xxx Preface tothe Third Edition
and commented on some of the draft chapters. I am also particularly
grateful to David Griggs, Geoffrey Jenkins, Philippe Rekacewicz and
Paul van der Linden who assisted with the sourcing and preparation of
the figures. Finally, I wish to thank Matt Lloyd, Carol Miller, Sarah Price
and other staff of Cambridge University Press who have carefully steered
the book through its gestation and production.
In January of this year I attended the World Economic Forum in
Davos and engaged in discussion and debate regarding global warming
and climate change. Nearly everyone there accepted the fact of climate
change due to human activities and the need for action to reduce green-
house gas emissions in order to reduce its impact. However, many partic-
ipants knew little of the likely impacts of climate change or of the extent
of the action required to address it; they just believed that it was one of
those problems that would have to be addressed sometime. I hope that
this book will assist in making the necessary information more readily
available and so help to provide the foundation for the urgent action that
is required.
John Houghton