Paleoclimatology - Colin P Summerhayes

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Résumé :

Author Biography xi

Acknowledgement xiii

1 Introduction 1

1.1 What is Palaeoclimatology? 1

1.2 What Can Palaeoclimatology Tell Us About Future Climate Change? 2

1.3 Using Numerical Models to Aid Understanding 4

1.4 The Structure of This Book 4

1.5 Why is This History Not More Widely Known? 6

References 7

2 The Great Cooling 9

2.1 The Founding Fathers 9

2.2 Charles Lyell, 'Father of Palaeoclimatology' 13

2.3 Agassiz Discovers the Ice Age 19

2.4 Lyell Defends Icebergs 22

References 28

3 Ice Age Cycles 31

3.1 The Astronomical Theory of Climate Change 31

3.2 James Croll Develops the Theory 33

3.3 Lyell Responds 35

3.4 Croll Defends His Position 36

3.5 Even More Ancient Ice Ages 37

3.6 Not Everyone Agrees 38

References 39

4 Trace Gases Warm The Planet 41

4.1 De Saussure's Hot Box 41

4.2 William Herschel's Accidental Discovery 41

4.3 Discovering Carbon Dioxide 42

4.4 Fourier, the 'Newton of Heat' Discovers the 'Greenhouse Effect' 43

4.5 Tyndall Shows How the 'Greenhouse Effect' Works 44

4.6 Arrhenius Calculates How CO2 Affects Air Temperature 47

4.7 Chamberlin's Theory of Gases and Ice Ages 49

References 53

5 Changing Geography Through Time 57

5.1 The Continents Drift 57

5.2 The Sea Floor Spreads 63

5.3 The Dating Game 71

5.4 Base Maps for Palaeoclimatology 72

5.5 The Evolution of the Modern World 74

References 77

6 Mapping Past Climates 81

6.1 Climate Indicators 81

6.2 Palaeoclimatologists Get to Work 82

6.3 Refining Palaeolatitudes 86

6.4 Oxygen Isotopes to the Rescue 87

6.5 Cycles and Astronomy 88

6.6 Pangaean Palaeoclimates (Carboniferous, Permian, Triassic) 91

6.7 Post-Break Up Palaeoclimates (Jurassic, Cretaceous) 97

6.8 Numerical Models Make Their Appearance 104

6.9 From Wegener to Barron 110

References 110

7 Into the Icehouse 117

7.1 Climate Clues from the Deep Ocean 117

7.2 Palaeoceanography 118

7.3 The World's Freezer 124

7.4 The Drill Bit Turns 126

7.5 Global Cooling 131

7.6 Arctic Glaciation 138

References 141

8 Greenhouse Gas Theory Matures 147

8.1 CO2 in the Atmosphere and Ocean (1930-1955) 147

8.2 CO2 in the Atmosphere and Ocean (1955-1979) 149

8.3 CO2 in the Atmosphere and Ocean (1979-1983) 161

8.4 Biogeochemistry: The Merging of Physics and Biology 166

8.5 The Carbon Cycle 167

8.6 Ocean Carbon 170

8.7 A Growing International Emphasis 173

8.8 Reflection on Developments 174

References 176

9 Measuring and Modelling CO2 Back Through Time 183

9.1 CO2 - The Palaeoclimate Perspective 183

9.2 Modelling CO2 Back Through Time 187

9.3 The Critics Gather 191

9.4 Fossil CO2 197

9.5 Measuring CO2 Back Through Time 199

9.6 CO2, Temperature, Solar Luminosity, and the Ordovician Glaciation 204

9.7 Some Summary Remarks 215

References 216

10 The Pulse of the Earth 223

10.1 Climate Cycles and Tectonic Forces 223

10.2 Ocean Chemistry 232

10.3 Black Shales 235

10.4 Sea Level 238

10.5 Biogeochemical Cycles, Gaia and Cybertectonic Earth 240

10.6 Meteorite Impacts 242

10.7 Massive Volcanic Eruptions and Biological Extinctions 246

10.8 An Outrageous Hypothesis: Snowball Earth 252

References 259

11 Numeric...