Global Warming
The Complete Briefing
Third Edition
Global warming and the resulting climate change are among the most
serious environmental problems facing the world community.Global
Warming: The Complete Briefingis the most comprehensive guide avail-
able to the subject. A world-renowned expert, Sir John Houghton ex-
plores the scientific basis of globalwarming and the likely impacts of
climate change on human society, beforeaddressing the action that could
be taken by governments, by industry andby individuals to mitigate the
effects. The first two editions received excellent reviews, and this com-
pletely updated new edition will prove to be the best briefing the student
or interested generalreader could wish for.
. , is a former Chairman of the
Scientific AssessmentWorking Group of the Intergovernmental Panel
on Climate Change, Chairman of the UK’s Royal Commission on
Environmental Pollution, Vice President of the World Meteorological
Organization, President of the Royal Meteorological Society, and
Professor of Atmospheric Physics at Oxford University. He was Chief
Executive of the UK MeteorologicalOffice from 1983 to his retirement
in 1991. As well as the previous editions of this book, he is author ofThe
Physics of Atmospheres(Cambridge University Press, in three editions),
and has published numerous research papers and contributed to many
influential research documents. Sir John and his wife Sheila live in
Wales.
From reviews of previous editions
‘It is difficult to imagine howHoughton’s exposition of this complex body of
information might be substantially improved upon... Seldom has such a
complex topic been presented with such remarkable simplicity, directness and
crystalline clarity...Houghton’s complete briefing is withoutdoubt the best
briefing the concerned citizen could hope to find within the pages of a
pocketable book.’
John Perry,Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society
‘I can recommend (this book) to anyone who wants to get a betterperspective
on the topic of global warming... a very readable and comprehensive guide to
the changes that are occurring now, and could occur in the future, as a result of