Polar Environments and Global Change - Softcover

Barry, Roger G.; Hall-McKim, Eileen A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1108436358 ISBN 13: 9781108436359

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 2018

Synopsis

The polar regions are the 'canary in the coal mine' of climate change: they are likely to be hit the hardest and fastest. This comprehensive textbook provides an accessible introduction to the scientific study of polar environments against a backdrop of climate change and the wider global environment. The book assembles diverse information on polar environmental characteristics in terrestrial and oceanic domains, and describes the ongoing changes in climate, the oceans, and components of the cryosphere. Recent significant changes in the polar region caused by global warming are explored: shrinking Arctic sea ice, thawing permafrost, accelerating loss of mass from glaciers and ice sheets, and rising ocean temperatures. These rapidly changing conditions are discussed in the context of the paleoclimatic history of the polar regions from the Eocene to the Anthropocene. Future projections for these regions during the twenty-first century are discussed. The text is illustrated with many color figures and tables, and includes further reading lists, review questions for each chapter, and a glossary.

About this title

Book Description:

A contemporary account of the physical environments (atmosphere, ocean, cryosphere) in the Arctic, Antarctic, and Central Asian mountains (the 'Third Pole'), for environmental science students at senior undergraduate and graduate levels. It addresses processes, present and past conditions, and projected changes in an accessible manner.

About the Author:

Roger G. Barry is Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Geography at the University of Colorado Boulder and is the former director of the National Snow and Ice Data Center. He has published 29 textbooks, 260 research articles, and has supervised 65 graduate students. He has been a Guggenheim Fellow, Fulbright Teaching Fellow, and a visiting professor in 8 countries.

Eileen A. Hall-McKim is a climatologist receiving her doctorate from the University of Colorado Boulder. Her interdisciplinary degrees include work in the geological sciences, paleoclimatology, meteorology, oceanography, and water resources. She is the co-author, with Roger G. Barry, of Essentials of the Earth's Climate System (Cambridge, 2014).

About this edition

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1108436358
• ISBN 13: 9781108436359
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 442