Global Climate: Current Research and Uncertainties in the Climate System

Uncertainty for Everyone The one thing that is certain about the world is that the world is uncertain. I have here, the question that apart of the matter, living matter, has to resolve in each and every one of its moments of existance. The environment of a living being is apart of the living being where it turns out, the rest of the living beings live. This is the drama of life on earth. Every living individual debates with his environment, exchanging matter, energy and information in the hope of staying alive, the same as all living beings who share that same environment. The adven­ ture of a living being (of all living beings ) is to maintain reasonable independ­ ence in face ofthe fluctuations ofuncertainty within the environment. The range of restrictions and mutual relationships is colossal. How is the tran­ seendental pretension of staying alive regulated? There is an equation imposed by the laws ofthermodynamics and the mathematical theory ofinformation about the interaction ofa living being with his environment which we could state like this: The complexity 01 a living individual plus his capacity for anticipation in re­ spect to his environment is identical to the uncertainty of the environmentplus the capacity of that living being to change the environment.

From the reviews:

"The book comprises 11 essays in 2 parts written by a total of 13 authors. The rational for editing another collection on the basic problems of our climate system is the dramatic change that climate research has undergone in the last decade. ... The book reaches its goal in that a couple of hot spots are identified and professionally discussed ... . it is a valuable voice in the growing global choir of climate researchers who seek for a consensus ... ." (M. Hantel, Meteorologische Zeitschrift, Vol. 14 (1), 2005)

"This book provides detailed views of ‘hot spots’ in the dynamics of our climate system. The eleven chapters are well written by international experts in different areas. The aim of the book is to give a brief overview of recent advances in climate research ... . The book is very readable and provides information overviews and glimpses that serve as appetizers to a wide range of environmental-science topics with great relevance to understanding past, present, and future climates." (Derek Winstanley, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, January, 2004)