Synopses & Reviews
In the global-warming debate, definitive answers to questions about ultimate causes and effects remain elusive. In Global Warming: Myth or Reality? Marcel Leroux seeks to separate fact from fiction in this critical debate from a climatological perspective. Beginning with a review of the dire hypotheses for climate trends, the author describes the history of the 1998 Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and many subsequent conferences. He discusses the main conclusions of the three IPCC reports and the predicted impact on global temperatures, rainfall, weather and climate, while highlighting the mounting confusion and sensationalism of reports in the media. After taking a hard look at the reality of the greenhouse effect, the a evidencea (TM) from climate models, and the modelsa (TM) limitations, Leroux postulates alternate causes of climate change and analyzes the trends for global temperatures, rainfall patterns, and sea level. He poses the a hereticala (TM) question if warming may be considered a benefit in some regions. Finally Leroux suggests a number of priorities for climatologists to better understand processes of climate change, to integrate them into climate models, and to predict accurately future changes in climate. This timely and controversial book lays out the scientific case of the sizable skeptical scientific community who challenge the accepted wisdom.
Synopsis
The English language second edition of Dynamic Analysis of Weather and Climate is based on the updated French second edition text and illustrations of La Dynamique du Temps et du Climat (2000). The text is expanded through the incorporation of some material from Marcel Leroux's Global Warming: Myth Or Reality (2005) together with new material covering recent events, including the UK inundations 2007, the German inundations 2008, illustrations and bibliographical important updates - such as IPCC AR4 2007 and references up to 2008. This second edition will therefore be the most up to date, complete synthesis of the late author's research and understanding of weather and climate, as explained to a graduate student or engineer school level audience. The organization of the book makes it clear and logical to follow. New illustrations and satellite images provide the reader with a better understanding of the concepts. The new material demonstrates the relevance of the author's research in relation with new reports and meteorological events which now appear to be the best validation of the late author's thesis.
About the Author
Professor of Climatology for 40 years.
Former Director of the Centre of Research in Tropical Africa Climatology, CRCTA (Dakar, Senegal)
Former Director of the Laboratory of Climatology-Risks-Environment, LCRE (Lyon, France).
Author of: "La dynamique du temps et du climat", Editions Maison, 1996, 310pp, 1st edn; Editions Dunod, 2000, 366 pp, 2nd edn.
Author of "Dynamic Analysis of Weather and Climate", J. Wiley ed. Praxis-Wiley series in Atmospheric Physics, London, NY, 365 pp, 1998.
Author of "The Meteorology and Climate of Tropical Africa", Springer Verlag, Springer-Praxis books in Environmental Sciences, London, NY, 548 pp + CD: 300 pp, 250 charts, 2001.
Author of "Global warming: myth or reality? The erring ways of climatology", Springer-Praxis books in Environmental Sciences, Berlin, Heidelberg, London, New- York, 509p., 2005