrary loan instead of purchasing a new copy.

Houghton takes a genuine and direct approach in his book. Indeed it is the complete briefing as advertised. The book starts from the very beginning by explaining the basics on greenhouse gases. The book doesn't get deep into molecular theory. A rounded presentation is given on what greenhouse gases do to the atmosphere and moves into why it is important to address the threat. It finishes by suggesting alternative energy sources.

While I'd like to recommend the book, you could spend the money to outfit a home in fluorescent lighting.

The book "Global Warming: The Complete Briefing, Third edition" by John Houghton is a great guide to understanding how global warming works and how it affects us.
It offers many details and explains how much of the Earth climate phenomena work, and how human activity is altering Earth's climate. In this book review, I will go through the book and discuss what the strong points of each chapter were. I will end up the review by discussing the book's relevance to the class and offering a few suggestions.

Chapter 1, Global Warming and Climate Change, offers a great introduction to the book by explaining the concept of global warming. It talks about how, every year, human activity adds up more emissions of green house gases into an atmosphere that already contains 7 thousand million tones of carbon dioxide. The part that I consider the most helpful is figure 1.5 which talks about how climate change is integrated with human activity. This integration consists of Emissions and Concentrations of Greenhouse gases that lead to Climate Change, which Impacts Human and Natural systems. The diagram closes the loop by illustrating how Socio-economic developments can lead to mitigating the Emissions and Concentrations of Greenhouse gases. In many ways, this is the purpose of this book, to make people understand that it is up to us to develop Socio Economic paths to make use of our technology and governance to control the problem of Global warming. This is also the basis for Sustainable Development.

Chapter 2, The Greenhouse Effect, focuses on explaining the Greenhouse Effect in great detail. The strong points of this chapter are the diagrams presented in figure 2.2 and 2.6. Figure 2.2 shows an actual greenhouse and explains that the roof of the greenhouse keeps the sun rays from escaping easily, hence increasing the temperature. Figure 2.6 shows the Earth's "radiation budget" this puts into perspective how the clouds, the atmosphere and greenhouse gases all play roles in how much radiation from the sun is reflected back out into space, and how much is actually bounced back to Earth and remains as heat.

Chapter 3, The Greenhouse Gases, is about the various gases that induce global warming. The important part of this chapter is that it lets us know how much of each gas counts as a greenhouse gas. This is important for us to measure how much human activity accounts for global warming. The chapter explains that Carbon Dioxide is the main component of greenhouse gases and most of this gas is the result of human activity. Figure 3.1 is rather complicated, but it does a good job in explaining how the global carbon cycle is accumulating carbon in the atmosphere because the Earth can not readily soak up the extra carbon being produced by human activity. This is a key element for us to realize the extent of the problem that we have here. The yearly accumulation of Carbon in the atmosphere, as Carbon Dioxide, makes the problem harder to solve as time goes by.

Chapter 4 is called Climates of the Past. This chapter contains the most relevant piece of evidence to Global Warming, which is figure 4.1 - Global Temperature from 1861-2003. This figure presents evidence that the globe is warming up to higher temperatures during the last 75 years. The importance of this warming trend is because it coincides with the increase in using fossil fuels during the 20th Century. This figure shows that global warming is not part of a natural cycle but it is the result of human activity. Chapter 4 continues to describe the climate as far back as thousands of years, giving information pertaining the Vostok and Greenland records.

Chapter 5, Modeling the Climate, explains how weather forecasting, and other natural phenomena, such as the Ocean's circulation belt. The oceans circulation was the point that I found the most interesting as it pertains thermohaline circulation, as seen in the movie The Day After Tomorrow. The models described in this chapter mentions that, global warming and polar caps melting will weaken the thermohaline circulation and this will result in various climate effects such as colder temperatures for Europe and altering agricultural zones.

Chapter 6 is called Climate Change in the 21st Century and Beyond. The importance of this chapter is that it presents the estimated temperature forecasts for the next century. Figure 6.4 is also included in the movie An Inconvenient Truth as the "Hockey Stick Graph" - which shows an extreme increase in temperatures for the next 100 years, if the current warming trend continues and CO2 emissions are not substantially reduced.

Chapter 7, Impacts of Climate Change, shows the biggest problems we will face due to global warming. The most interesting information on this chapter is Desertification, because we can already see the multiple effects of this problem every time we hear about the Genocide in Darfur, which was catalyzed by famines that resulted from changes in the region's climate. The effects of desertification are also explained on this chapter under a section called "Impact on agriculture and food supply."

Chapter 8, Why Should we be Concerned?, allows us to study the concept of "Earth", and how culture plays a role in people's reaction and interaction with "Earth". The strength of this chapter is the ability of the author to convey the message that we should not separate religion from science if we really want to "Save the Earth." Instead the author's message is that we should develop Environmental Values and become Stewards of the Earth.

Chapter 9 is called Weighting Uncertainty. The basic idea behind this chapter is that the IPCC has been having problems in the past by not being able to tell people that Global Warming is 100% a result of Human activity. The idea of Sustainable Development is discussed in this chapter.

Chapter 10 is called A Strategy for Action to Slow and Stabilize Climate Change. The Montreal and Kyoto Protocols are talked about in this chapter. This chapter is a great reference to efforts that have been taken by the World Governments to deal with Global Warming.

Chapter 11 is called Energy and Transport of the Future. The most important aspect of this chapter is the discussion of the Future energy projections. Figure 11.4 and 11.5 show the different scenarios of what may happen in the next 100 years if the world chooses to use renewable energy or not. The significance of these figures is that they provide a reference for us to evaluate what may happen if things stay as they are. If the world does not choose renewable energy, the energy consumption is expected to be twice as much as it is today. This is the expected energy consumption presented in scenarios A & B, and this, not using renewable energy as is our status quo, would result in major catastrophes, widespread desertification, water shortages and limited agricultural zones. Figure 11.4 & 11.5 also give us scenario C, in which mainly renewable energy sources are used, this being the most promising scenario. The chapter also discusses Building efficiency, alternatives to transportation and energy production, all key to sustainable development.

The book offers high detail and complexity on every chapter. I think that the depth of this book makes it a very effective tool for anyone interested in climate change, possibly all of us. However, since the different climate mechanisms: patterns and phenomena, which are intrinsically complex, made it difficult for me to embrace all the concepts and theories as a whole. Perhaps the book should be studied as a year long course which would go into the depth that is required to understand the complexities of the book. Another way to solve this problem is for the book itself to have a summary or an author's perspective of how he sees the various different climate mechanisms, as "interacting with" and "affecting" each other. I believe that these interactions and effects can result in, either a worsening or lessening of the current climate change trends and this is not explicitly considered in this book, or perhaps, I missed.

I am not a climatologist - I studied physics and math - but it is clear that this man is an expert in his field. The book was very favorably reviewed by other climatologists and is convincing if you have the patience to follow the science. it is not "for Dummies" but looks very solid. Highly recommended if you don't mind charts and scientific explanations. If you can read Scientific Amercian you will find this an easy read.

The conclusions are very objectively understated which only makes them more scary:

1 billion people displaced by floods and rising seas from some of earth's most fertile areas; increasingly violent, larger and more frequent storms; a new ice age for northern Europe; the American midwest and California's Central Valley becoming desert; major edible fish supplies running out; massive flooding of areas that have never been flooded before; major river arteries like the Mississippi and Missouri no longer being navigable.

For an example of what man can do to affect climate, take a look at Tuscon, AZ. Before whites started intensive grazing after 1860 it was grassy, with humid Summers and temperatures in the 80s. After grazing denuded the grass, it became the desert it is now with Summer temperatures over 100 by morning and periodic flash flooding. Nothing grows there now except cactus.

The species that humans are currently endangering with their "head in the sand" approach is [...] sapiens, but after that species is gone things will return to normal. Stupidity is not a survival trait.

Product was exactly how it was described, in great condition with little to no marks on the inside. thanks!