About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherCambridge University Press

ISBN-10131651076X

ISBN-139781316510766

eBay Product ID (ePID)4050377050

Product Key Features

Number of Pages350 Pages

Publication NameClimate Demon : Past, Present, and Future of Climate Prediction

LanguageEnglish

Publication Year2021

SubjectEarth Sciences / Meteorology & Climatology, Physics / General

FeaturesNew Edition

TypeTextbook

Subject AreaScience

AuthorR. Saravanan

FormatHardcover

Dimensions

Item Height0.9 in

Item Length9.3 in

Item Width6.2 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceCollege Audience

LCCN2021-019837

TitleLeadingThe

Dewey Edition23

Reviews'If you wish to correctly interpret climate modeling results, read The Climate Demon. Saravanan's brilliant and humorous book helps both scientists and the general public objectively understand strengths and limitations of climate predictions.' Samuel Shen, San Diego State University

IllustratedYes

Dewey Decimal551.63

Edition DescriptionNew Edition

Table Of ContentList of figures; Preface; Acknowledgements; Introduction; Part I. The Past: 1. Deducing weather: The dawn of computing; 2. Predicting weather: The butterfly and the tornado; 3. The greenhouse effect: Goldilocks and the three planets; 4. Deducing climate: Smagorinsky's laboratory; 5. Predicting climate: Butterflies in the greenhouse; 6. The ozone hole: Black swan at the polar dawn; 7. Global warming: From gown to town. Part II: The Present: 8. Occam's razor: The reduction to simplicity; 9. Constraining climate: A conservative view of modeling; 10. Tuning climate: A comedy of compensating errors; 11. Occam's beard: The emergence of complexity; 12. The Hansen paradox: The red Queen's race of climate modeling; 13. The Rumsfeld matrix: Degrees of knowledge; 14. Lost in translation; 15. Taking climate models seriously, not literally. Part III. The Future: 16. Moore's law: To exascale and beyond; 17. Machine learning: The climate imitation game; 18. Geoengineering: Reducing the fever; 19. Pascal's wager: Hedging our climate bets; 20. Moonwalking into the future. Epilogue. Glossary. Selected Bibliography. References. Index. Endnotes.

SynopsisClimate predictions - and the computer models behind them - play a key role in shaping public opinion and our response to the climate crisis. Some people interpret these predictions as 'prophecies of doom' and some others dismiss them as mere speculation, but the vast majority are only vaguely aware of the science behind them. This book gives a balanced view of the strengths and limitations of climate modeling. It covers historical developments, current challenges, and future trends in the field. The accessible discussion of climate modeling only requires a basic knowledge of science. Uncertainties in climate predictions and their implications for assessing climate risk are analyzed, as are the computational challenges faced by future models. The book concludes by highlighting the dangers of climate 'doomism', while also making clear the value of predictive models, and the severe and very real risks posed by anthropogenic climate change., Climate predictions - and the computer models behind them - play a key role in shaping public opinion on climate change. Providing an accessible introduction to the history, science, and philosophy of climate modeling, it is for anyone with an interest in climate change and a basic knowledge of science.

LC Classification NumberQC995.46.S27 2022