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Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide.

Print Price: $13.50

Format:
Paperback
144 pp.
20-25 b/w halftones, 111 mm x 174 mm

ISBN-13:
9780198718871

Publication date:
March 2016

Imprint: OUP UK


Earth System Science: A Very Short Introduction

Tim Lenton

Series : Very Short Introductions

When humanity first glimpsed planet Earth from space, the unity of the system that supports humankind entered the popular consciousness. The concept of the Earth's atmosphere, biosphere, oceans, soil, and rocks operating as a closely interacting system has rapidly gained ground in science. This new field, involving geographers, geologists, biologists, oceanographers, and atmospheric physicists, is known as Earth System Science.

In this Very Short Introduction, Tim Lenton considers how a world in which humans could evolve was created; how, as a species, we are now reshaping that world; and what a sustainable future for humanity within the Earth System might look like. Drawing on elements of geology, biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics, Lenton asks whether Earth System Science can help guide us onto a sustainable course before we alter the Earth system to the point where we destroy ourselves and our current civilisation.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Readership : Undergraduate students of Geography, Earth and Environmental sciences, and Biological sciences as well as general readers of popular science.

1. Home
2. Recycling
3. Regulation
4. Revolutions
5. Anthropocene
6. Projection
7. Sustainability
8. Generalisation
References
Index

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Tim Lenton is a Professor at the University of Exeter, where he is also Chair in Climate Change and Earth Systems Science. His research focuses on understanding the behaviour of the Earth as a whole system, especially through the development and use of Earth system models. He worked closely with James Lovelock developing the Gaia theory and trying to reconcile it with evolutionary theory. His work identifying climate tipping points won the Times Higher Education Award for Research Projects of the Year 2008. His books include Revolutions that Made the Earth ( OUP, 2013), which he co-authored with Andrew Watson.

Climate Change: A Very Short Introduction - Mark Maslin
Climate: A Very Short Introduction - Mark Maslin
The Earth - Martin Redfern

Special Features

  • Introduces Earth System Science as an important and growing interdisciplinary area of research.
  • Traces how Earth System Science has emerged as a field in its own right since the 1960s alongside concerns about global change.
  • Outlines the tipping points that are currently recognised in the Earth system.
  • Places the Earth system in wider context, including the latest insights into other habitable planets.
  • Explains how understanding the fragility of the Earth system and its past history can help humanity achieve sustainability.
  • Part of the bestselling Very Short Introductions series - over seven million copies sold worldwide.