The Earth As A Cradle For Life

Download or read book The Earth as a Cradle for Life written by Frank D Stacey and published by World Scientific. This book was released on 2013-06-21 with total page 308 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Earth as a Cradle for Life aims to fill the gap between readers who have a strong and informed scientific interest in the environment (but no access to the journal literature), and their desire for a basic understanding of the environment. It provides a comprehensive account, and requires no advanced mathematical skills. It will also satisfy a need for a textbook on fundamental science for students in tertiary environmental science courses that may otherwise neglect the underlying basis of their subject. The Earth as a Cradle takes a step back from common perceptions of the environment, and presents a new fundamental perspective. It draws attention to observations that have been neglected or discounted for reasons the authors found invalid, and which allow a more coherent account of the environment than is possible without them. Misunderstandings about the environment are common, even in the scientific community. They arise in part from the multi-disciplinary nature of the subject and the difficulty in keeping all relevant observations in mind and assessing their validity. These misunderstandings are often consequences of the band-wagon effect: when an idea is reinforced by repeated quotation and becomes difficult to contradict even when it is in obvious conflict with observations. This is especially so in a subject with strong media interest and conflicting commercial interests — and Cradle sweeps these considerations aside and presents a new environmental scenario. This book draws on several decades of research by the authors on fundamental Earth science, and presents probing insights on environmental questions that are not widely recognized — even in the professional community. For this reason it will become a landmark in the environmental science and Earth science literature. Contents:Physical and Astronomical Foundations:“The Age of the Earth as an Abode Fitted for Life” (Lord Kelvin, 1899)Rotation, Tides and the MoonThe Variable Sun and Other Astronomical EffectsThe Magnetic FieldThe Evolving Earth:Internal Heat and the Evolution of the EarthThe OceansPlanetary Atmospheres and the Appearance of Free OxygenThermal Balance, the Greenhouse Effect and Sea LevelEnvironmental Crises and Mass Extinctions of SpeciesStability of the EnvironmentInorganic Mineral Deposits as Products of an Evolving EnvironmentFossil Fuels, Buried Carbon and Photosynthetic OxygenHuman Influences:Effects of Fossil Fuel UseA Comparison of Human Energy Use with Natural DissipationsThe Cradle is RockingA Summary of Salient Conclusions Readership: General public, students, professionals, and researchers in the fields of environmental science, geology, geophysics, climatology, meteorology, oceanography, and environmental education. Keywords:Alternative Energy;Atmosphere;Carbon Dioxide;Earth Evolution;Fossil Fuels;Global Warming;Greenhouse Effect;Ice Ages;Impacts;Moon;Oceans;Oxygen;Solar Radiation;VolcanismKey Features:This is one of the very few books that present the fundamental aspects of the environment, the underlying reasons why it is the way it is and the processes that led to it. Available rivals generally present conventional and, in some cases, outdated ideas that lack the insight of this bookAttention is focused on some of the observations that throw new light on the environment, such as the temperature dependence of CO2 solubility in sea water and the rate at which natural processes remove it from the atmosphere, the inadequacy of photosynthesis to explain atmospheric oxygen, the hydrothermal origin of ocean salt, the capacity of the oceans as stores of heat, and fundamental limitations on possible ‘alternative’ energy sourcesThis book draws attention to two aspects of the environmental inertia of the oceans that have not previously been distinguished: the thermal effect of greenhouse warming — which has already been initiated and will become fully apparent on a hundred year time scale — and that the natural CO2 balance will be restored only in millions of yearsReviews: "The sense of seeking to convince the reader, however, lends the book a clear, decisive and ultimately highly readable tone. This book straddles the line between a textbook and a general-interest volume quite comfortably, making it suitable for anyone with a basic understanding of science that wants to place modern climate change in the context of the Earth's history." European Geosciences Union “This enjoyable book takes a long-term view of Earth's development as a habitable planet, this is a good initiation to a broad and important topic nevertheless, accessible to readers with a general science education.” chemistryworld Royal Society of Chemistry "This interesting book is a history of Earth's physical and chemical evolution, with implications for life at almost every stage. It is replete with original thinking and probing insight (and occasional important oversights). Throughout, one is not allowed to forget that Earth is a special place in the family of planets we call the Solar System." Henry Pollack Emeritus Professor of Geophysics University of Michigan “By itemizing the most important points at the end, the deliberate simplification serves for emphasis and as a useful starting point for discussion about the very gradual response by the Earth system to the rapid changes made by humans. Their abridged discussion and appraisal of planet Earth and of its resilience reveal some still unanswered questions about our environment. The book targets undergraduate students from all areas of study and anyone interested in the future of the planet.” Environmental Earth Sciences