10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Basic mechanisms demystified, May 22, 2007
This review is from: Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast (Paperback)
There are some annoying typographical errors in this book, otherwise I would give
it five stars --- visit the book's website for a list of errata.
Plenty of books tell you about global warming, but this book really does
dymystify the nuts and bolts of how climate scientists know what they
say they know. The book says it is based on a course for non-scientists and
it shows --- the explanations are clearly honed from experience of explaining
scientific concepts to non-scientists. It is always difficult for scientists
in any field to convey the depth of knowledge which has accumulated over
a long period of time to people coming from other disciplines, but this book
does a pretty good job.
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13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Needs some repair., December 17, 2008
This review is from: Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast (Paperback)
You will need to visit understandingtheforecast.org right away, to download the errata. There are 32 errors listed in the errata, as of 17 December 2008. Four figures need to be replaced, though one is an update to reflect the 2007 IPCC report. Unfortunately, the replacement figures are not the same size as those in the book. You cannot merely paste them over; you will need to tape them as a flap, so that you can still read the caption. You will likely find more typos in the book than those listed in the errata. Depending on how valuable your time is, you may effectively double the price of the book.
In addition to the typos, there are some serious errors in the book. The author is a geochemist. The opening chapter on the greenhouse effect, "The layer model", is incorrect for anything but epsilon=1 (epsilon being the emissivity). A term for radiation from the surface is missing entirely from the last equation on page 25. That term would have a factor of (1-epsilon). Fortunately, the solutions listed in Table 3.1 are for epsilon=1, but that is not stated explicitly in the text. Furthermore, there is confusion about the use of the same symbol, epsilon, for both the emissivity of the atmosphere and the surface. You can repair Chapter 3 (or ignore it) by referring to the Wikipedia for "Idealized greenhouse model".
A minor error appears on 157, in regards to the storm surge associated with a hurricane. We read "These are caused by the low atmospheric pressure inside a hurricane lifting up the sea surface". An elementary hydrostatic calculation reveals the a 100 millibar pressure deficit would lift the ocean surface by merely one meter. Storm surges associated with hurricanes are cause by the wind. See the Wikipedia for "Storm Surge".
On page 89: "If we were to precipitate the CO2 into a snowfall of dry ice ... 7cm of snow on the ground." The correct answer is 4 mm. In Figure 9.2: the label should be Gton C/TW yr.
Some of the presentation of the greenhouse effect is outstanding. Chapter 4, and particularly the figures of the spectra at the top of the atmosphere, give a wonderful graphic presentation of radiative forcing and its logarithmic dependence on carbon dioxide concentration. The equilibrium warming that would result from the radiative forcing is again shown with recourse to a spectra. These spectra for the warmed atmosphere provide a excellent starting point for a discussion of the feedbacks (assuming the discussants understand the spectra), which make the forecast uncertain.
The book really shines in the presentation of the chemistry, the carbon cycle and energy policy.
With a little repair by the reader, the book is turned into a five star book.
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19 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The next best thing to enrolling at U. of Chicago, February 24, 2007
This review is from: Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast (Paperback)
I wish to commend this wonderful book written by my colleague, David Archer. The class upon which this book is based is a runaway success, and each year it seems they need to find a bigger lecture hall. When you have read the books like "The Weather Makers," and "Field Notes from a Catastrophe," and are ready for something more quantitative but still fairly gentle on the math, this is the one for you. I think it's the best source around for people who want to get a true scientific understanding of the physics and chemistry of climate change.
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