Climate: The Force That Shapes Our World and the Future of Life on Earth

by George Ochoa, Jennifer Hoffman, Tina Tin Ph.D.

Spectacular state-of-the-art imagery and the latest scientific knowledge highlight a breathtaking guide to nature's most cataclysmic forces. Encyclopedic in scope and visually stunning, this is the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1594862885
• ISBN13: 9781594862885
• Release Date: November 2005
• Publisher: Rodale Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 3.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 11.3" x 9.4"

Customer Reviews

beautiful !

A nice, easy-to-read, breakfast table book that contains a tour-de-force of the world history juxtaposed with advances in human civilization and how all these affect the climate and in turn gets themselves affected. It shows how civilizations get wiped off by severe climate changes. Miseries, famine, drought etc affect human endeavours and this book shows in easy terms how this is done. Sometimes it exagerates climatic changes affecting human history, but, given the facts in the book, it seems wise to be watchful as we are seeing a global warming.

A Beautiful Book

"Climate," a large-format coffee table book, has hundreds of top quality photographs, graphics, and maps related to climate and climate change. In 288 pages the book offers a history of climate from the formation of the earth until the present day and a gloomy perspective of the future when rising temperatures and irregular weather will affect our daily lives. The authors suggest ways and means by which we as individuals might help to reduce man-caused climatic change. The book is published by Rodale, the organic gardening gurus whose publications are noted more for earnestness than dispassionate inquiry. A statement up-front says that "human activity is contributing" to global warming. That's probably true, but I would like to be persuaded rather than instructed. It would be interesting to learn more about the differing scientific views on the subject of climate change and its impact on man. There's quite a debate going on out there, but you would never know it from this book. I also must complain about the small size and inadequate text of what should be the most interesting part of the book: "Charting Climate Change." Here's where the rubber meets the road: how much warmer is it going to be one hundred years from now? Unfortunately, the answer is relegated to a brief appendix and the world maps showing projected changes in temperature and precipitation are approximately two inches by four inches and unreadable without a magnifying glass for somebody who wants to know how much warmer it is going to be in Muskogee, Oklahoma, USA. The beautiful illustrations capture your attention and hold it --but much of the text does not. It will look good on your coffee table, but most people will probably thumb through the book rather than reading it cover to cover. Smallchief