Climate Past, Present and Future : Climatic History and the Future

First published in 1977, the second volume of Climate: Present, Past and Future covers parts 3 and 4 of Professor Hubert Lamb’s seminal and pioneering study of climatology. Part 3 provides a survey of evidence of types of climates over the last million years, and of methods of dating that evidence. Through the earlier stages of the Earth’s development the book traces what is known of the various geographies presented by the drifting continents and indicates what can be learnt about climatic regimes and the causes of climatic change. From the last ice age to the present our knowledge of the succession of climates is summarized, indicating prevailing temperatures, rainfalls, wind and ocean current patterns where possible.

Part 4 considers events during the fifteen years prior to the book’s initial publication, leading on to the problems of estimating the most probable future course of climatic development, and the influence of Man’s activities on climate.

Alongside the reissue of volume 1, this Routledge Revival will be essential reading for anyone interested in both the causes and workings of climate and in the history of climatology itself.