Tales of the Earth Paroxysms and Perturbations of the Blue Planet

Global change, a term unheard of only a few years ago, is now a standard phrase. One of the best ways to understand global changes, and to keep alive concern for the environment, is to look at significant examples in the past where nature has affected humans, and in turn, where humans have affected nature.;In this monograph, Charles Officer and Jack Page describe some of the great events of environmental history, blending accounts by interested observers with clear explanations of the science involved. The "tales" range from descriptions of earthquakes and catastrophic volcanic eruptions - proving that the Earth is still hot and moving - to accounts of floods and Ice Ages, meteors and comets, extinctions and plagues, smogs and the present-day depletion of the ozone layer. Proving that climate change is nothing new, and providing instances as diverse as the plague described in Boccaccio's "Decameron" to the Chernobyl disaster, this book should interest anyone concerned with the environment or the natural world.