The Whole Story of Climate

October 15, 2012
Now that a strong scientific consensus holding humans responsible for the Earth's latest warming trend has emerged, climate scientists are getting the lion's share of media attention whenever the crisis gets airtime. Rarely consulted are the experts most familiar with our planet's heating and cooling patterns, namely, the geologists. Partly to showcase geologists' expertise on global warming and partly to provide lay readers a guidebook to interpreting rock formations, science writer Peters, aka the Rock Doc on public radio, here reviews what the geological evidence tells us about extreme climate changes across the centuries. Peters quickly shoots down the popular notion that worldwide temperatures would essentially be stable if not for the damage caused by greenhouse gases. Instead, natural history reveals that rapid shifts from hotter to cooler climes can occur over mere decades, and, if not for recent carbon pollution, an ice age might be just around the corner. Along with Peters' lucidly written overview of geological science, unsettling surprises such as these will keep readers engaged as they are educated.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)