Earth’s Climate: Past and Future
Earth’s Climate: Past and Future – Review
This textbook was sent for a mid-level course on climatic environments of the past, with a focus on the Quaternary Period. As a graduate student with an ecology undergraduate degree currently studying Quaternary vegetation dynamics, I commonly found this to be an exceptional introduction for those without a background in climatology while still having a lot to offer further progressive students. The book itself does not focus merely on the Quaternary, but on the general climatic story of the earth and the active processes that govern it. Ruddiman gives a comprehensive management of the different degrees of variability (tectonic-scale, orbital-scale, millenial, and finally historical and future). He includes a comprehensive action of various paleoclimate proxy methods, the processes of internal and outdoor climate forcing, and gives a environmental context for the recent trends in climate change. One of the most important parts of this textbook are the superb illustrations, which are concise and consistent throughout. These graphics render a type of potentially confusing or difficult processes appear greatly simpler and more approachable, and are superior to supplementary treatments of the same topics I’ve seen in supplementary textbooks. Each chapter has suggestions for additional readings, key terms, and review questions, making this an tremendous resource for students. The work is comparatively up-to-date, and includes contemporary issues and debates in paleoclimate studies as well as references to various current projects, groups, and researchers. The writing style is succinct and clear, and follows an intuitive progression. More progressive students will find it easy to find the information they need without slogging through elementary readings. All in all this is an outstanding reference for anyone interested in studying climate dynamics in order to understand recent trends. Beginning or progressive students, professionals seeming to expand their breadth of knowledge, and the earnest inquirer with an advanced high school background in natural science will all find something valuable in this text. My just wish is that the book, now five years old, be frequently updated to include the most recent advanvements in the field.