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Regional impacts of global climate change: Assessing change and response at the scales that matter
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Book review
Basic physical chemistry for the atmospheric sciences. P.V. Hobbs. Cambridge University Press, 1995, 206 pages, £35 (hardback), ISBN 0-521-47387-X. This book provides a concise review of the basic chemical principles, particularly relating to the atmosphere. Students with little formal training in chemistry can work through the chapters and numerous exercises within this book before accessing the higher-level texts. The book covers the fundamental concepts of chemical equilibria, chemical thermodynamics, chemical kinetics, solution chemistry, acid and base chemistry, oxidation-reduction reactions and photochemistry. Over 160 exercises are contained within the text; they include 50 numerical problems solved in the text and 112 exercises for the reader to work on with hints and solutions provided in an appendix. Regional impacts of global climate change: Assessing change and response at the scales that matter. Edited by S.J. Ghan, W.T. Pennell, K.L. Peterson, E. Rykiel, M.J. Scott and L.W. Vail. Battelle Press, 1996, 394 pages, $57.50, ISBN 1-57477-017-9. The primary goal of this book, which comprises papers presented at the 32nd Hanford Symposium on Health and the Environment (Richland, Washington, U.S.A., October 19-21, 1993), is to assess over relatively small geographic areas the impacts of global climate change on natural ecosystems, water and energy resources, agriculture, and human health. This book constitutes a comprehensive collection of papers on the subject of regional, as contrasted to global, impacts of climate change. The authors represent a broad set of disciplines, and the papers cover a wide range of topics related to impacts of climate change on the environment and human health. Currents of change: El Nino's impact on climate and society. M.H. Glantz. Cambridge University Press, 1996, 194 pages, £14.95 (paperback), ISBN 0-521-57659-8. This book explains in simple terms what E1 Nifio is, how its effects might be forecast and what its far reaching impacts on all of us are. The book is arranged in three sections: Section I, Emerging interest in E1 Nifio; Section II, The life and times of E1 Nifio episodes (with methods used to forecast and identify E1 Nifio); Section III, Who cares about E1 Nifio - and why. Transports, contraintes climatiques et pollutions. G. Escourrou. Editions SEDES, Paris, 1996, 172 pages, FFll0, ISBN 2-7181-9015-9. This book draws up an inventory of the problems set by the climatic constraints to ground and air transportation. These constraints can be exerted on the infrastructures during the building of the communication way itself but also on the traffic, either directly as a disturbing agent, or indirectly by having an influence on the economic cost. These climatic constraints can be limited in time, as the problem of cold in winter, or linked with harsh regional conditions (cold areas, strong tropical rains, mountainous environment). The book then focuses on the problems set by the nuisances due to transportation: problems of pollution linked with transportation and its consequences on the environment (vegetation), on man and his environment, on the climate. The most serious problem is due to car traffic which keeps developing and sets important problems of air quality in the cities.
Book review
Basic physical chemistry for the atmospheric sciences. P.V. Hobbs. Cambridge University Press, 1995, 206 pages, £35 (hardback), ISBN 0-521-47387-X. This book provides a concise review of the basic chemical principles, particularly relating to the atmosphere. Students with little formal training in chemistry can work through the chapters and numerous exercises within this book before accessing the higher-level texts. The book covers the fundamental concepts of chemical equilibria, chemical thermodynamics, chemical kinetics, solution chemistry, acid and base chemistry, oxidation-reduction reactions and photochemistry. Over 160 exercises are contained within the text; they include 50 numerical problems solved in the text and 112 exercises for the reader to work on with hints and solutions provided in an appendix. Regional impacts of global climate change: Assessing change and response at the scales that matter. Edited by S.J. Ghan, W.T. Pennell, K.L. Peterson, E. Rykiel, M.J. Scott and L.W. Vail. Battelle Press, 1996, 394 pages, $57.50, ISBN 1-57477-017-9. The primary goal of this book, which comprises papers presented at the 32nd Hanford Symposium on Health and the Environment (Richland, Washington, U.S.A., October 19-21, 1993), is to assess over relatively small geographic areas the impacts of global climate change on natural ecosystems, water and energy resources, agriculture, and human health. This book constitutes a comprehensive collection of papers on the subject of regional, as contrasted to global, impacts of climate change. The authors represent a broad set of disciplines, and the papers cover a wide range of topics related to impacts of climate change on the environment and human health. Currents of change: El Nino's impact on climate and society. M.H. Glantz. Cambridge University Press, 1996, 194 pages, £14.95 (paperback), ISBN 0-521-57659-8. This book explains in simple terms what E1 Nifio is, how its effects might be forecast and what its far reaching impacts on all of us are. The book is arranged in three sections: Section I, Emerging interest in E1 Nifio; Section II, The life and times of E1 Nifio episodes (with methods used to forecast and identify E1 Nifio); Section III, Who cares about E1 Nifio - and why. Transports, contraintes climatiques et pollutions. G. Escourrou. Editions SEDES, Paris, 1996, 172 pages, FFll0, ISBN 2-7181-9015-9. This book draws up an inventory of the problems set by the climatic constraints to ground and air transportation. These constraints can be exerted on the infrastructures during the building of the communication way itself but also on the traffic, either directly as a disturbing agent, or indirectly by having an influence on the economic cost. These climatic constraints can be limited in time, as the problem of cold in winter, or linked with harsh regional conditions (cold areas, strong tropical rains, mountainous environment). The book then focuses on the problems set by the nuisances due to transportation: problems of pollution linked with transportation and its consequences on the environment (vegetation), on man and his environment, on the climate. The most serious problem is due to car traffic which keeps developing and sets important problems of air quality in the cities.