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Climate change : what everyone needs to know /
El cambio climático tendrá un impacto más grande en la humanidad que el Internet. La avalancha de supertormentas, incendios forestales, olas de calor y sequías de la última década han acelerado el discurso público sobre este tema y le ha dado credibilidad al climatólogo Lonnie Thomson. El cambio cli...
| Autor principal: | |
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| Formato: | Libro |
| Lenguaje: | English |
| Publicado: |
New York, NY :
Oxford University Press,
[2016]
©2016. |
| Colección: | What everyone needs to know
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| Materias: |
Tabla de Contenidos:
- Machine generated contents note:
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
- PREFACE: Why You Need To Know About Climate Change
- I. Climate Science Basics
- What is the greenhouse effect and how does it warm the Earth?
- Why are scientists so certain the climate system is warming?
- How does global warming increase sea levels and what has been observed to date?
- Where does most of human-caused warming go?
- What fraction of recent global warming is due to human causes vs. natural causes?
- How certain are climate scientists that humans are the primary cause of recent warning?
- How do scientists know that recent climate change is primarily caused by human activities?
- Why has the climate changed in the past, before there were human-caused greenhouse gas emissions?
- What are the climate system's amplifying feedbacks, which turn a moderate initial warming into a big ultimate warming?
- Is the current level of atmospheric CO2 concentration unprecedented in human history?
- Are recent climatic changes unprecedented?
- Has recent human-caused climate change been occurring faster or not as fast as scientists predicted?
- Is there a difference between global warming and climate change?
- What are the sources of the most important human-caused pollutants that drive global warming?
- How does deforestation contribute to warming?
- What is Global Warming Potential and why it is different for various greenhouse gases?
- Why does the rate of warming appear to vary from decade to decade?
- Has global warming slowed down or paused in recent years?
- Can we reach a point where emitting more CO2 into the air will not cause more climate change?
- Have we already crossed tipping points (points of no return) in the climate system?
- II. Extreme Weather and Climate Change
- What is the difference between weather and climate?
- Which extreme weather events are being made worse by climate change, and which are not?
- What is the role of natural climatic variation, such as the El Niño-La Niña cycle, in extreme weather?
- Did climate change cause hurricane Sandy (and why is that the wrong question to ask)?
- How does climate change affect heat waves?
- How does climate change affect droughts?
- How does climate change affect wildfires?
- How does climate change affect the chances of deluges or severe precipitation?
- Does climate change mean more snow or less, worse snow storms or weaker ones?
- How does climate change affect storm surge?
- Is climate change making hurricanes more destructive?
- What is Arctic amplification?
- Is Arctic amplification affecting extreme weather in the northern hemisphere?
- Is climate change affecting tornado formation?
- In a warming world, why do some winters still seem unusually severe?
- III. Projected Climate Impacts
- What kind of impacts can we expect this century from business-as-usual climate change?
- What are the biggest sources of uncertainty in projecting future global warming? What do previous hot periods in Earth's climate tell us about what the future may hold in store?
- How could the thawing permafrost speed up global warming beyond what climate models have projected?
- How could an increase in wildfires speed up global warming beyond what climate models have projected?
- What are some other key positive or amplifying feedbacks affecting the climate system?
- What will the impacts of sea level rise be?
- How will climate change lead to more destructive superstorms this century?
- What kind of droughts can we expect this century?
- What are the expected health impacts of climate change?
- How does global warming affect human productivity?
- Does carbon dioxide at exposure levels expected this century have any direct impacts on human health or cognition?
- What is ocean acidification and why does it matter to sea life?
- What is biodiversity, and how will climate change impact it?
- How will climate change affect the agricultural sector and our ability to feed the world's growing population?
- How is climate change a threat to national, regional, and global security threat?
- What is the plausible best-case scenario for climate change this century?
- What is the plausible worst-case scenario for climate change this century?
- What do scientists mean by "irreversible impacts" and why are they such a concern with climate change?
- IV. Avoiding The Worst Impacts
- What is the biggest source of confusion about what humanity needs to do to avoid the worst climate impacts?
- What is the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change?
- Why did scientists and governments decide 2°C (3.6°F) was the limit beyond which climate change becomes "dangerous" to humanity?
- What kind of greenhouse gas emissions reductions are needed to achieve a 2C target?
- What would the economic cost of meeting the 2C target be?
- What happens if we miss the 2C target?
- Can we adapt to human-caused climate change?
- What is geo-engineering and can it play a major role in reducing the impact of climate change?
- V. Climate Politics and Policies
- What climate policies are governments around the world using to fight climate change?
- What is a carbon tax?
- What are cap-and-trade and carbon trading?
- What is China doing to restrict carbon dioxide emissions?
- What is the United States doing to restrict carbon dioxide emissions?
- How do different political parties view climate science and policies in the United States and around the world?
- Is there are a large-scale effort to spread misinformation on climate science and if so, who funds it?
- What are climate science deniers?
- VI. The Role of Clean Energy
- What kind of changes in our energy system would a 2C target require?
- What is energy efficiency and what role will it play?
- Will nuclear power be a major factor in the effort to minimize climate change?
- What role does natural gas have in the right transition to a 2C world?
- How much can solar power contribute to averting dangerous climate change?
- How big a role will windpower play in averting dangerous climate change?
- What is carbon capture and storage (aka carbon sequestration) and what role can it play?
- What is bio-energy and what is its role in cutting carbon pollution?
- What other carbon-free forms of energy can contribute to cutting greenhouse gas emissions?
- How can we reduce carbon dioxide emissions in the transportation sector?
- What challenges have limited the marketplace success of alternative fuels and alternative fuel vehicles to date?
- What role can electric vehicles play?
- What are hydrogen fuel cells and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles?
- What are the challenges facing hydrogen fuel cell vehicles as a climate solution?
- What role can energy storage play in the clean energy transition?
- What can the agricultural and livestock sector do to minimize climate change
- What is energy conservation and what role can it play?
- VII. Climate Change and You
- How will climate change impact you and your family in the coming decades?
- How might climate change affect the future price of coastal property?
- How might climate change affect decisions about where to live and retire in the coming decades?
- What should students study today if they want to prepare themselves for working in a globally warmed world?
- Should climate change affect how you invest for the future?
- How can you reduce your carbon footprint?
- What role can dietary changes play in reducing your carbon footprint?
- What is the best way to talk to someone who does not accept the growing body of evidence on climate science?
- PRIMARY SOURCES
- ENDNOTES
- INDEX.