The Interconnectedness of Climate, Life, and Society

J onathan Cowie took on a monumental task in writing Climate Change—a book that covers climate science and the interactions of climate with the biosphere and geosphere from the inception of life to modern times. Given the book's vast scope, it is not surprising that the level of detail, the completeness of information, and the quality of writing vary considerably. Initially, I was somewhat ambivalent, but as I got deeper into this tome, I became more and more impressed by just how well Cowie tied together so many disci-plines—all of which are relevant if one wants more than a superficial understanding of what human greenhouse emissions mean for our planet. There is so much to gain from Cowie's book that I can easily forgive its problems and limitations. Climate Change has flaws, and some chapters have an obvious European (particularly UK) bias, but those aspects should not deter readers. I know of no other source, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), that brings together the breadth and depth of material that this book does. There is sufficient repetition and cross-referencing so a reader may choose among topics and read only the ones of interest without losing a sense of completeness. This is one of the strongest points of the book. While I dutifully provide critique here, the bottom line is that anyone who wants to understand climate change and its impacts, but who doesn't have time to earn a PhD on the topic, should buy this book. The title may be misinterpreted by people expecting a focus on modern-day species. While Cowie does a splendid job of summarizing modern-day impacts on wild species and on society, there is as much climate science, atmospheric science, oceanography, biochemistry , and biogeochemistry as there is organismal biology. Cowie does a brilliant job of weaving together the evolution of life with the evolution of Earth's climate. This topic occupies the first third of the book. Many of us know intellectually that the two are connected, but how many of us could explain the interconnections in any detail to another person, much less give a lecture on the topic? For those who would like to be able to do just that, Cowie provides the material. As implied earlier, however, this is not a perfect work. The wording is rough in many sections, probably the result of a push to get the book published …