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This volume is a short introduction to an essential geochemical driver of the Earth's climate system, written by one of the world's leading climate-science experts. The author engages readers in clear and simple terms about the many ways the global carbon cycle is woven into our climate system.
List of Boxes vii Chapter 1: C arbon on Earth 1 Chapter 2: The Stable Geologic Carbon Cycle 21 Chapter 3: The Unstable Ice Age Carbon Cycle 57 Chapter 4: The Present and Future Carbon Cycle--Stable or Unstable? 103 Chapter 5: Methane 141 Chapter 6: Summary 174 Glossary 179 Bibliography 187 Index 203
David Archer is professor of geophysical sciences at the University of Chicago. He is the author of "The Long Thaw: How Humans Are Changing the Next 100,000 Years of Earth's Climate"and "Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast", and the coauthor of "The Climate Crisis: An Introductory Guide to Climate Change".
Fossil-fuel carbon is our dangerous treasure. David Archer brilliantly and lucidly provides the essential background on Earth's carbon cycle that we need to make wise decisions about future use.--Richard B. Alley, Pennsylvania State University "David Archer is one of the world's leading experts advancing our understanding of the consequences of carbon dioxide emissions in the context of geologic time. Archer's book explains how the consequences of our fossil-fuel economy will outlast even our nuclear waste. This book is essential reading--it wakes us up to the long-term consequences of our fossil-fuel folly."--Ken Caldeira, Carnegie Institution for Science "Archer has written a well-constructed text that explores the major factors regulating atmospheric CO2 across different geological time scales up to and including the current human-driven trends from fossil-fuel burning and deforestation. He explains clearly and in an engaging fashion a number of difficult concepts associated with various feedback mechanisms between Earth's climate and the carbon cycle. The science is first-rate."--Scott C. Doney, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution "This book will serve both students and researchers seeking to understand this critical component of the Earth system. Until now, there hasn't been a text that clearly discusses the carbon cycle across time scales and that connects the often-confusing dots to elucidate its role in climate change."--Galen A. McKinley, University of Wisconsin--Madison
