Climate change and the resulting impacts on humans and the biosphere are one of the most pressing problems of the 21st century; yet most individuals—be they journalists, politicians, policy makers, from business, NGOs, activists or academics—who are not climate specialists have only a fragmented basic knowledge of the climate system and of the nature and differences between natural and human induced climate change.

This book, written by two of the world’s leading climate experts, with the support of the Joint Scientific Committee of the World Climate Research Program, is the first comprehensive synthesis of the broad spectrum of our current knowledge of climate science, impacts and the interactions of climate and society. Coverage includes an explanation of the climate system and the processes that govern climate variability and change, where the sources and limitations of climate information come from, how it is modeled and interpreted and the uncertainties of climate prediction, as well.

Table of Contents:

• Introduction • How the Earth has Evolved and How Climate has Shaped Society • Long Term Change • Changes over Decades and Centuries • Interannual Variability • Isolated Events • Climate Impacts in Today’s World • Disasters • Health • Energy • Water • Agriculture • Biodiversity • Drivers and Indicators of Climate Change • How the Climate System ‘works’ • Making and Using Climate Observations • Representing the Climate System in Models • Building a Climate Information System