Earth System, The: Pearson New International Edition

For courses in Earth Systems Science offered in departments of Geology, Earth Science, Geography and Environmental Science. The first textbook of its kind that addresses the issues of global change from a true Earth systems perspective, The Earth System offers a solid emphasis on lessons from Earth's history that may guide decision-making in the future. It is more rigorous and quantitative than traditional Earth science books, while remaining appropriate for non-science majors. SamplesPreview sample pages from The Earth System Features A Closer Look, Useful Concepts, and Thinking Quantitatively boxes address topical issues related to the material presented. They give students appealing visual and highlighted aids and isolates advanced, quantitative treatments for higher-level courses. The systems theory approach looks holistically at all that happens on Earth and the interactions of all that is here - such as the effect of weather on land, the effect of erosion on the ocean, the chemical changes that occur - and emphasises that these processes do not happen in a vacuum. An emphasis on global change addresses such modern issues as global warming, ozone depletion, and biodiversity loss. A thorough treatment of Earth history provides a framework for developing a deep understanding of global problems while it explores analogous situations in Earth history. Extensive pedagogy in each chapter includes thought questions, a summary of important points, a list of important terms, and recommended general and advanced readings. New to this edition Updates incorporate the fourth assessment report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, interspersing new findings and data throughout the textbook where it is most fitting. Revised Chapter 6, The Cryosphere, explains models and circulation patterns of atmosphere and ocean systems, with an increased attention on the links to the global climate system. A new chapter on Global Warming divides this crucial content into two chapters: Chapter 15, Global Warming, Part 1: The Scientific Evidence details the findings of the IPCC report and historical data models that reveal the enormity of what we're seeing in climate change science. Chapter 16, Global Warming, Part 2: Impacts, Adaptation, and Mitigation explores the human element, how our behaviour is negatively affecting the climate and what changes we could make to positively address this urgent situation.

Table of Contents:
1. Global Change 2. Daisyworld: An Introduction to Systems 3. Global Energy Balance: The Greenhouse Effect 4. The Atmospheric Circulation System 5. The Circulation of the Oceans 6. The Cryosphere 7. Circulation of the Solid Earth: Plate Tectonics 8. Recycling of the Elements: Carbon and Nutrient Cycles 9. Focus on the Biota: Metabolism, Ecosystems and Biodiversity 10. Origin of Earth and of Life 11. Effect of Life on the Atmosphere: The Rise of Oxygen and Ozone 12. Long-Term Climate Regulation 13. Biodiversity Through Earth History 14. Pleistocene Glaciations 15. Global Warming: Recent and Future Climate 16. Global Warming: Impacts, Adaptation, and Mitigation 17. Ozone Depletion 18. Climate Stability on Earth and Earthlike Planets 19. Human Threats to Biodiversity Appendix: Units and Unit Conversions Appendix: Temperature Conversions Appendix: Periodic Table

About the Author :
Lee R. Kump is a Professor in the Department of Geosciences, and an associate of the Earth System Science Center and Astrobiology Research Center at the Pennsylvania State University. A native of Minnesota, he received his bachelor's degree in geophysical sciences from the University of Chicago in 1981, and his Ph.D. in marine sciences from the University of South Florida in 1986. Dr. Kump is a Fellow of the Geological Societies of America and London, and a member of the American Geophysical Union, the Geochemical Society, and the Geochemistry Division of the American Chemical Society. His research has been funded by the Environmental Protection Agency, the National Science Foundation, NASA, the Gas Research Institute, the Petroleum Research Fund of the American Chemical Society, and Texaco. Dr. Kump became Associate Director of the CIAR Earth System Evolution Program in 2004. Dr. Kump's primary research effort is in the development of numerical models of global biogeochemical cycles. His early work focussed on the carbon and sulfur cycles, and on the feedbacks that regulate atmospheric oxygen levels. More recently his emphasis has shifted to the study of the dynamic coupling between global climate and biogeochemical cycles. He studies the long-term evolution of the oceans and atmosphere, using a combination of field work, laboratory analysis, and numerical modeling. James Kasting is a Distinguished Professor of Geosciences at Penn State University. He received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University in Chemistry and Physics and did his Ph.D. at the University of Michigan in Atmospheric Sciences. Prior to coming to Penn State in 1988, he spent 7 years in the Space Science Division at NASA Ames Research Center. His research focuses on the evolution of planetary atmospheres, particularly the question of why the atmospheres of Mars and Venus are so different from that of Earth. He is also interested in the question of whether habitable planets exist around other stars and is involved with NASA's proposed Terrestrial Planet Finder Mission(s). Dr. Robert Crane received his bachelor's degree in physical geography from the University of Reading, England, in 1976. He did graduate work in polar climatology, microwave remote sensing, and sea ice-atmosphere interactions at the University of Colorado's Institute for Arctic and Alpine Research (INSTAAR) and the National Snow and Ice Data Center, receiving a Master's degree in 1978 and a Ph.D. in 1981. As a Research Associate in the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences (CIRES), he continued his work on the microwave remote sensing of sea ice.  He joined the faculty of the Pennsylvania State University in 1985. Dr. Crane held a joint appointment in the Department of Geography and in the Earth System Science Center from 1985 to 1993, serving as Associate Director of the Center from 1990 to 1993. He was appointed Associate Dean for Education in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences in 1993, and currently holds the position of Associate Dean and Professor of Geography.