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At a time when the evidence is stronger than ever that human activity is the primary cause for global climate change, Ruddiman´s breakthrough text returns in a thoroughly updated new edition. It offers a clear, engaging, objective portrait of the current state of climate science, including compelling recent findings on anthropogenic global warming and important advances in understanding past climates.

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PART I: FRAMEWORK OF CLIMATE SCIENCE 1. Overview of Climate Science 2. Earth´s Climate System Today 3. Climatic Archives, Data and Models.- PART II: TECTONIC-SCALE CLIMATE CHANGE 4. CO2 and Long-Term Climate 5. Plate Tectonics and Long-Term Climate 6. Greenhouse Climate From Greenhouse to Icehouse: The Last 50 Million Years .- PART III: ORBITAL-SCALE CLIMATE CHANGE 8. Astronomical Control of Solar Radiation 9. Insolation Control of Monsoons 10. Insolation Control of Ice Sheets 11. Orbital-Scale Changes in Carbon Dioxide and Methane 12. Orbital-Scale Interactions, Feedbacks, and Unsolved Problems .- PART IV: GLACIAL/DEGLACIAL CLIMATE CHANGE 13. The Last Glacial Maximum 14. Climate During and Since the Last Deglaciation 15. Millennial Oscillations of Climate.- PART V: HISTORICAL AND FUTURE CLIMATE CHANGE 16. Humans and Pre-Industrial Climate17. Climate Changes During the Last 1000 Years18. Climate Changes Since 1850 - 19. Causes of Warming over the Last 125 Years 20. Future Climatic Change.

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William F. Ruddiman is retired from the University of Virginia, USA and has since concentrated his research on the climatic role farmers played during the last several thousand years by clearing land, raising livestock, and irrigating rice padis. Over the course of his career, Ruddiman has explored several different aspects of the field of paleoclimate - from orbital-scale changes in North Atlantic sediment to the cause of long-term cooling over the last 50 million years. He has written trade books and numerous journal articles.

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