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2008 Best Reference, Library Journal"The impact of global warming is rapidly evolving. This valuable resource provides an excellent historical overview and framework of this topic and serves as a general resource for geography, oceanography, biology, climatology, history, and many other subjects. A useful reference for a wide audience of business professionals and government officials as well as for the general public; essential for both academic and public libraries." --Library Journal

"This is a useful set because of the individual country entries as well as the general-audience language . . ." -- Booklist (Starred Review)

The Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change helps readers learn about the astonishingly intricate processes that make ours the only planet known to be habitable. These three volumes include more than 750 articles that explore major topics related to global warming and climate change--ranging geographically from the North Pole to the South Pole, and thematically from social effects to scientific causes.

Key Features

Contains a 4-color, 16-page insert that is a comprehensive introduction to the complexities of global warming Includes coverage of the science and history of climate change, the polarizing controversies over climate-change theories, the role of societies, the industrial and economic factors, and the sociological aspects of climate change Emphasizes the importance of the effects, responsibilities, and ethics of climate change Presents contributions from leading scholars and institutional experts in the geosciences Serves as a general resource for geography, oceanography, biology, climatology, history, and many other subjects

The Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change provides a primarily nonscientific resource to understanding the complexities of climate change for academic and public libraries.

READER′S GUIDE

Atmospheric SciencesClimate climate and SocietyClimate Change, Effects Climate FeedbacksClimate ModelsCountries: AfricaCountries: AmericasCountries: AsiaCountries: EuropeCountries: PacificGlaciologyGovernment and International AgenciesInstitutions Studying Climate ChangeOceanographyPaleo-ClimatesPeople Programs And Conventions

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Library Journal Review

The three volumes that make up this work provide a bird's-eye view of global warming and help readers learn about the astonishingly intricate processes that render ours the only known habitable planet. The set includes more than 750 articles addressing major topics related to global warming and climate change ranging geographically from the North Pole to the South Pole and thematically from social effects to scientific causes. Coverage encompasses the science and history of climate change, the polarizing controversies over climate-change theories, the role of societies, the industrial and economic factors, and the sociological aspects of climate change. The contributors, all leading scholars and institutional experts in the geosciences (among them, geographers, political scientists, chemists, anthropologists, medical experts, and sociologists), emphasize the importance of the effects, responsibilities, and ethics of climate change. Key features include a four-color, 16-page insert that acts as a comprehensive introduction to the complexities of global warming and an extensive "Reader's Guide," assisting users in finding articles related by category. Each article runs about a page, with very clear and well-organized descriptions and illustrations. General editor Philander teaches geosciences at Princeton and is also the research director for the African Centre for Climate and Earth System Science in Cape Town, South Africa. BOTTOM LINE The impact of global warming is rapidly evolving. This valuable resource provides an excellent historical overview and framework of this topic and serves as a general resource for geography, oceanography, biology, climatology, history, and many other subjects. A useful reference for a wide audience of business professionals and government officials as well as for the general public; essential for both academic and public libraries. [Available electronically through SAGE eReference as well as Gale Virtual Reference Library.]--Kathleen A. Welton, Chicago (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

The editor's stated purpose, "to help the reader learn about the intricate processes that make ours the only planet known to be habitable," is evident in the 16-page, four-color introduction. Aimed at nonscientists, the introduction is a summation covering atmospheric and oceanic chemistry, air temperature, plate tectonics, continental drift, carbon cycles and sinks, ocean currents, the Earth's rotational oscillations, glaciology, extinction, feedback loops, water vapor, and cloud formation. Entries are brief and wide-ranging, from societal effects to scientific data and international policies. Each volume is prefaced by the complete list of articles, bringing together nearly 750 entries covering global warming issues, concepts, examples, problems, predictions, and theories. Entries for US states and for other nations summarize how each contributes, responds to, and is affected by climate change. The work excels in breadth of coverage and offers a bibliography and cross-references for each entry. A glaring omission is the lack of citations for sources referenced in the appendix, a compilation of graphic plots illustrating essential data. Also lacking is an entry on coral reefs, which are known indicators of ocean warming. Extensive indexing, a glossary, and topical list of entries add value. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates through faculty/researchers; general readers. A. S. Ricker Oberlin College

Booklist Review

*Starred Review* Philander, a member of the geosciences faculty at Princeton University and research director of the African Centre for Climate and Earth System Science in Cape Town, South Africa, has gathered authors from fields as diverse as anthropology, chemistry, geography, and medicine to put together an encyclopedia of about 750 articles. The entries cover countries, climate models, atmospheric sciences, institutions studying climate change, and people studying the climate. Individual country entries highlight changes by country instead of by broad climatic regions and will help users understand global-warming issues in, say, Argentina or Tuvalu. Organizational entries are predominately focused on U.S. institutions and governmental entities. Although the preface notes that scientific objectivity have been the watchwords for the encyclopedia, entries provide a range of perspectives. One example is found in Alternative energy, overview, which states, A comparison of production costs shows that fossil fuels are simply cheaper to produce than alternative fuels, which often need government subsidies to make them economically feasible. This statement ignores the enormous subsidies given to the fossil-fuel industry in the U.S. and elsewhere that have allowed production costs to remain falsely low compared to alternative fuels. As the preface states, Different perspectives that various authors have on some of these issues are part of the conversation that citizens or students concerned about the environment ignore at their own risk. Though illustrations within the entries are in black and white, the introduction, which is repeated in each volume, has full-color climate-change maps. Also repeated in each volume are the alphabetical list of articles, the thorough index, and the appendixes, which contain graphs and charts that cover sea-level rise, temperatures, warming projections, and other statistics. Articles have see also references to related entries and a bibliography of works used. A Resource Guide listing books, articles, periodicals, and Internet resources as well as a brief glossary are available in volume 3. This is a useful set because of the individual country entries as well as the general-audience language. Libraries seeking a more academic or scientific approach might prefer either the Encyclopedia of Global Change (Oxford, 2002) or Encyclopedia of Global Environmental Change (Wiley, 2002), but because of the importance of the topic, Encyclopedia of Global Warming and Climate Change belongs in most academic and large public libraries.--Stratton, Steve Copyright 2008 Booklist

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

S. George Philander, Knox Taylor Professor of Geosciences at Princeton University and Research Director of ACCESS (African Centre for Climate and Earth System Science) in Cape Town, South Africa, has a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Cape Town and a Ph.D. (Applied Mathematics) from Harvard University. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Geophysical Union, and the American Meteorological Society. Dr. Philander's research interests include the oceanic circulation, interactions between the ocean and atmosphere that result in phenomena such as El Niño and La Niña, paleoclimates (including the recurrent Ice Ages of the past three million years), and future global climate changes. His two books for laypersons, Is the Temperature Rising? The Uncertain Science of Global Warmingand Our Affair With El Niño: How We Transformed an Enchanting Peruvian Current Into a Global Climate Hazard, reflect his keen interest in improving communications between scientists and laymen. The goal of the African climate center, which Dr. Philander is currently directing, is to give Africa its own voice on environmental issues such as global warming.