Ray Pierrehumbert's book on planetary climate is probably the most thorough treatment of the subject (that does not include fluid dynamics) that currently exists. Its presentation is well articulated, and the arguments go into a detail that could often enlighten many climate scientists, let alone students. Even rather simple concepts such as the operation of the greenhouse effect, the water vapor feedback, etc are discussed in large detail with the many caveats and applications to other planetary atmospheres that one would hope for in achieving a mastery-level understanding. It has a thorough treatment of more subtle applications such as the bifurcation structures that can result from feedbacks, the runaway greenhouse effect, the carbonate-weathering thermostat, etc which are often taught only by mere hand-waving discussions, supplemented by some powerpoint slides, but Pierrehumbert teaches from an eloquent theoretical physics perspective.
The Python supplement to this book gives the student a lot of freedom to tinker, and along with the book, engages the reader to create their own "what if" scenarios.
This book does not go into any fluid dynamics, except for a small taste at the very end. Thus, it is not suitable for a climate class that wants to go into heavy detail about the large-scale Hadley circulation, ocean transport, etc. The theme of this book is largely dedicated to radiative transfer as it applies to climate application, but also outlines some key factors in the evolution of atmospheres (including chemistry, carbon cycle, atmospheric escape mechanisms, and discussion of orbital mechanics). Chapter 1 is a qualitative introduction to our planet's climate evolution- ranging from its formation and Hadean climates, to snowball Earth, to hothouse climates in the distant past, to glacial-interglacial cycles, to modern global warming). The rest of the book is quantitative, generally at the level of someone who has completed a sequence of calculus/physics courses, but the demands gradually grow as the book goes on. Some of the notation could be better, but this is at a great level for the advanced undergraduate, graduate student, or even researcher who needs to look up some basic theory.
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Dr R W Erskine
Thorough and systematic treatment of climate science
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 18, 2016
