Global Environments through the Quaternary delves into the environmental changes that have taken place during the Quaternary: the two to three million years during which man has inhabited the Earth. It is essential reading for any students seeking a balanced, objective overview of this truly interdisciplinary subject.
This book delves into the environmental changes that have taken place during the Quaternary: the two to three million years during which humans have inhabited the Earth, and conveys the relevance of the study of this period to current environmental and climatic concerns.
Late Quaternary Environmental Change addresses the interaction between human agency and other environmental factors in the landscapes, particularly of the temperate zone. Taking an ecological approach, the authors cover the last 20,000 years during which the climate has shifted from arctic severity to the conditions of the present interglacial environment.
Ice Age Earth provides the first detailed review of global environmental change in the Late Quaternary. Significant geological and climatic events are analysed within a review of glacial and periglacial history. The melting history of the last ice sheets reveals that complex, dynamic and catastrophic change occurred, change which affected the circulation of the atmosphere and oceans and the stability of the Earth's crust.
An important overview of Quaternary climates including detailed Pleistocene and Holocene sea-level changes, for researchers and graduate and advanced undergraduate students.
Examines the various forms of evidence used to establish the history and scale of environmenal changes during the Quaternary. The evidence is extremely diverse, ranging from landforms and sediments to fossil assemblages and isotope ratios, bringing the book fully up to date since its last publication.
The increasing interest during recent years in vegetation history, long-term climatic changes and the development of biotic communities has resulted in a growth of the literature in this field and has provided an incentive for scientists to use palaeo-ecology concepts to clarify contemporary ecological issues. Quaternary ecology offers the perspective of time, in using natural experiments of the past to evaluate the responses of population, communities and ecosystems to climatic and environmental changes on a time scale extending back over the past two million years of the quaternary period. Examples from the palaeo-ecological literature demonstrate how quaternary ecology interfaces with other branches of ecology, including plant demography, ecological genetics, limnology and landscape ecology.
Quaternary Ecology, Evolution, and Biogeography offers an introduction to the study of the ecological and evolutionary processes that have shaped our present biosphere under the influence of glacial-interglacial cycles. Written by an ecologist with paleoecological expertise, this book reviews the climactic changes that have occurred during the last 2.6 million years, along with the responses of organisms and ecosystems. It offers an understanding of the evolutionary origin of extant biodiversity, its biogeographical patterns, and the composition of modern ecological communities. In addition, it explores human evolution and the influence of our activities on the biosphere, especially in the last millennia.This book offers the latest information on how studying the past can contribute to our understanding of present climate issues for a better future, and is an ideal resource for researchers and students in the natural sciences.
Reconstructing past environments is critical in evaluating modern environmental change and making predictions for the future. Records can be found in a range of natural sources, including microfossils, and their analysis can make important contributions to studies of contemporary global environmental issues such as climate change, water pollution and acidification. This is the first text which aims to explain the practical applications of the analysis of microfossils to undergraduate and graduate students of the earth and environmental sciences. Including pedagogic features such as chapter summaries, highlighted key words, annotated guides to further reading and an appendix of statistical techniques, the book is extensively illustrated throughout and includes a wide range of fully international examples and case studies. This book will be an invaluable guide for students of geography, geology, oceanography, environmental archaeology and environmental science.
Global Climate Change presents both practical and theoretical aspects of global climate change from across geological periods. It addresses holistic issues related to climate change and its contribution in triggering the temperature increase with a multitude of impacts on natural processes. As a result, it helps to identify the gaps between policies that have been put in place and the continuously increasing emissions. The challenges presented include habitability, biodiversity, natural resources, and human health. It is organized into information on the past, present, and future of climate change to lead to a more complete understanding and therefore effective solutions.Placing an emphasis on recent climate change research, Global Climate Change helps to bring researchers and graduate students in climate science, environmental science, and sustainability up to date on the science of climate change so far and presents a baseline for how to move into the future effectively. - Addresses the variety of challenges associated with climate change, along with possible solutions - Includes suggestions for future research on climate change - Covers climate change holistically, including global and regional scales, ecosystems, agriculture, energy, and sustainability - Presents both practical and theoretical research, including coverage of climate change over various geological periods