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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 10, NUMBER 11, NOVEMBER 1997

BOOKS AND PROCEEDINGS...
EARTH SYSTEM SCIENCE

Item #d97nov52

Assessing Climate Change: Results from the Model Evaluation Consortium for Climate Assessment, W. Howe, A. Henderson-Sellers, Eds., 420 pp., 1997, $140/£91 (Gordon & Breach).

Presents the findings of an international, industry-sponsored research group, the Model Evaluation Consortium for Climate Assessment (MECCA), including an overview of how climate change predictions are affected by the use of different model types. Also assesses the impacts of climate change on vegetation, severe weather, and agricultural productivity.

Item #d97nov53

A Climate Modelling Primer, 2nd. Ed., K. McGuffie, A. Henderson-Sellers, 224 pp., $60, July 1997 (Wiley).

Updates the 1987 edition of a very popular text, and includes a CD ROM. Aims to ascend the "climate modeling pyramid" to the three-dimensional general circulation climate model, and to encourage discriminating interpretation of the results of climate models.

Item #d97nov54

Biogeochemistry: An Analysis of Global Change, 2nd. Ed., W.H. Schlesinger, 588 pp., 1997, $49.95 pbk. (Academic Press).

A text that considers the effects of life on the Earth's chemistry on a global level by employing current technology to help students extrapolate small-scale examples to the global level. Reviewed by S.K. Hamilton (Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., pp. 1878-1788, Aug. 1997), who recommends the book for any scientist who needs a comprehensive and thoroughly referenced overview, and considers it well suited as a text for upper-level and graduate courses.

Item #d97nov55

The Arctic and Environmental Change, P. Wadhams, J.A. Dowdeswell, A.M. Schofield, Eds., 208 pp., 1997, $48/£31/ECU40 (Gordon & Breach).

Consists of 14 papers from a meeting (Oct. 1994) that contain a broad review of changes in the Arctic environment in response to global warming. Discusses changes that are expected in the next century.

Item #d97nov56

Cycles of Life: Civilization and the Biosphere, V. Smil, 221 pp., 1997, $32.95/£19.95 (Sci. Amer. Lib./W.H. Freeman).

Addresses the biological cycling of carbon, nitrogen and sulfur. Reviewed by M. Whitfield in Nature, pp. 35-36, Mar. 6, 1997: the author is authoritative and detailed when dealing with terrestrial and atmospheric cycles, including their mechanisms, the evolution of our understanding, and the interference of civilization with their functioning. He is less sure footed with the marine system (unfortunate because of the important role of oceans); the marine cycling of nitrogen gets short shrift.

Item #d97nov57

Gaia's Body--Toward a Physiology of Earth, T. Volk, 300 p., 1997, $27 (Springer).

For lay readers and earth scientists, this book uses the Gaia theory to answer such questions as: Is Earth alive? Is the biosphere a self-sustaining meta-organism? Various ways of looking at the "anatomy" and "physiology" of the Earth are described, considering the major biogeographical regions (rainforests, deserts, tundra etc.) and the chemical cycles that keep Earth in balance, as well as the role of humanity in Gaia's past and future.

Item #d97nov58

Environmental Change--The Evolving Ecosphere, R. Huggett, 256 pp., 1997, £50 (Routledge).

An introduction to past, present and future changes in the environment, and to the interconnectedness of the ecological, geological and cosmic aspects of the environment. Postulates an unending adaptation of the ecosphere and its parts to ever-changing circumstances, including those triggered by human actions.

Item #d97nov59

Climate Trend Atlas of Europe--Based on Observations 1891-1990, C.-D. Schönweise, J. Rapp, 224 pp., 1997, $112/£69/NLG175 (Kluwer).

Provides observational and statistical information using the concept of selected climate element change charts (for temperature, precipitation, humidity, pressure) for different months or seasons. Deals with various problems (reliability and accuracy of data, time series homogeneity, adequate spatial interpolation, graphical presentation etc.). The numerous charts allow an overview and a detailed analysis of the geographic patterns of climate change in Europe.

Item #d97nov60

Biomass Burning and Global Change. Vol. 1: Remote Sensing, Modeling and Inventory Development, and Biomass Burning in Africa (632 pp., $80). Vol. 2: Biomass burning in South America, Southeast Asia, and Temperate Boreal Ecosystems, and the Oil Fires of Kuwait (421 pp., $70), J.S. Levine, Ed., 1996 (MIT Press).

Presents the most recent results of a massive climatic research project, with over 80 contributions by more than 200 scientists, covering the tropical, temperate and boreal regions of the world. Also presents results of other national and international experiments.

Item #d97nov61

Sea Level Changes: The Last 20,000 Years, P.A. Pirazzoli, 224 pp., 1997, $35 (Wiley).

Presents the main causes of sea level change, the methods used to recognize former shorelines, ice age conditions, and examples describing various sea level histories. Features new ideas, techniques, and results of two decades of international research to analyze the causes of sea level change and itsrelationship to the greenhouse effect.

Item #d97nov62

Amazonian Deforestation and Climate, J.H.C. Gash, C.A. Nobre et al., Eds., 430 pp., 1996, $102 (Wiley).

Presents results from the Anglo-Brazilian Amazonian Climate Observation Study. ABRACOS studied changes to the water and carbon cycles, and the interaction between the soil, vegetation and atmosphere which occurs when the primary rainforest is removed and replaced with cattle ranchland. The scales studied were from measurements of leaf and soil moisture, to models that predict the climate for the whole Amazon Basin.

Item #d97nov63

Global Change and Remote Sensing, K. Ya. Kondratyev, A.A. Buznikov, O.M. Pokrovsky, ca. 300 pp., 1996, $115 (Wiley).

The first book of its kind to survey the International Space Year Program and its results, as well as prioritized global change problems. Also presents the first survey of Russian satellite remote sensing systems.

Item #d97nov64

Carbon Dioxide, Populations, and Communities, C. Körner, F. Bazzaz, Eds., 465 pp., 1996, $84.95 (Academic).

Focuses on the responses of populations and communities, and the resulting evolutionary responses, to elevated CO₂. A companion is Carbon Dioxide and Terrestrial Ecosystems. (See Global Climate Change Digest, BOOKS/IMPACTS, Feb. 1997.)

Item #d97nov65

Fungi and Environmental Change, J.C. Frankland, N. Magan, G.M. Gadd, Eds., 351 pp., 1996, $95 (Cambridge).

Given that fungi are an ancient group of organisms, are ubiquitous, and are interdependent with other organisms, this book addresses how they are affected by environmental change (including climate change and global warming, UV radiation, and various environmental pollutants), and how they can be used to mitigate environmental problems. Reviewed by A.Y. Rossman in BioScience, pp. 546-547, Sep. 1997.

Item #d97nov66

High Latitude Climate and Remote Sensing, K.Ya. Kondratyev, O.M. Johannessen, V.V. Melentyev, 200 pp., 1996, $90 (Wiley).

Gives a complete and thorough analysis of high latitude climate using satellites, and presents perspectives on remote sensing and climate change that are probably unfamiliar to Western scientists.

Item #d97nov67

Climate Change: Developing Southern Hemisphere Perspectives, T.W. Giambelluca, A. Henderson-Sellers, Eds., 475 pp., 1996, £65 (Wiley).

A text aimed at the graduate level that grew out of a 1993 Graduate Summer School on Coupled Climate System Modeling that also complements the text Climate System Modeling, edited by Trenberth. The four sections cover global change pluralities; hemispheric climate: global models; climate change: ecological and human dimensions; and policy perspective. Reviewer R. Washington (Intl. J. Climatol., p. 903, June 30, 1997) comments that the authors have put together an important text - provocative, authoritative, and ambitious. Although some chapters could have been expanded, what the book covers, it does so very well.

Item #d97nov68

Greenhouse Gas Balances of Bioenergy Systems. A Bibliography, B. Schlamadinger, M. Waupotitsch, 289 pp., Feb. 1996, $45 participating countries/$200 other countries (Joanneum Research).

Prepared within the International Energy Agency's Bioenergy Agreement-Task XV. Includes annotated citations of journal articles, reports and proceedings that reference both bioenergy and greenhouse gases. Includes work that deals with greenhouse gas balances of land use (agriculture and forestry) and of land use change, and information on the greenhouse gas implications of selected fossil fuel cycles so they can be compared with biomass fuel cycles.

Item #d97nov69

Solar Output and Climate During the Holocene, B. Frenzel, Ed., 186 pp., 1995, $48.20 (Gustav Fischer Verlag, Stuttgart, Ger.).

A special issue of Palaeoclimate Research, produced as part of the European Science Foundation's project "European Palaeoclimate and Man. Presents and discusses solar data and climate proxy data from the past, which can be use to search for solar activity signatures and other properties. Reviewed by J.D. Haigh in Quart. J. Royal Meteor. Soc. (p. 1970, Oct. 1996, Part B), and by N. Brown in Prog. Phys. Geog. (pp. 147-149, Mar. 1997).

Item #d97nov70

The Role of Water and the Hydrological Cycle in Global Change, H.R. Oliver, S.A. Oliver, Eds., 480 pp., 1995, $222 (Springer).

A collection from lectures, mostly about global change applications of hydrology, presented at a NATO Advanced Study Institute (Italy, May 1994). Reviewed by K. McGuffie in Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc. (pp. 94-95, Jan. 1997).

Item #d97nov71

Soils and Global Change, R. Lal, J.M. Kimble et al., Eds., 464 pp., 1995, $99.95 (CRC).

Examines the importance of soils and their relationship to global change, specifically to the greenhouse effect.

Reviews of Previous Entries: Earth System Science

Item #d97nov72

Long-Term Climate Monitoring by the Global Climate Observing System [GCOS], T.R. Karl, Ed., 648 pp., 1996, $154 (Kluwer).

A reprint of a special issue of Climatic Change 31(2-4), Dec. 1995. (Annotated entries for that issue are in Global Climate Change Digest, pp. 1-2, Feb. 1996.) Reviewed by P. Riley in Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., pp. 2953-2954, Dec., 1996, who notes that it aims to set out a scientific framework for the monitoring requirements of GCOS. The book meets this goal well, and should provide guidance to those planning GCOS for a number of years to come. It also provides a useful and comprehensive review of research results so far.

Item #d97nov73

Boreal Forests and Global Change, M.J. Apps, D.T. Price, J. Wisniewski, Eds., 548 pp., 1995, $199 (Kluwer).

An "editorial review essay" by J. Pastor (Clim. Change, pp. 343-350, July 1996) calls the book an excellent collection of thought provoking papers that should be standard reading for anyone interested in the subject. It then discusses some unsolved research problems of boreal regions.

Shorter reviews appear in Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., Dec. 1996 (B. Kuemmel), and Ecology, p. 959, Apr. 1997 (E.K. Miller).

Item #d97nov74

Global Environmental Change: Past, Present and Future, K.K. Turekian, 200 pp., 1996, $46, 1996 (Prentice Hall).

Reviewed by J.L. Goldman in Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 2115-2119, Sep. 1996. The reviewer calls this a timely book that helps inquiring students learn what changes are occurring, as well as the science governing the measurements of change, and how the trends of change have come about. He is heartened that the book will give students, who may be our future political leaders, the opportunity to receive the extensive scientific understanding of our environment, as well as an ability to distinguish between junk science and the scientific method so aptly presented by the author.

Item #d97nov75

Biogenic Trace Gases: Measuring Emissions from Soil and Water, P.A. Matson, R.C. Harriss, Eds., 386 pp., 1995, $49.95/£26.50 (Blackwell).

Reviewed by J. Westbrook in Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., pp. 575-576, Mar. 1996, who recommends the book for its interdisciplinary approach, comprehensive coverage, seamless writing style, and clear and consistent figures.

Item #d97nov76

Aerosol Forcing of Climate, R.J. Charlson, J. Heintzenberg, Eds., 416 pp., 1995, $125 (Wiley).

Reviewed by J.G. Hudson in Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., pp. 1864 ff., Aug. 1996. Superior to many other conference proceedings; despite the large number of authors, the writing is good, and the volume well edited. It presents an excellent distinction about what is and is not known. However, the reviewer is perplexed by the organization of the chapters and read them in the order of his personal interest.