Deep Future: The Next 100,000 Years of Life on Earth

$32.49

In this major new book, noted paleoclimatologist Stager vividly shows how what we do to the environment in the 21st century will affect the next 100,000 years of life on this planet.
Kirkus Reviews (02/01/2011):

A probing exploration of the impact of climate change over geological time.
Stager (Paleoecology/Paul Smith Coll.) takes the long view of global climate change. Most popular discussions of the subject look only at the next century or so, ignoring the question of what happens after the current generation is gone from the scene. Carbon dioxide pumped into the air by burning fossil fuels will be around thousands or hundred of thousands of years from now, and the effects will occur on a similar time scale. Ice-sheet collapse and sea-level rise will likely take place gradually enough to allow coastal residents to adjust?decades, if not centuries. Comparison with past warm episodes, notably the Eemian interglacial, 130,000 years ago, gives perspective. Different latitudes will feel results unequally much discussion has focused on polar icecaps, but tropical climates will feel the impact as well. As some regions become drier, others may experience more rainfall. Stager examines both moderate and extreme scenarios, depending on the degree of carbon release. The impact may even be benign in some regions. Greenland may become a temperate climate, while much of Europe faces rising sea levels. Warming isn't the only long-term issue. Acidification of the oceans, a chemical reaction caused by dissolved carbon dioxide, is likely to harm many aquatic species. Many animals that survived past episodes of climate change by moving are now endangered because of human settlements in their way. A key point is that humanity has the ability to moderate the release of carbon, shaping the long-range impact on climate. While we are already past the point where significant global warming can be prevented, the author points out that cutting carbon now preserves some for a future era when its release could help prevent another ice age?a global disaster every bit as threatening to the human race as warming.
Essential reading.
(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Publishers Weekly (03/21/2011):
Stager (Field Notes From the Northern Forest), a climatologist working at the University of Maine's Climate Center, provides a long-range view of climate change which is at odds with the "sky is falling" alarmist view of global warming. While not denying the effect of human activity on global climate, Stager is sharply critical of media hype and spin. As a paleoecologist, he draws on biology, chemistry, and geology including past geological records to situate current trends in the context of long range effects, as shown by the fossil and geological record of planetary evolution. In other words, in the aftermath of the last ice age, ."..it took several millennia of melting for global sea level to stabilize near today's elevation..." He suggests that we "have prevented the next ice-age"; once predicted to happen in 50,000 years, he states that our climate activity has added another 70,000 years to that estimate. Although Stager thinks a disaster comparable to the biblical flood is unlikely, he doesn't minimize the potential devastation that could occur from even modest sea level rise or the loss of marine biodiversity. A thoughtful, if controversial, approach to an over-heated subject. (Mar.) Copyright 2011 Reed Business Information.

Review Quotes:
"Amid all the ranting, confusing, and contradicting books on climate change, at last here's one that does something truly useful: Clearly and engagingly, scientist Curt Stager guides us into back into the atmosphere's history, letting us compare it to the present and draw informed ideas about what to expect in the future. It's heartening to know that he expects us to have one."
--Alan Weisman, author, "The World Without Us"
""Deep Future" is a richly informative and deeply persuasive book -- one that will be relevant for generations."
--Elizabeth Kolbert, author of "Field Notes from a Catastrophe"
""Deep Future "is like one of Jared Diamond's magisterial accounts, except set in the future, not the past."
--Bill McKibben, author of "The End of Nature "and "Eaarth"
"A highly entertaining, carefully balanced, and deeply sobering look at our climate future."
--William F. Ruddiman, author of "Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum"
"Fascinating and measured - at last someone is t

Review Quotes:
?"Deep Future" is a richly informative and deeply persuasive book -- one that will be relevant for generations.?
--Elizabeth Kolbert, author of "Field Notes from a Catastrophe"

?A highly entertaining, carefully balanced, and deeply sobering look at our climate future?
--William F. Ruddiman, author of "Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of Climate"

?Fascinating and measured - at last someone is taking the long view?
--Mark Lynas, author of "Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet"

?While most of our attention in the field of climate science has focused on what we might expect by the end of the 21st century, Curt Stager takes us to a time 100,000 years in the future. This intriguing and thought-provoking view of the far future is an essential read for all interested in the full force of climate change. Without thinking outside the box we would have assumed that abru

Biographical Note:
CURT STAGER is an ecologist, paleoclimatologist, and science writer with a Ph.D. in biology and geology from Duke University. He has published more than three dozen climate- and ecology-related articles in major journals including "Science" and "Quaternary Research," and has written for popular audiences in periodicals such as "National Geographic." He teaches at Paul Smith's College in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York and holds a research associate post at the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute, where he investigates the long-term history of climate in Africa, South America, and the polar regions.
For more info, visit www.curtstager.com.

Review Quotes:
A "Kirkus Reviews" Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
"Amid all the ranting, confusing, and contradicting books on climate change, at last here's one that does something truly useful: Clearly and engagingly, scientist Curt Stager guides us back into the atmosphere's history, letting us compare it to the present and draw informed ideas about what to expect in the future. It's heartening to know that he expects us to have one."
--Alan Weisman, author, "The World Without Us
"""Deep Future" is a richly informative and deeply persuasive book -- one that will be relevant for generations."
--Elizabeth Kolbert, author of "Field Notes from a Catastrophe
"""Deep Future "is like one of Jared Diamond's magisterial accounts, except set in the future, not the past."
--Bill McKibben, author of "The End of Nature "and "Eaarth
""A highly entertaining, carefully balanced, and deeply sobering look at our climate future."
--William F. Ruddiman, author of "Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum
""Fascinating and measured - at last someone is taking the long view."
--Mark Lynas, author of "Six Degrees
""This intriguing and thought-provoking view of the far future is an essential read for all interested in the full force of climate change. "
--Paul Andrew Mayewski, Director of the Climate Change Institute, and author of "The Ice Chronicles
""A probing exploration of the impact of climate change over geological time. ... Essential reading."
--"Kirkus Reviews" (starred review)
"A thoughtful, if controversial, approach to an over-heated subject."
--"Publishers Weekly
"""Deep Future" is a clear, concise, and thought provoking work, one that takes a refreshingly frank look at the science behind global warming and, more importantly, what is coming next. In a field where hyperbolic claims and bitter skepticism prevail, the clarity and unflappability of Stager's account is like a breath of fresh, slightly heated air."
Kirkus Reviews (02/01/2011):
A probing exploration of the impact of climate change over geological time.
Stager (Paleoecology/Paul Smith Coll.) takes the long view of global climate change. Most popular discussions of the subject look only at the next century or so, ignoring the question of what happens after the current generation is gone from the scene. Carbon dioxide pumped into the air by burning fossil fuels will be around thousands or hundred of thousands of years from now, and the effects will occur on a similar time scale. Ice-sheet collapse and sea-level rise will likely take place gradually enough to allow coastal residents to adjust?decades, if not centuries. Comparison with past warm episodes, notably the Eemian interglacial, 130,000 years ago, gives perspective. Different latitudes will feel results unequally?much discussion has focused on polar icecaps, but tropical climates will feel the impact as well. As some regions become drier, others may experience more rainfall. Stager examines both moderate and extreme scenarios, depending on the degree of carbon release. The impact may even be benign in some regions. Greenland may become a temperate climate, while much of Europe faces rising sea levels. Warming isn't the only long-term issue. Acidification of the oceans, a chemical reaction caused by dissolved carbon dioxide, is likely to harm many aquatic species. Many animals that survived past episodes of climate change by moving are now endangered because of human settlements in their way. A key point is that humanity has the ability to moderate the release of carbon, shaping the long-range impact on climate. While we are already past the point where significant global warming can be prevented, the author points out that cutting carbon now preserves some for a future era when its release could help prevent another ice age?a global disaster every bit as threatening to the human race as warming.
Essential reading.
(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Publishers Weekly (03/21/2011):
Stager (Field Notes From the Northern Forest), a climatologist working at the University of Maine's Climate Center, provides a long-range view of climate change which is at odds with the "sky is falling" alarmist view of global warming. While not denying the effect of human activity on global climate, Stager is sharply critical of media hype and spin. As a paleoecologist, he draws on biology, chemistry, and geology including past geological records to situate current trends in the context of long range effects, as shown by the fossil and geological record of planetary evolution. In other words, in the aftermath of the last ice age, ."..it took several millennia of melting for global sea level to stabilize near today's elevation..." He suggests that we "have prevented the next ice-age"; once predicted to happen in 50,000 years, he states that our climate activity has added another 70,000 years to that estimate. Although Stager thinks a disaster comparable to the biblical flood is unlikely, he doesn't minimize the potential devastation that could occur from even modest sea level rise or the loss of marine biodiversity. A thoughtful, if controversial, approach to an over-heated subject. (Mar.) Copyright 2011 Reed Business Information.

Review Quotes:
"Amid all the ranting, confusing, and contradicting books on climate change, at last here's one that does something truly useful: Clearly and engagingly, scientist Curt Stager guides us into back into the atmosphere's history, letting us compare it to the present and draw informed ideas about what to expect in the future. It's heartening to know that he expects us to have one."
--Alan Weisman, author, "The World Without Us"
""Deep Future" is a richly informative and deeply persuasive book -- one that will be relevant for generations."
--Elizabeth Kolbert, author of "Field Notes from a Catastrophe"
""Deep Future "is like one of Jared Diamond's magisterial accounts, except set in the future, not the past."
--Bill McKibben, author of "The End of Nature "and "Eaarth"
"A highly entertaining, carefully balanced, and deeply sobering look at our climate future."
--William F. Ruddiman, author of "Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum"
"Fascinating and measured - at last someone is t

Review Quotes:
?"Deep Future" is a richly informative and deeply persuasive book -- one that will be relevant for generations.?
--Elizabeth Kolbert, author of "Field Notes from a Catastrophe"

?A highly entertaining, carefully balanced, and deeply sobering look at our climate future?
--William F. Ruddiman, author of "Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum: How Humans Took Control of Climate"

?Fascinating and measured - at last someone is taking the long view?
--Mark Lynas, author of "Six Degrees: Our Future on a Hotter Planet"

?While most of our attention in the field of climate science has focused on what we might expect by the end of the 21st century, Curt Stager takes us to a time 100,000 years in the future. This intriguing and thought-provoking view of the far future is an essential read for all interested in the full force of climate change. Without thinking outside the box we would have assumed that abru

Biographical Note:
CURT STAGER is an ecologist, paleoclimatologist, and science writer with a Ph.D. in biology and geology from Duke University. He has published more than three dozen climate- and ecology-related articles in major journals including "Science" and "Quaternary Research," and has written for popular audiences in periodicals such as "National Geographic." He teaches at Paul Smith's College in the Adirondack Mountains of upstate New York and holds a research associate post at the University of Maine's Climate Change Institute, where he investigates the long-term history of climate in Africa, South America, and the polar regions.
For more info, visit www.curtstager.com.

Review Quotes:
A "Kirkus Reviews" Best Nonfiction Book of the Year
"Amid all the ranting, confusing, and contradicting books on climate change, at last here's one that does something truly useful: Clearly and engagingly, scientist Curt Stager guides us back into the atmosphere's history, letting us compare it to the present and draw informed ideas about what to expect in the future. It's heartening to know that he expects us to have one."
--Alan Weisman, author, "The World Without Us
"""Deep Future" is a richly informative and deeply persuasive book -- one that will be relevant for generations."
--Elizabeth Kolbert, author of "Field Notes from a Catastrophe
"""Deep Future "is like one of Jared Diamond's magisterial accounts, except set in the future, not the past."
--Bill McKibben, author of "The End of Nature "and "Eaarth
""A highly entertaining, carefully balanced, and deeply sobering look at our climate future."
--William F. Ruddiman, author of "Plows, Plagues, and Petroleum
""Fascinating and measured - at last someone is taking the long view."
--Mark Lynas, author of "Six Degrees
""This intriguing and thought-provoking view of the far future is an essential read for all interested in the full force of climate change. "
--Paul Andrew Mayewski, Director of the Climate Change Institute, and author of "The Ice Chronicles
""A probing exploration of the impact of climate change over geological time. ... Essential reading."
--"Kirkus Reviews" (starred review)
"A thoughtful, if controversial, approach to an over-heated subject."
--"Publishers Weekly
"""Deep Future" is a clear, concise, and thought provoking work, one that takes a refreshingly frank look at the science behind global warming and, more importantly, what is coming next. In a field where hyperbolic claims and bitter skepticism prevail, the clarity and unflappability of Stager's account is like a breath of fresh, slightly heated air."

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