Holocene Climate Change and Environment presents detailed, diverse case studies from a range of environmental and geological regions on the Indian subcontinent which occupies the central part of the monsoon domain. This book examines Holocene events at different time intervals based on a new, high-resolution, multi-proxy records (pollen, spores, NPP, diatoms, grain size characteristics, total organic carbon, carbon/nitrogen ratio, stable isotopes) and other physical tools from all regions of India. It also covers new facilities in chronological study and luminescence dating, which have added a new dimension toward understanding the Holocene glacial retreats evolution of coastal landforms, landscape dynamics and human evolution. Each chapter is presented with a unified structure for ease of access and application, including an introduction, geographic details, field work and sampling techniques, methods, results and discussion. This detailed examination of such an important region provides key insights in climate modeling and global prediction systems. - Provides data and research from environmentally and geologically diverse regions across the Indian subcontinent - Presents an integrated and interdisciplinary approach, including considerations of human impacts - Features detailed case studies that include methods and data, allowing for applications related to research and global modeling

One of the main impacts of global warming is accelerated sea-level rise: Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change predictions suggest that the rate of rise could reach as high as 5'10 mm/yr by the end of this century. While it is generally recognized that accelerated sea-level rise will severely impact low-gradient coastlines, scientists are still ill prepared to predict coastal response. A study of seven Gulf Coast estuaries (Mobile Bay and Mississippi Sound, Weeks Bay, Calcasieu Lake, Sabine Lake, Galveston Bay, Matagorda Bay, and Corpus Christi Bay) was aimed at examining their response to past changes in the rate of sea-level rise and climate. The rates of change are of the same magnitude as those predicted for this century. The estuarine response to change has been one of abrupt landward retreat and major reorganization of estuarine environments at decadal time scales. This book should be of interest to scientists and policy makers concerned with future impacts of global warming.

This study brings together decades of research on the modern natural environment of Washington's Olympic Peninsula, reviews past research on paleoenvironmental change since the Late Pleistocene, and finally presents paleoecological records of changing forest composition and fire over the last 14,000 years. The focus of this study is on the authors’ studies of five pollen records from the Olympic Peninsula. Maps and other data graphics are used extensively. Paleoecology can effectively address some of these challenges we face in understanding the biotic response to climate change and other agents of change in ecosystems. First, species responses to climate change are mediated by changing disturbance regimes. Second, biotic hotspots today suggest a long-term maintenance of diversity in an area, and researchers approach the maintenance of diversity from a wide range and angles (CITE). Mountain regions may maintain biodiversity through significant climate change in ‘refugia’: locations where components of diversity retreat to and expand from during periods of unfavorable climate (Keppel et al., 2012). Paleoecological studies can describe the context for which biodiversity persisted through time climate refugia. Third, the paleoecological approach is especially suited for long-lived organisms. For example, a tree species that may typically reach reproductive sizes only after 50 years and remain fertile for 300 years, will experience only 30 to 200 generations since colonizing a location after Holocene warming about 11,000 years ago. Thus, by summarizing community change through multiple generations and natural disturbance events, paleoecological studies can examine the resilience of ecosystems to disturbances in the past, showing how many ecosystems recover quickly while others may not (Willis et al., 2010).

Accessibly written by a team of international authors, the Encyclopedia of Environmental Change provides a gateway to the complex facts, concepts, techniques, methodology and philosophy of environmental change. This three-volume set illustrates and examines topics within this dynamic and rapidly changing interdisciplinary field. The encyclopedia includes all of the following aspects of environmental change: Diverse evidence of environmental change, including climate change and changes on land and in the oceans Underlying natural and anthropogenic causes and mechanisms Wide-ranging local, regional and global impacts from the polar regions to the tropics Responses of geo-ecosystems and human-environmental systems in the face of past, present and future environmental change Approaches, methodologies and techniques used for reconstructing, dating, monitoring, modelling, projecting and predicting change Social, economic and political dimensions of environmental issues, environmental conservation and management and environmental policy Over 4,000 entries explore the following key themes and more: Conservation Demographic change Environmental management Environmental policy Environmental security Food security Glaciation Green Revolution Human impact on environment Industrialization Landuse change Military impacts on environment Mining and mining impacts Nuclear energy Pollution Renewable resources Solar energy Sustainability Tourism Trade Water resources Water security Wildlife conservation The comprehensive coverage of terminology includes layers of entries ranging from one-line definitions to short essays, making this an invaluable companion for any student of physical geography, environmental geography or environmental sciences.

The Palliser Triangle extends from south-west Manitoba to south central Alberta, and is one of the most climatically sensitive regions in Canada. There is evidence & concern that climate change is likely to affect the Triangle. The geological record contains unique information on the impacts of a wide range of past climate changes. This paleoenvironmental record, and the context it provides for assessing the impacts of future climate change, is the focus of the Palliser Triangle Global Change Project. This bulletin contains 18 papers related to two major objectives of that Project: reconstruction of Holocene climatic and hydrological changes, and evaluation of the relationships between climate & landscape processes. The first paper is an overview of the Project and a broad synthesis of major results. The next nine papers are devoted to records of past climate & hydrological change documented in paleolimnological and hydrogeological studies. The rest of the papers focus on geomorphic processes in the Triangle and how these respond to climate forcing.

Concerns about the effects of global climate change have focused attention on the vulnerability of circumpolar regions. This book offers a synthesis of the spectrum of techniques available for generating long-term environmental records from circumpolar lakes.

This volume provides a comprehensive review of the effects of climate variability on hydrological and human systems in the Holocene (last 10, 000 years), with a view to predicting similar effects in the future. It will be of value to researchers and professionals in hydrology, climatology, geology and historical geography.

This book highlights climate as a complex physical, chemical, biological, and geological system, in perpetual change, under astronomical, predominantly, solar control. It has been shaped to some degree through the past glaciation cycles repeated in the last three million years. The Holocene, the current interglacial epoch which started ca. 11,700 years ago, marks the transition from the Stone Age to the unprecedented cultural evolution of our civilization. Significant climate changes have been recorded in natural archives during the Holocene, including the rapid waning of ice sheets, millennial shifting of the monsoonal fringe in the northern hemisphere, and abrupt centennial events. A typical case of severe environmental change is the greening of Sahara in the Early Holocene and the gradual desertification again since the fifth millennium before present. Climate Changes in the Holocene: Impact, Adaptation, and Resilience investigates the impact of natural climate changes on humans and civilization through case studies from various places, periods, and climates. Earth and human society are approached as a complex system, thereby emphasizing the necessity to improve adaptive capacity in view of the anthropogenic global warming and ecosystem degradation. Features: Written by distinguished experts, the book presents the fundamentals of the climate system, the unparalleled progress achieved in the last decade in the fields of intensified research for improved understanding of the carbon cycle, climate components, and their interaction. Presents the application of paleoclimatology and modeling in climate reconstruction. Examines the new era of satellite-based climate monitoring and the prospects of reduced carbon dioxide emissions.