Topic 5

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The focus of Topic 5 Climate Change is one of the most high-profile, and challenging, environmental issues of our the warming of the Earth brought about by an atmosphere enriched in carbon dioxide (and other greenhouse gases) due to human activities, especially our use of fossil fuels. The book examines the scientific principles and evidence underlying this issue, including the role of computer modelling studies in assessing the potential consequences for our planet of allowing human-induced global warming, and the resulting effects on sea levels and climate patterns around the world, to continue unchecked. Emphasis is placed throughout on the wider social, economic and political context of the 'greenhouse warming' issue, and on the way persistent uncertainties in the scientific understanding of climate change feed into the highly complex realities of mapping out an effective, and equitable, approach to tackling this problem at all levels, right through to international treaties such as the Kyoto Protocol.