Warm Climates in Earth History

The geologic record contains evidence of greenhouse climates in the earth's past, and by studying these past conditions, we can gain greater understanding of the forcing mechanisms and feedbacks that influence today's climate. Leading experts in paleoclimatology combine in one integrated volume new and state-of-the-art paleontological, geological, and theoretical studies to assess intervals of global warmth. The book reviews what is known about the causes and consequences of globally warm climates, demonstrates current directions of research on warm climates, and outlines the central problems that remain unresolved. The chapters present new research on a number of different warm climate intervals from the early Paleozoic to the early Cenozoic. The book will be of great interest to researchers in paleoclimatology, and it will also be useful as a supplementary text on advanced undergraduate or graduate level courses in paleoclimatology and earth science.

Table of Contents:
Preface Brian T. Huber, Kenneth G. MacLeod, Scott L. Wing; Part I. Approaches to the Study of Paleoclimates: 1. Warm climate forcing mechanisms Paul J. Valdes; 2. Recent advances in paleoclimate modeling: closing the gap on model-data comparisons Robert DeConto, Starley Thompson and Dave Pollard; 3. Comparisons of zonal temperature profiles for past warm time periods Tom Crowley and Jim C. Zachos; Part II. Case Studies: Latest Paleocene-Early Eocene: 4. High resolution global ocean circulation Karen Bice, Lisa Sloan and Eric Barron; 5. Deep-sea environments in the absence of polar ice caps: the case of the early Eocene Ellen Thomas and Jim C. Zachos; 6. Mountains and Eocene climate Richard Norris, Richard Corfield and Karen Hayes-Baker; 7. An early Eocene period? Evidence for continental cooling during the warmest part of the Cenozoic Scott Wing, Paul Koch and H. Bao; Part III. Case Studies: Mesoic: 8. Paleontological and geochemical constraints on changes in the deep ocean during the Cretaceous greenhouse interval Kenneth G. MacLeod, Brian T. Huber and My Le Ducharme; 9. Late Cretaceous climate, vegetation and ocean interactions Robert DeConto, Esther C. Brady, Jon Bergengren, Starley Thompson, David Pollard and William Hay; 10. Jurassic phytogeography and climates: new data and model comparisons Alistair Rees, Alfred M. Ziegler and Paul J. Valdes; Part IV. Case studies: Paleozoic: 11. Permian and Triassic high latitude paleoclimates: evidence from fossil biotas Edith Taylor, Thomas Taylor and N. Rubén Cúneo; 12. Organic carbon burial and faunal dynamics in the Appalachian basin during the Devonian (Givetian-Famennian) greenhouse: an integrated Paleoecological/biogeochemical approach Adam Murphy, Bradley B. Sageman and Charles Ver Straeten; 13. Glaciation in the early Paleozoic 'greenhouse': the roles of paleogeography and atmospheric CO2 Mark Gibbs, Karen Bice, Lee Kump and Eric Barron; Part V. Overview: Climate Across Tectonic Timescales: 14. Carbon dioxide and Phanerozoic climate Tom Crowley; Index.

Review :
' ... climate scientists interested in the basic performance of climate models, and the evolution of the climate over the last 500 million years, will find this volume worth dipping into.' Grant Bigg 'This book is intended as a research text, and certainly, it is a book that no palaeaclimatologist should miss. It contains some excellent overviews of palaeoclimate methods, and some clear explanations of climate models.' Jane Francis, International Journal of Climatology 'This very readable, carefully edited volume is an important contribution to a better understanding of past events that have great consequences for anticipating future environmental change.' Alan Graham, Quarterly Review of Biology