Climate: A Very Short Introduction

I'm a huge fan of this series of books - they offer a serious but clear introduction to often complex subjects. Some are more academic (and dry) than others - depending on the author. I've read several books that attempt to make the complexities of climate simple to understand and I have to say that this is the best I have read. Maslin has a more conversational style than some of the other authors in this series and that's very much a good thing. It has an appropriate level of diagrams which help to illustrate and clarify without over-complicating things. It really is well written and logical in layout. It's great for a non-specialist reader and would certainly help A' level geographers or above. Climate is complex - although Maslin insists it isn't! - but when it is laid out with clarity like in this book, it is accessible and interesting. Another big plus of this whole series is that it is well referenced so there are plenty of signposts of where to go to deepen your understanding if you want to take things further. In my view, this is one of the very best in an excellent series.

This is a great book well and clearly written so I, a non-earth scientist could understand. There are things we can do to save our world at least for the next billion years but it means thinking and working across nation states. Thank you Mark

Good read

A very good introduction to the wider subject.

Found this to be an excellent little book describing main trends and mechanisms for how Earth's climate has developed throughout the planet's history. It was fascinating to read about how dramatically plate tectonics has affected global weather patterns. Overall, a good general overview that hit all the major key points and gave just enough information to keep them interesting, inviting further reading to find out more.

Climate's one of those subjects that a lot of people are interested in, but understanding it seems daunting and complicated. The subject of climate change is often in the news and in conversation too, frequently polarised by opinion which seems driven by vested interest and antipathy rather than by fact. For someone like me, without a degree in geology or geography, it's hard to find an unbiased explanation that will let me form my own informed opinion. Happily, that's exactly what this little book did for me. It explains the subject clearly in a way that a non-scientist like myself can understand, but it doesn't talk down to me or leave out anything relevant or important. The diagrams are clear and well explained, too. Reading this gave me a good understanding of how complex climate is and the many factors that influence it, and I can put the various unseasonal weather we have in Britain into context now. I'd recommend this to anyone wanting to understand this subject, if you're looking for a straightforward, easy to grasp book about this complex topic.

I really like this book. It is small and pocket-sized but it covers a vast range of topics within the subject "climate" even providing diagrams to explain key concepts such as atmospheric circulation and the Coriolis effect. The author is a professor of Geography at UCL who is more than qualified to discuss the subject. However it s written in an easy to understand format and even someone with no understanding of "climate" will be able to pick it up. I think it is a handy book for school kids, students and anyone who is interested in this subject area. I think some of the journalists who write about "climate" and "climate change" would benefit from this book as their stories may have more substance than scaremongering. The book is split into ten chapters: 1 - What is climate? 2 - Atmosphere and oceans. 3 - Weather versus climate 4 - Extreme climates 5 - Tectonics and climate 6 - Global climate cooling 7 - Great ice ages 8 - Future climate change 9 - Fixing climate change 10 - Ultimate climate change Overall I really enjoyed this book. It was easy to understand and although it was small it was informative. A list of other books in the series suggests there are over 350 books in the series. Although I won't read all of them I am really interesting in reading more of them and I already have a list of some more to look into. It is a really good idea to have a small introductory book to a complex subject.

It's a rare talent to be able to take quite complex scientific principles & theories of operation and to be able to present them in such a way that even the non-Einsteins in society such as myself can understand them and not be bamboozled. Mark Maslin possesses such a talent in spades in my opinion! He is also helped in the book by some superb diagrams that really do add much to the book and are a great help in understanding the somewhat more complex parts of the text. This tiny book (about the size of a pocket diary) of around 160 pages is part of an ongoing series that now stands at over 350 volumes on such subjects as Wittgenstein, The Spanish Civil War, Probability and so on. In this volume the author presents the facts about our climate and the way it works and what causes say the various weather patterns that exist in certain parts of the world (e.g. why the weather in north-western Europe is so changeable) in such a clear and concise way whilst at the same time avoids getting the reader bogged down & confused by reams of maths & formulae that really are only for the professional meteorologist. In other words, he only tells you what you NEED to know to understand how the world's climate works. As I said, a rare talent for someone who's a professor of Geography at a well-known London University College! For the amateur weather forecaster like myself, this book is a really interesting read without becoming either incomprehensible or off-putting, and conveys information in such an easy-to-understand way that even say a child of around 11-12 who's interested in either geography or the weather would easily understand. The chapter headings are as follows:- What is Climate? Atmosphere and Oceans Weather v. Climate Extreme Climates Tectonics and Climate (Very interesting!) Global Climate Cooling Great Ice Ages Future Climate Change (a very timely warning to the world's leaders!) Fixing Climate Change ( " " " " " " ) Ultimate Climate Change (frightening!) About the only criticism I can make of the book is that the author is obviously a keen proponent of evolution and, whilst I am quite happy to accept that the earth is as old as he claims, I'm not so sure I agree with the author on how life came into existence on this planet. However, each to their own! Overall, a superb book on the world's climate and how it works and what drives its various weather systems and why. It is one of the few books I intend to keep for the rest of my life! A truly invaluable little book! Highly recommended to anyone who, like me, isn't a trained meteorologist, but wants to know more about our world's weather.

I've bought a few of the Very Short Introduction series, and they are often very good (and I am writing pretty much the same review for each one I like). This one on climate is excellent, very clearly written and explained, good topics in each chapter, with good illustrations, and pointers to further reading at the back. - And easy to slip into the pocket and carry around, too. The same author also has a volume on climate change.

Bought for a university course. It's been an interesting read so far.

I believe that it's important to become conversent with the subject matter in this book. I have many others and my issue is too many to read with too little time. We're talking about witnessing the end of civilization as we know it if not the end of a Goldie Locks planet for human survival. After all, CO2 take a loong time to recycle and degrad while causing much heat absorption in the atmospere and oceans. Acidification of the oceans is a real concern too in terms of famine and war. This is an excellent little and it as, as others note, packed tightly with useful information. There's plenty here for those new to this subject and for those with some reading experience. For the latter, there's some nice refresher information. I prefer using a pen as I write and make notes in the margins, which brings up a complaint. The text is far too small and margins way too narrow, but, overall, the content makes it worth while. I don't know what moved the publisher to publish a book with such tiny print -- I'm 71 by the way. "So what do you expect?" I suppose. Eddie Evans - ClimateDeception.Net - PercentCounts.Com

This author had a previous book on AGW (Anthropogenic Global Warming). In this book he doubles down. He quotes "the science" but is careless with/manipulates terminology in attempts to prove his points. All established conflicting/competing points of view are distorted/dismissed with the usual short superficial time-worn AGW rhetoric. This is Michael Mann on NSAIDs. I recycled my copy . . . . so crops, trees, and all other vegetation have the CO2 they need to grow !. BTW, read "The Real Inconvenient Truth" by Sangster - available from Amazon

This is a very well-written text, which presents complicated topics in a very clear and comprehensible way. I'd say it is an excellent complementary text to the air pollution course I am taking.