While changes in emissions and atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases are projected to be slow and smooth, the intensity and impacts of climate change on the environment and society could be abrupt and erratic. Surprising and nonlinear responses are likely to occur as warming exceeds certain thresholds, inducing relatively rapid and disruptive changes in the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, precipitation intensity and patterns, coastal inundation, the occurrence of wildfire, the ranges of plant and animal species and more. Written by a transdisciplinary group of internationally respected researchers, this book explores the possibilities of such changes, their significance for society and efforts to move more rapidly to limit climate change than current government measures.
Foreword by John Ashton
Introduction by Michael C. MacCracken and John C. Topping, Jr. 1
Pt. 1 The Potential for Rapid Changes to the Weather and Climate 7
Introduction to Part I by Michael C. MacCracken 8
1 Ten Reasons Why Climate Change May he More Severe than Projected by A. Barrie Pittock 11
2 Potential Increased Hurricane Activity in a Greenhouse Warmed World by Judith A. Curry 29
3 Potential Effects of Weather Extremes and Climate Change on Human Health by Devra Lee Davis and John C. Topping, Jr. 39
Pt. 2 The Potential for Rapid Melting of Ice and Amplification of Sea Level Rise 45
Introduction to Part 2 by Robert W. Corell 46
4 Changes in Polar Sea Ice Coverage by Claire L. Parkinson 49
5 Changes in the Greenland Ice Sheet and Implications for Global Sea Level Rise by Eric Rignot 63
6 Why Predicting West Antarctic Ice Sheet Behavior is So Hard: What We Know, What We Don't Know and How We Will Find Out by Robert Bindschadler 75
Pt. 3 The Potential for Dramatic Changes in Coastal Regions 81
Introduction to Part 3 by Tom Roper 82
7 The Potential for Significant Impacts on Chesapeake Bay from Global Warming by Michael S. Kearney 85
8 The Northern Gulf of Mexico Coast: Human Development Patterns, Declining Ecosystems and Escalating Vulnerability to Storms and Sea Level Rise by Virginia Burkett 101
9 Threats and Responses Associated with Rapid Climate Change in Metropolitan New York by Malcolm Bowman and Douglas Hill and Frank Buonaiuto and Brian Colle and Roger Flood and Robert Wilson and Robert Hunter and Jindong Wang 119
10 Increasing the Resilience of Our Coasts: Coastal Collision Course of Rising Sea Level, Storms, Coastal Erosion and Development by Bruce C. Douglas and Stephen P. Leatherman
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