Ice, Mud and Blood
Lessons from Climates Past
by Chris Turney
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Reviews
‘Chris Turney's Ice, Mud and Blood is lively, well-researched, and up-to-date. A summary of key discoveries by scientists about past climate change, it ranges widely across time and all over the planet. Turney begins many of these stories with delightful anecdotes about people who centuries ago stumbled on confusing observations that in time came to be understood as the result of climate change.’ Professor William F. Ruddiman, Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Virginia, USA and author of Plows, Plagues and Petroleum
'Chris Turney has unveiled a climate crystal ball. It’s made of ice, covered in mud, and tells the past and likely future of life on Earth. Join him as he delves expertly into the layered depths of climatic history and exposes the stark warnings to all fossil-fuelled humanity that they hold.' Dr Dave Reay, School of GeoSciences, University of Edinburgh, UK and author of Climate Change Begins at Home
'A great read on a critically important subject. Turney's best book yet.' Tim Flannery, Professor, Earth & Life Science, Macquarie University
'Ice, Mud and Blood is just what the global warming debate needs – a sober but passionate account of past climate change by a leading climate scientist that builds to an uncompromising climax: unnatural climate change is here and it’s only going to get worse. With a great eye for a story and a quirky turn of phrase, Turney tells how human history has twisted and turned at the helm of a capricious Nature. All the more frightening then to hear that the environmental challenges we face in the coming decades go beyond anything our species has ever had to contend with. A timely rallying call from someone on the frontline.' Dr Iain Stewart, School of Earth, Ocean and Environmental Sciences, University of Plymouth, and presenter and author of the BBCs Earth: the Power of the Planet
Description
Imagine a world of wildly escalating temperatures, apocalyptic flooding, devastating storms and catastrophic sea level rise. This might sound like a prediction for the future or the storyline of a new Hollywood blockbuster but it’s something quite different: it’s our past. In a day and age when where we’re bombarded with worrying forecasts for future climate, it seems hard to believe that such things could come to pass. Yet almost everywhere we turn, the landscape is screaming out that the world is a capricious place. The problem is if we don’t tune in, the message is lost. We need to decipher the past and learn from it. In Ice, Mud and Blood, Professor Chris Turney explores the changing climate and the risks facing us today as we continue to drive our planet to new extremes.
Contents
Introduction
Greenhouse
Snowball
A Bit Of A Chill
A Previous Warmth
Atlantic Armadas
A Belch And A Blast
Meltdown
Rise And Fall
Droughts, Vines And Frost Fairs
The Rising Tide
Author Biographies
CHRIS TURNEY is a British geologist and currently holds a Chair in Physical Geography at the University of Exeter, UK. Turney researches and teaches on past climate change and what it means for the future. He has published numerous scientific papers and magazine articles, and given frequent media interviews, thanks to his infectious enthusiasm for working out what happened when. In 2007, Turney was awarded The Sir Nicholas Shackleton Medal for outstanding young Quaternary scientist for his pioneering research into past climate change and dating the past.