What is the real role of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere? Why is the climate no warmer now that it was a thousand years ago, when the level of carbon dioxide has nearly doubled? Why do we have deserts? Why are they sometimes there, along the subtropics, and sometimes not? Why did the last ice age end so quickly, so that the temperature in Greenland rose by seven degrees Celsius in just three years? Why was there an ice age? Why is the planet so cold now, compared to the way it was in the distant past? What was the real reason for the extinction of the dinosaurs?These are just some of the questions the author seeks to answer. The book brings the reader right up to date with the latest developments in the rapidly expanding field of geological knowledge. There are also appendices on the formation of the mountains of the USA, the geological structure of China and the geological history of Australia. This edition is illustrated with 95 photographs, maps and diagrams.