Includes bibliographical references (p. [223]) and index.

Machine generated contents note: 1. Setting the Stage for our Modern Understanding -- of Climate Change -- Adventure Feature: The Wright Stuff/ 2 -- The Ice Core Connection / 24 -- Initiation / 27 -- Adventure Feature: Polar Reflections / 29 -- Unfinished Business / 32 -- A Heated Discussion / 35 -- Technical Feature: Global Warming, Global Warning /37 --2. The Making of an Ice Core "Time Machine" -- Sleepless in Seattle / 4i -- Debating in Durham / 42 -- Waiting for Washington / 43 -- Detour to Antarctica / 44 -- Getting Ready for Greenland / 49 -- Adventure Feature: Lost! / 50 -- Technical Feature: Drill Site Selection / 57 -- Bringing Back the Ice Chronicles / 62 -- Adventure Feature: Camping Out / 64 -- Life on the Ice / 66 -- Technical Feature: Drilling Details / 66 -- Technical Feature: The Core Processing Line (CPL) / 71 -- Core Issues / 73 -- Hitting Rock Bottom / 78 --3. The Discovery of Rapid Climate Change Events (RCCEs) -- and the Realization that Climate Has Multiple Controls -- Technical Feature: End-to-End Science / 82 -- The Role of RCCEs / 84 -- Technical Feature: Stable Isotope Measurements -- of Water in Ice Cores / 87 -- Technical Feature: Chemical Measurements in -- Ice Cores / 88 -- The Younger Dryas as a Classic Example of a RCCE / 9I -- Multiple Controls on Climate / 95 -- Technical Feature: The AstronomicalTheory of -- Climate Change / 99 -- Technical Feature:The Ocean's Conveyor Belt / 104 -- Moving Toward a More Complete Understanding -- of Climate Change / o18 --4. Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations -- Adventure Feature: Climbing Glaciers Barefoot -- (with a Beagle) / in -- Rapid Climate Change Events (RCCEs) -- during the Holocene / I3 -- The Complexity of the Holocene Climate / n6 -- Climate and the Development of Human Civilization / 18 -- The Collapse of Civilization in Western Asia -- around 2200 B.C. / I20 -- Disappearance of the Norse Colonies in Greenland -- around A.D. I400 / I22 -- Disappearance of the Maya Civilization -- A.D. 750 to 900 / I23 -- Lessons Learned from Past Civilizations / 124 -- 5. The Last Thousand Years of Climate Change -- Adventure Feature: Peak Experiences / 126 -- Technical Feature: How Could the Atmosphere Cool -- if Greenhouse Gases Are on the Rise? / 133 -- Technical Feature: StormyWeather: The Medieval -- Warm Period and Little Ice Age / 136 -- Technical Feature: Politics, History, and -- Climate Change / I42 -- Multiple Forcing Factors Revisited / 45 -- Technical Feature: Record Performances / 148 -- Technical Feature: How Did Our Understanding of the -- Ozone Hole Evolve? / I53 -- Summary / 60 --6. Climate Change: The Real Impact -- Adventure Feature:The Danger of Dancing Snow / I62 -- Technical Feature: Ice Storms and Hurricanes: -- Dramatic Damage at Local to Regional Scales / 64 -- Technical Feature: From Urban Heat Islands to -- Nuclear Winter / 68 -- An Example of a Global View of Climate Variability / 170 -- Land Use and Climate Change / I72 -- An Example of a Regional Scale Prediction for the -- United States / 172 -- Technical Feature: From Greenhouse Gas Warming -- to Cooling in the North Atlantic: Surprises in the -- Climate System / 174 -- Technical Feature: The Impact of Instability in the -- Atmosphere and Ocean: El Niiio and the Southern -- Oscillation (ENSO) / I75 -- Summary/ I77 --7. Confronting the Choices: Scientists, Politicians, and -- Public Policy -- Technical Feature: Seeing Clearly / I79 -- A Closer Look at the 1995 Intergovernmental Panel on -- Climate Change / 183 -- Confronting the Choices / I9I -- Adventure Feature:The Function of Fear / I97 -- Summary / I99 -- 8. Learning to Live in a Changing World -- Adventure Feature: The Endurance of -- Sir Ernest Shackleton / 203 -- Immediate versus Long-term Effects / 205 -- Technical Feature: Twenty-first Century Science / 208 -- Principles for a Positive Future / 210 -- Summary / 213.