Paleoclimates: Understanding climate change past and present

Abstract

Imagine contracting a fever and having no prior knowledge of whether your body's reaction will be severe or benign. Fortunately, having had fevers before, we know how our body reacts and we know how to treat the symptoms. Now consider global warming over the past century and the likelihood of it continuing for decades to centuries, with temperatures rising beyond anything humanity has experienced in the past. From this perspective, an investigation into past planetary fevers (and chills), what caused them, and how the planet responded—in short, paleoclimatology—becomes imperative. Although not the first book on the topic, Cronin's Paleoclimates is an up‐to‐date, comprehensive, and authoritative accounting of past climates.