This three-volume set presents entries and primary sources that will impress on readers that what we do-or don’t do-today regarding climate change will dramatically influence what life on this planet will be like for untold numbers of generations.

How are the behaviors of birds, butterflies, and other migratory animals connected to climate change? What does the term thermal inertia mean, and what does this geophysical effect have on predicting what the planet’s future will be like? What is the context for the effects we are seeing on various forms of animal life, from migrating birds to polar bears to mosquitoes that transmit Zika and other diseases?

Climate Change: An Encyclopedia of Science, Society, and Solutions combines entries describing Earth’s variable climatic history, references to scientific literature, weather record data, and selected primary documents to present readers with a comprehensive account of global warming’s effects worldwide. By examining verifiable, quantitative information such as the frequency and intensity of hurricanes and changes in the hydrological cycle, as well as clear patterns and trends of alternating droughts and deluges and wildfires, melting ice, and rising seas, readers will be able to understand why scientists are so concerned about the future of our climate.

Researchers will benefit from detailed explanations of scientific topics such as thermal inertia, feedbacks, and tipping points; and receive invaluable context on the role of energy use in climate change, including automobiles and air travel. Readers will learn about the role of China in the current global climate and in the future; the widespread effects of climate change on agriculture; and how indigenous peoples’ lives are being impacted, from drought and the Navajos to hunters’ lives in the Arctic. The work concludes with thought-provoking debates regarding potential solutions, from wind power and solar power to geo-engineering.

Provides readers with a clearly written description of global-warming science and its role in shaping a body of knowledge regarding a worldwide issue that affects everyone

Suggests remedies for this serious problem, most notably a rapid rise in the implementation of wind power generation and a coming revolution in solar energy

Impresses on readers that what Americans and the citizens and governments of other nations around the globe do over the next decades will determine the future of this planet for many tens of thousands of years to come

Includes primary documents sourced from major scientific journals and from the many reports on recent climate change from governmental organizations, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and World Meteorological Organization (WMO), both part of the United Nations; and the U.S. government’s National Climate Assessment