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Intro -- Preface -- Acknowledgements -- Contents -- List of Boxes -- 1 Introduction -- 2 The Basis: Past Climate Observations and Methods -- 2.1 Observations of Weather and Climate -- 2.2 Historical Climate Observations -- 2.2.1 Documentary and Early Instrumental Data -- 2.2.2 From National Weather Services to a Global Observing System -- 2.3 Upper-Air and Satellite Observations -- 2.4 Data Dissemination in the Course of Time -- 2.5 Uncertainties in Climatic Data -- 2.5.1 Uncertainties and Errors in Measurement Series -- 2.5.2 Inhomogeneities and Homogenisation -- 2.5.3 The Chain of Uncertainties -- 2.6 Data Products and Dynamical-Statistical Methods -- 2.6.1 Spatial Information and Geostatistical Methods -- 2.6.2 Data Assimilation and Reanalyses -- 2.7 Climate Models -- 2.7.1 Characteristics of Climate Models -- 2.7.2 Types of Climate Models and Experiments -- 2.7.3 Downscaling, Nudging, and Other Techniques -- 2.8 Palaeoclimate Information and Techniques -- 2.8.1 Climate Proxies -- 2.8.2 Problems Arising When Working with Proxies -- 2.8.3 Calibration and Modelling of Proxies -- 2.8.4 Climate Reconstructions -- 2.8.5 Data Assimilation in Palaeoclimatology -- 2.9 Datasets Used in This Book -- 2.9.1 Overview -- 2.9.2 Observations and Reanalyses -- 2.9.3 Model Simulations -- 2.9.4 Reconstructions and Offline Assimilation -- 2.9.5 Conclusions -- 3 The Machinery: Mechanisms Behind Climatic Changes -- 3.1 Basic Climate Physics: The Mean State -- 3.1.1 Energy Budget and Heat Transport -- 3.1.1.1 Global-Mean Fluxes -- 3.1.1.2 Spatial View of Heat Transport -- 3.1.2 The General Circulation of the Atmosphere -- 3.1.2.1 The Zonally Symmetric Circulation -- 3.1.2.2 The Zonally Asymmetric Circulation -- 3.1.2.3 The Weather Scale -- 3.1.2.4 Energy Transport -- 3.1.3 Stratospheric Circulation -- 3.1.3.1 Demarcation and Zonal-Mean Circulation.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Original Title Page -- Original Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- Acknowledgements -- Dedication -- Introduction -- Chapter 1: Reconstructing past climates -- Instrumental records -- Historical and archaeological data -- Environmental indicators -- Chapter 2: Climatic change in the Quaternary era -- The glacial/interglacial sequence -- The Younger Dryas event -- The Holocene optimum -- The medieval optimum and the Little Ice Age -- Twentieth-century warming -- Variability within the present climate system -- Chapter 3: The greenhouse effect and greenhouse gases -- The greenhouse effect -- Carbon dioxide -- Methane -- Nitrous oxide -- Chlorofluorocarbons -- Ozone -- Feedback mechanisms and the greenhouse effect -- Chapter 4: Predicting future climates -- Analogues from past climates -- General circulation models -- Validating GCMs -- Time-dependent models -- Greenhouse gas emission scenarios -- GCM scenarios for future climate -- Climatic variability -- Detecting the signal through the noise -- Chapter 5: The impact of global warming: sea level rise -- Measuring sea level -- The impacts of sea level rise -- Impacts on delta areas -- Impacts in tropical and subtropical areas -- The Antarctic ice sheets -- Responding to sea level rise -- Chapter 6: The impact of global warming on natural ecosystems and agriculture -- Carbon dioxide and plant growth -- Impact on ecosystems -- Tropical rain forests and climatic change -- Hydrological impacts -- Impact on agriculture -- World food supply -- Chapter 7: Responding to global warming -- The political framework -- Reducing greenhouse gas emissions -- Conclusion -- Bibliography -- Glossary -- References -- Index.

"Postcolonial Literatures of Climate Change investigates the evolving nature of postcolonial literary criticism in response to global, regional, and local environmental transformations brought about by climate change. It builds upon, and extends, previous studies in postcolonial ecocriticism to demonstrate how the growing awareness of human-caused global warming has begun to permeate literary consciousness, praxis and analysis. The breadth of the volume's coverage - the diversity of its focal locations, cultures, genres and texts - serves as a salient reminder that, while climate change is global, its impacts vary, effecting peoples from place to place unequally, and often in accordance with their particular historical experience of colonialism and neo-colonialism, as well as their ongoing marginalisations. "Demonstrating the urgency of invoking novel epistemological approaches combining the scientific and the imaginative, this book is a "must read" for those concerned about the present and potential impacts of climate change on formerly colonised areas of the world. The comprehensive and illuminating Introduction offers a crucial history and current state of postcolonial ecocriticism as it has been and is addressing climate crises." - Helen Tiffin, University of Wollongong "The broad focus on the polar regions, the Pacific and the Caribbean - with added essays on environmental justice/activism in India and Egypt - opens up rich terrain for examination under the rubric of postcolonial and ecocritical analysis, not only expanding recent studies in this field but also enabling new comparisons and conceptual linkages." - Helen Gilbert, Royal Holloway, University of London "The subject is topical and vital and will become even more so as the problem of how to reconcile the demands of climate change with the effects on regions and individual nations already damaged by the economic effects of colonisation and the subsequent inequalities resulting from neo-colonialism continues to grow." - Gareth Griffiths, Em. Prof. University of Western Australia"--