Oil, Water, and Climate: An Introduction

by Catherine Gautier

Overview

Today’s oil and gas are at record prices, whilst global energy demand is increasing from population and economic development pressures. Climate change, resulting in large part from the burning of fossil fuels, is exacerbating the impacts of the accelerated exploitation of our natural resources. Therefore, anxieties over energy, water, and climate security are at an all-time high. Global action is needed now in order to address this set of urgent challenges and to avoid putting the future of our civilization at risk. This book examines the powerful interconnections that link energy, water, climate and population, exploring viable options in addressing these issues collectively. Difficult political decisions and major reforms in resource governance, policies, market forces, and use are needed and this book provides excellent introductory material to begin to understand and to address these problems.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521709194
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	04/07/2008
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 9.80(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Catherine Gautier (Doctorat Es Science in Physics/Meteorology, Université de Paris, 1984) is Professor of Geography at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Gautier is the former Director of the Institute for Computational Earth System Science and current Head of the Earth Space Research Group at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She co-edited with Jean-Louis Fellous Comprendre le changement climatique (2007).

Table of Contents

Foreword; Introduction; 1. Overview; 2. Carbon dioxide emissions, global warming, and water resources; 3. Population, environmental impacts, and climate change; 4. Carbon cycle and human impacts on it; 5. Peak oil, energy, water, and climate; 6. Oil consumption and CO2 emissions from transportation; 7. Oil, economy, power, and conflicts; 8. Energy alternatives and their connection to water and climate; 9. The water cycle and global warming; 10. Freshwater availability, sanitation deficit, and water usage – connection to energy and global warming; 11. Rivers, lakes, aquifers, and dams – relation to energy and climate; 12. Water contamination, energy, and climate; 13. Geopolitics of water and the international situation; 14. Water alternatives; 15. Global climate change – observations, modeling, and predictions; 16. Energy and water challenges and solutions in a changing climate framework – commonality, differences, and connections.

Editorial Reviews

"Catherine Gautier deserves congratulations for creating a textbook that not only deals with these three textbooks, but most important, also draws them together and shows how they are connected. ...[the book] does a great job of making these important topics accessible. ...it brings together many important ideas in Earth Science, technology, and global policy." - Robert M. Hirsch, EOS

"Aimed at freshman students, the book is intended to open doors rather than to provide comprehensive coverage. Nonetheless, coverage of the major topics is quite thorough and presented in a highly accessible writing style. ...the book explores each topics in sufficient depth to facilitate introducing the very likely consequences of abusing resources related to overpopulation and failure to consider alternatives such as solar and nuclear energy. ...Highly recommended." - E.J. Kormondy, CHOICE

"Gautier’s textbook does an admirable job of elucidating the complex interactions between industrial development, land-use patterns, population growth and their environmental impacts, for entrance-level university students. However, her work is also a valuable reference text for academics without specialization in the area, and concerned citizens wanting to learn more." - In-Spire

From the Publisher