Earth System, The (2nd Edition) | 
 enlarge | Authors: Lee R. Kump, James F. Kasting, Robert G. Crane
Publisher: Prentice Hall
Category: Book
List Price: $112.00
Buy Used: $68.24
You Save: $43.76 (39%)
New (17) from $88.70
Avg. Customer Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 125492
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 432
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 10.8 x 8.2 x 0.3
ISBN: 0131420593
Dewey Decimal Number: 577.1
EAN: 9780131420595
ASIN: 0131420593
Publication Date: August 16, 2003
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Product Description
The first book of its kind that addresses the issues of global change from a perspective of Earth as a system, The Earth System offers a solid emphasis on lessons from Earth history that may guide decision-making in the future. This book teaches global change and how it affects our environment. Modern topics covered by this comprehensive book are the atmosphere and global warming, the circulation of the oceans, plate tectonics, ecosystems, the origin of Earth and life, the rise of oxygen and ozone depletion, biodiversity, and climate stability. Because of its incredibly detailed appendices, tables, and suggestions for further reading, this will make an excellent reference work for geologists, oceanographers, meteorologists, and geographers.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 2 more reviews...
 Book February 14, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Book is in acceptable condition, but I wasn't worried about it. Came just in time
 A Great Introduction to Earth May 23, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I read this book outside of a class context. I am not well-versed in chemistry or geology (both are very important in earth science), but I was able to understand a majority of The Earth System. The book is lucidly written and provides a fine analysis of the dynamics of both small and large-scale planetary change.
I bought and read The Earth System with the goal of understanding the science behind global warming: little did I know what a tall order that was! Global climate is enormously complex and contains far more variables than the layman would imagine. Scientists do not and probably will not understand global warming in the same way that they understand less complex phenomena.
The climate system is Chaotic. The best we can do is understand the causal relations that exist within it, plug observed data into computers, and hope that the predictions based on computer modeling will be accurate.
Current modeling technology will predict today's climate by running simulations on what we know of conditions on Earth 150 years ago. The agreement between a variety of simulations that predict future climate based on current conditions is the basis of the scientific consensus that global warming will occur.
Best Earth Systems Science text so far September 29, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I'm a prof at a small liberal arts college, and I love using this text in my upper level course on global change. It works well with non-science majors, as well as with the more advanced science students. It does a superb job with climate change science, which is one of the major focii in my course. It doesn't hesitate to use real physics, math, and chemistry, yet at the same time is accessible to the non-science folks. Lee Kump is one of the premiere geoscientists in the field, and he has lent his broad understanding to this excellent text. It might also be fun to simply read the book if you are not a student.
Gaia explained by scientists September 26, 2006
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Kump has worked with James Lovelock of 'Gaia' fame on modelling Daisyworld. I'll let the reviewer discover what that means in this title.(But also see REVENGE OF GAIA, 2006, for Lovelock's predictions for our heating planet).
This is the best book for geoscientists and geographers in training who have an interest in climate past, present, and future. An excellent college level scientific supplement to popular works on climate change and earth systems science.
This is the best textbook for earth system science December 7, 2002
16 out of 16 found this review helpful
Earth System Science is a new field, one that evolves much more quickly than textbooks can be revised. This one is as current as you can expect, and it approaches the field of science in a much better way than any other textbook I have seen. In particular, most earth system texts approach the field by morphing from a traditional discipline. Usually, it's a geology textbook revised to include atmospheric, oceanic, and climatic studies. But earth system science requires an interdisciplinary approach from the start, a problem based approach. Our global environmental problems need this approach, and this book covers them in a reasonably detailed and accurate manner.
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