Includes bibliographical references and index.

Prologue: Global warming in geologic time -- section 1. The present -- The greenhouse effect -- We've seen it with our own eyes -- Forecast of the century -- section 2. The past -- Millennial climate cycles -- Glacial climate cycles -- Geologic climate cycles -- The present in the bosom of the past -- section 3. The future -- The fate of fossil fuel COb2s -- Acidifying the ocean -- Carbon cycle feedbacks -- Sea level in the deep future -- Orbits, COb2s, and the next Ice Age -- Epilogue: Carbon economics and ethics. "In The Long Thaw, David Archer, one of the world's leading climatologists, predicts that if we continue to emit carbon dioxide we may eventually cancel the next ice age and raise the oceans by 50 meters. By comparing the global warming projection for the next century to natural climate changes of the distant past, and then looking into the future far beyond the usual scientific and political horizon of the year 2100, Archer reveals the hard truths of the long-term climate forecast." "Revealing why carbon dioxide may be an even worse gamble in the long run than in the short, this compelling and critically important book brings the best long-term climate science to a general audience for the first time."--BOOK JACKET.