Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast

Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast is a comprehensive introduction to all aspects of global warming. Written in an accessible style, this important book examines the processes of climate change and climate stability, from the distant past to the distant future.

Examining the greenhouse effect, the carbon cycle, and what the future may hold for global climate, this text draws on a wide range of disciplines, and summarizes not only scientific evidence, but also economic and policy issues, related to global warming. A companion web site at (http://understandingtheforecast.org) provides access to interactive computer models of the physics and chemistry behind the global warming forecast, which can be used to support suggested student projects included at the end of each chapter. Solutions and artwork from the book are available to instructors at www.blackwellpublishing.com/archer.

Global Warming: Understanding the Forecast provides an essential introduction to this vital issue for both students and general readers, with or without a science background.

Customer Reviews:

Basic mechanisms demystified

By Geoffrey J. Russell - May 22, 2007

There are some annoying typographical errors in this book, otherwise I would give

it five stars --- visit the book's website for a list of errata.

Plenty of books tell you about global warming, but this book really does

dymystify the nuts and bolts of how climate scientists know what they

say they know. The book says it is based on a course for non-scientists and

it shows --- the explanations are clearly honed from experience of explaining

scientific concepts to non-scientists. It is always difficult for scientists

in any field to convey the depth of knowledge which has accumulated over

a long period of time to people coming from other disciplines, but this book

does a pretty good job.

Needs some repair.

By Brian H. Fiedler - December 17, 2008

You will need to visit understandingtheforecast.org right away, to download the errata. There are 32 errors listed in the errata, as of 17 December 2008. Four figures need to be replaced, though one is an update to reflect the 2007 IPCC report. Unfortunately, the replacement figures are not the same size as those in the book. You cannot merely paste them over; you will need to tape them as a flap, so that you can still read the caption. You will likely find more typos in the book than those listed in the errata. Depending on how valuable your time is, you may effectively double the price of the book.

In addition to the typos, there are some serious errors in the book. The author is a geochemist. The opening chapter on the greenhouse effect, "The layer model", is incorrect for anything but epsilon=1 (epsilon being the emissivity). A term for radiation from the surface is missing entirely from the last equation on page 25. That term would have a factor of... read more

The next best thing to enrolling at U. of Chicago

By raypierre - February 24, 2007

I wish to commend this wonderful book written by my colleague, David Archer. The class upon which this book is based is a runaway success, and each year it seems they need to find a bigger lecture hall. When you have read the books like "The Weather Makers," and "Field Notes from a Catastrophe," and are ready for something more quantitative but still fairly gentle on the math, this is the one for you. I think it's the best source around for people who want to get a true scientific understanding of the physics and chemistry of climate change.