Global Warming

In the two centuries have burned fossil fuels, industrialized nations have helped create the swittest spike in average global temperatures ever recorded. Global warming leaves us teetering on the edge of one of the most critical, large-scale crises in human history---a crisis that may doom the human species or invert global power structures. How will we react and adapt?

Global Warming takes one of the hot-button issues of our time and surveys it in historical context, creating a portrait of the multicentury shifts in the thinking that have led to gradual acceptance of the concept. The book summarizes pertinent aspects of geology, earth science, and climate science in easy-to-read terms. It then frames this background in terms of cultural and social shifts, including the industrial Revolution, conspicuous consumption, and modern environmentalism. In addition, a study of the ebb and flow of cultural and political reception relates the issue to religious and social ideas.

Brian C. Black is professor of history and environmental studies at Penn State, Altoona.

Gary J. Weisel is associate professor of physics and history of Science at Penn State, Altoona.