Main Title |
Under a green sky : global warming, the mass extinctions of the past, and what they can tell us about our future / |
Author |
Ward, Peter D. ;
Ward, Peter Douglas
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Publisher |
Smithsonian Books/Collins, |
Year Published |
2007 |
OCLC Number |
76168082 |
ISBN |
9780061137914; 9780061137921; 0061137928; 006113791X |
Subjects |
Extinction (Biology) ;
Paleoclimatology ;
Global warming ;
Extinction, Biological ;
Global warming--Environmental aspects ;
Klima anderung ;
Pal aoklimatologie ;
Perm--Geologie ;
Klimaänderung--(DE-588)4164199-1 ;
Paläoklimatologie--(DE-588)4173112-8 ;
Perm (Geologie)--(DE-588)4173820-2
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Internet Access |
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Holdings |
Library |
Call Number |
Additional Info |
Location |
Last Modified |
Checkout Status |
ESAM |
QE721.2.E97W384 2007 |
|
Region 10 Library/Seattle,WA |
05/25/2007 |
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Edition |
1st Smithsonian Books ed. |
Collation |
xiv, 242 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm |
Notes |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Contents Notes |
Welcome to the revolution! -- The overlooked extinction -- The mother of all extinctions -- The misinterpreted extinction -- A new paradigm for mass extinction -- The driver of extinction -- Bridging the deep past and near past -- The oncoming extinction of winter -- Back to the Eocene -- The new old world. More than 200 million years ago, a cataclysm known as the Permian extinction destroyed nearly 97 percent of all living things. Its origins have long been a puzzle. Paleontologist Ward, fresh from helping prove that an asteroid had killed the dinosaurs, turned to the Permian problem, and he has come to a stunning conclusion: that the near-total devastation at the end of the Permian period was caused by rising levels of carbon dioxide leading to climate change. The story of the discovery makes for a globe-spanning adventure. Here, Ward explains how the Permian extinction as well as four others happened, and describes the freakish oceans--belching poisonous gas--and sky--slightly green and always hazy--that would have attended them. Those ancient upheavals demonstrate that the threat of climate change cannot be ignored, lest the world's life today--ourselves included--face the same dire fate.--From publisher description. |