Biomes of the Future (Library of Future Weather and Climate)

Describes biomes of the world, and explains how changes in global climate can affect the different plants and animals that live there.

Gr 5-7-Stein examines evidence of past weather and climate changes for clues about what's in store for us in the years ahead. Biomes of the Future-more correctly titled Biomes IN the Future-begins on subarctic Ellesmere Island, where the alligators that roamed 50 million years ago have been replaced by NASA vehicles designed to explore Mars. Then, after surveying types of biomes, the author discusses the greenhouse effect and how it causes biomes to change. Global Warming is also about the greenhouse effect, along with other factors that can affect climate worldwide, and, in Ice Ages, Stein shows how many of those same factors could cause not a global heat wave, but an equally widespread cold snap-not necessarily over thousands of years, but, to judge from one ominous prehistoric event, in as few as 50. Many of the color photos are uninformative or irrelevant (or both). Though these titles are systematic and authoritative enough to be valuable additions to libraries, the amount of topical overlap renders them problematic for all but comprehensive collections. Of the three, Ice Ages makes the best first choice, as the information isn't readily available elsewhere.

John Peters, New York Public Library

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