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Global Climate Change Digest
A Guide to Information on Greenhouse Gases and Ozone Depletion
Published July 1988 through June 1999

FROM VOLUME 9, NUMBER 12, DECEMBER 1996

BOOKS AND PROCEEDINGS...
GENERAL TEXT BOOKS

Item #d96dec45

The Forgiving Air: Understanding Environmental Change, R.C.J. Somerville, 216 pp., 1996, $21.95 (Univ. Calif.).

Intended to give the public a comprehensive, up-to-date scientific guide to global change, stressing the "importance of an educated public in a world where the role of science is increasingly critical." Topics include the ozone hole, the greenhouse effect, computing weather and climate, reacting to climate change, global change causes and remedies, air pollution and acid rain.

P.J. Crutzen reviews the book in Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. (pp. 2112-2114, Sep. 1996), highly recommending it as remarkable and well written. The subject matter is presented with the power of a clearly written text without any mathematical formulas and only a few chemical reactions or figures. The book also addresses social issues such as the overuse of the Earth's resources by industrial countries and the dilemma of providing a higher standard of living to developing countries without exerting major pressures on climate.

Item #d96dec46

Earth Under Siege—From Air Pollution to Global Change, R.P. Turco, 480 pp., 1996, $50 hbk./$21.95 pbk. (Oxford).

Based on the author's undergraduate university course, this text introduces the non-science major to how the physical environment functions and why human activities affect it. Provides sufficient supporting details to hold the interest of science majors. Covers local and regional problems as well as the global issues of stratospheric ozone depletion, climate change, greenhouse warming and global environmental engineering.

Item #d96dec47

Basics of Environmental Science, M. Allaby, 297 pp., 1996, $65 hbk./$17.95 pbk. (Routledge).

Presents an introduction for the nonscientist to the scientific study of environments, and shows how the popular perception of environmental issues diverges from the scientific evaluation, suggesting that concern with the environment has a history that is partly linked to our economic well being. Major sections cover earth sciences, physical resources, the biosphere, biological resources, and environmental management.

Item #d96dec48

An Introduction to Environmental Chemistry, J.E. Andrews, P. Brimblecombe et al., 232 pp., 1996, $26.95 pbk. (Blackwell).

An introductory undergraduate text that applies environmental chemistry to the atmosphere, surface waters and the oceans, and rocks. A final chapter covers the carbon cycle, carbon dioxide and the greenhouse effect, the sulfur cycle, and chlorofluorocarbons and ozone. Reviewed by E.K. Berner in Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. (pp. 2744-2745, Nov. 1966), who is generally positive about the text, noting that it is well written. Reviewed by D. Shooter in Atmos. Environ. (31(2), 311, 1997), who calls it a benchmark introductory text, that focuses well on the key chemical features of the environment while providing breadth and clarity and an overview of the chemistry on and in planet Earth.

Item #d96dec49

Ecology and the Biosphere: Principles and Problems, S. La Bonde Hanks, 170 pp., 1996, $29.95 (St. Lucie).

A concise text for non-scientists designed to help individuals make connections to their own lives and businesses. Problems addressed include global warming, loss of tropical rain forests and temperate forests, ozone depletion and acid rain. Relates topics to business life and provides extensive real-life examples.

Item #d96dec50

Ecology and Our Endangered Life-Support Systems, 3rd Ed., E.P. Odum, 330 pp., 1996, £17.95 (Sinauer Assoc.).

Considered a citizen's guide to the principles of modern ecology as they relate to today's threat to Earth's life support systems. Stresses the relevance of these concepts to human affairs and the need for long-term solutions to environmental problems.