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This book outlines the development and perspectives of the Anthropocene concept by Paul J. Crutzen and his colleagues from its inception to its implications for the sciences, humanities, society and politics.The main text consists primarily of articles from peer-reviewed scientific journals and other scholarly sources. It comprises selected articles on the Anthropocene published by Paul J. Crutzen and a selection of related articles, mostly but not exclusively by colleagues with whom he collaborated closely.•In the year 2000 Nobel Laureate Paul J. Crutzen proposed the Anthropocene concept as a new epoch in Earth's history •Comprehensive collection of articles on the Anthropocene by Paul J. Crutzen and his colleagues•Unique primary research literature and Crutzen's comprehensive bibliography•Paul Crutzen's scientific investigations into human influences on atmospheric chemistry and physics, the climate and the Earth system, leading to the conception of the Anthropocene•Reflections on the Anthropocene and its implications•Bibliometric review of the spread of the use of the Anthropocene concept in the Natural and Social Sciences, Humanities and Law

This book investigates various aspects of the phenomenon of atmospheric oxygen depletion, and summarizes our current knowledge of atmospheric oxygen. The authors address the currently available records indicating that atmospheric oxygen is undergoing nonlinear decline. The consensus in the research community is that the main reason for this decline is the combustion of fossil fuels (which is growing nonlinearly). However, the short length of the currently available records, alongside the technological and social uncertainties that may risk speed up oxygen depletion, raise questions about the time scale of the decline, in particular, when oxygen depletion may cause physiological impact on humans and animals. The authors analyze this uncertainty to postulate the near term impact of depleted atmospheric oxygen, and perform multidisciplinary complex modelling of oxygen with long-term horizon estimations.

This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the chemical nature of the Earth's early surface environment and how that led to the origin of life. This includes a detailed discussion of the likely process by which life emerged using as much quantitative information as possible. The emergence of life and the prior surface conditions of the Earth have implications for the evolution of Earth's surface environment over the following 2-2.5 billion years. The last part of the book discusses how these changes took place and the evidence from the geologic record that supports this particular version of early and evolving conditions.

Cet ouvrage présente les phénomènes chimiques qui interviennent dans la biosphère. Il permet de mieux comprendre comment leur perturbation par les pratiques anthropiques peut conduire à des bouleversements de notre environnement. Tous les types de réactions chimiques sont examinés : les réactions ioniques de la lithosphère et celles de l'hydrosphère, les réactions radicalaires de l'atmosphère, les transformations moléculaires qui dominent dans les organismes vivants. Pour faciliter la lecture par des non-chimistes, de nombreuses figures, formules et équations sont données, surtout à titre d'illustrations. En outre, des annexes et un glossaire permettent d'éliminer en grande partie l'obstacle des notations, termes et expressions en usage en chimie. Le lecteur pourra acquérir une vision globale de l'importance de la chimie dans la biosphère et des conséquences graves que peut entraîner l'activité humaine.

Unique among all creatures, further to the increase in its cranial volume from Australopithecus to Homo sapiens, the use of tools and cultural and scientific creativity, the genus Homo is distinguished by the mastery of fire, which since about two million years ago has become its blueprint. Through the Holocene and culminating in the Anthropocene, the burning of much of the terrestrial vegetation, excavation and combustion of fossil carbon from up to 420 million years-old biospheres, are leading to a global oxidation event on a geological scale, a rise in entropy in nature and the sixth mass extinction of species.

Die Weltklimakonferenz in Rio im Juni 1992 lenkte die Aufmerksamkeit der Welt auf die Verschmutzung unserer Atemluft. Haben die Pessimisten recht, die eine Klimakatastrophe für unausweichlich halten? Können die Industrieländer ihre Emissionen noch begrenzen? Peter Fabian ist einer der führenden Atmosphärenforscher. Bereits in früheren Auflagen seines Buches wies er auf die Gefahr des Treibhausklimas und den drohenden Abbau der Ozonschicht hin. Er versteht es, die vernetzten Zusammenhänge chemischer Reaktionen in den Luftschichten verständlich darzustellen. Er zeigt auf, welche menschlichen Eingriffe diese natürlichen Kreisläufe beeinflussen. Und er läßt den Leser selbst erkennen, zu welchen dramatischen Auswirkungen für das'Ökosystem Erde'die Ausnutzung unserer technischen Ressourcen führen kann. In die erweiterte vierte Auflage des Buches sind die Ergebnisse der neuesten Forschungen eingeflossen. Wir haben heute ein wesentlich genaueres Bild von den Vorgängen in unserer Atmosphäre als noch beim Erscheinen der 3. Auflage im Jahr 1989. Lesen Sie, welche Bedeutung die Luft außer zum Atmen für das Leben auf der Erde hat; verstehen Sie, welche Maßnahmen angezeigt sind.

Unsere Atmosphäre, das Luftmeer, auf dessen Grunde wir leben, ist ein Gasgemisch, das neben den Hauptbestandteilen Stickstoff und Sauerstoff eine Vielzahl von Spurengasen enthält. Dieses Gasgemisch an sich wäre reaktionsträge und somit von geringem chemischen Interesse, würde es nicht im Wechsel von Tag und Nacht und im Rhythmus der Jahreszeiten von der Sonne bestrahlt. Die Sonnenstrahlung, insbesondere ihr energie­ reicher Ultraviolettanteil, vermag die meisten Konstituenten des atmo­ sphärischen Gasgemisches in ihre Bestandteile zu spalten. Durch diesen photochemischen Prozeß, den man als'Photolyse'oder'Photodissozia­ tion'bezeichnet, entstehen äußerst reaktive Substanzen, die für uns Erdbewohner wichtige chemische Reaktionsketten auslösen. Lediglich die atmosphärischen Edelgase, Argon, Neon, Helium und Krypton (in der Reihenfolge ihrer Häufigkeit) nehmen an diesen Prozessen nicht teil. Der wohl wichtigste photochemische Prozeß in unserer Atmosphäre ist die Bildung von Ozon (s. Abschnitt 2). Ozon ist die dreiatomige Form des Luftsauerstoffs, 0 • Der normale Sauerstoff besteht aus O, zwei mit­ 3 2 einander verbundenen Sauerstoff-Atomen. Unter Einwirkung der Ultra­ violettstrahlung der Sonne wird ein Teil des Luftsauerstoffs O gespalten, 2 und die gebildeten Sauerstoffatome können sich mit zweiatomigen Sauer­ stoffmolekülen zum dreiatomigen Ozon verbinden. Die hieraus resultie­ rende atmosphärische Ozonschicht ist für uns in zweifacher Hinsicht von großer Bedeutung. Zum einen schirmt sie die gefährliche Ultraviolett­ strahlung der Sonne ab, welche ohne diesen Filter alles Leben auf dem Festland auslöschen würde. Zum anderen bewirkt die Energie dieser in der Höhe absorbierten Strahlung dort eine beachtliche Erwärmung, sie hat damitEinfluß auf die allgemeine Luftzirkulation.

About three years ago Catherine de Berg and I published a short article in Nature in which we attempted to explain why the chemistry of the atmosphere of the Earth is today so completely different from that of our two neighbor­ ing planets, Mars and Venus. Our atmosphere is composed mainly of N2 and O with traces of A, H0, CO, 0, etc., while the atmospheres of both 2 2 2 3 Mars and Venus are almost entirely made up of CO, Also, the Earth appears 2 to be the only one ofthe three planets which has oceans ofliquid water on the surface. Since the presence of liquid water on Earth is probably an essential requirement for life to have originated and evolved to its present state, the question of the apparent absence ofliquid water on Mars and Venus suddenly acquires significant proportions. In our paper in Nature, and later in a more detailed discussion of the subject (Planetary Atmospheres, in Exobiology, edited by C. Ponnamperuma, North Holland Publishing Co.), we tried to describe why we believe that in the early history of the solar system all the terrestrial planets lost the atmospheres of H2 and He which they had acquired from the solar nebula at the time of their formation. These planets, completely devoid of atmos­ pheres, like the Moon today, started accumulating new gases which were exhumed from the interior by the commencement of volcanic activity.

This invaluable volume set of Advances in Geosciences continues the excellent tradition of the Asia-Oceania scientific community in providing the most up-to-date research results on a wide range of geosciences and environmental science. The information is vital to the understanding of the effects of climate change, extreme weathers on the most populated regions and fastest moving economies in the world. Besides, these volumes also highlight original papers from many prestigious research institutions which are doing cutting edge study in atmospheric physics, hydrological science and water resource, ocean science and coastal study, planetary exploration and solar system science, seismology, tsunamis, upper atmospheric physics and space science.

Light is the essential source of information about the surrounding world for most of us. We see objects of di?erent brightness and colours, or, in scienti?c terms, we distinguish objects by the way they re?ect light of di?erent wa- lengths with varying e?ciency. It was exciting for both of us to learn that scienti?c instruments can expand our senses and provide information from this very same radiation that goes far beyond the simple recognition of - jects. Theabilityto“see”thecompositionoftheairsurroundingusandabove our heads, to us and others, one of the most fascinating aspects of the app- cation of modern technology to study the atmosphere. This fascination drove many of the applications of the Di?erential Optical Absorption Spectroscopy (DOAS) method presented in this book, and continues to be the motivation for many current developments. DOAS is an elegant and powerful analytical method to study the at- sphere and is based on the relatively simple principles of classical absorption spectroscopy. It has therefore always been quite surprising to us that this method has not found wider use in atmospheric research and air-quality m- itoring. We have introduced many university students and researchers to DOAS, often wishing that we could improve our e?orts with a comprehensive text that describes both the theoretical basis and the practical applications of the method.

The new challenge in atmospheric chemistry is to understand the intercontinental transport and transformation of gases and aerosols. This book describes the observational and modeling techniques used to understand the atmospheric composition from satellites, aircraft and ground based platforms. The two common ideas presented throughout are the role of each component in an observing system for atmospheric composition, and the advances necessary to improve the understanding of atmospheric composition. The objective of this book is to provide a larger audience the opportunity to learn about these techniques and advances in atmospheric composition.

Knowledge of thc chemical behavior of trace compounds in the atmosphere has grown steadily, and sometimes even spectacularly, in recent decades. These developments have led to the emergence of atmospheric chemistry as a new branch of science. This book covers all aspects of atmospheric chemistry on a global scale, integrating information from chemistry and geochemistry, physics, and biology to provide a unified account. For each atmospheric constituent of interest, the text summarizes the principal observations on global distribution, chemical reactions, natural and anthropogenic sources, and physical removal processes. Coverage includes processes in the gas phase, in aerosols and c1ouds, and in precipitation, as well as biogeochemical cycles and the evolution of the atmosphere. Chemistry of the Natural Atmosphere, Second Edition, will serve as a textbook for senior undergraduate and graduate courses, and as an essential reference for atmospheric chemists, meteorologists, and anyone studying the biogeochemical cycles of trace gases.• Updated extensively from the highly respected first edition • Treats the global-scale chemistry and distribution of atmospheric trace constituents • Emphasizes observations and their interpretation• Provides background on transport and reaction kinetics for interpretation of observational data• Includes chemistry in the gas phase and in aerosols and clouds• Details chemical reaction pathways for the most important trace constituents• Describes pertinent biogeochemical cycles• Written by an author with more than 40 years of research experience in atmospheric chemistry

Atmospheric chemistry is one of the fastest growing fields in the earth sciences. Until now, however, there has been no book designed to help students capture the essence of the subject in a brief course of study. Daniel Jacob, a leading researcher and teacher in the field, addresses that problem by presenting the first textbook on atmospheric chemistry for a one-semester course. Based on the approach he developed in his class at Harvard, Jacob introduces students in clear and concise chapters to the fundamentals as well as the latest ideas and findings in the field. Jacob's aim is to show students how to use basic principles of physics and chemistry to describe a complex system such as the atmosphere. He also seeks to give students an overview of the current state of research and the work that led to this point. Jacob begins with atmospheric structure, design of simple models, atmospheric transport, and the continuity equation, and continues with geochemical cycles, the greenhouse effect, aerosols, stratospheric ozone, the oxidizing power of the atmosphere, smog, and acid rain. Each chapter concludes with a problem set based on recent scientific literature. This is a novel approach to problem-set writing, and one that successfully introduces students to the prevailing issues. This is a major contribution to a growing area of study and will be welcomed enthusiastically by students and teachers alike.

For advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students in atmospheric, oceanic, and climate science, Atmosphere, Ocean and Climate Dynamics is an introductory textbook on the circulations of the atmosphere and ocean and their interaction, with an emphasis on global scales. It will give students a good grasp of what the atmosphere and oceans look like on the large-scale and why they look that way. The role of the oceans in climate and paleoclimate is also discussed. The combination of observations, theory and accompanying illustrative laboratory experiments sets this text apart by making it accessible to students with no prior training in meteorology or oceanography.• Written at a mathematical level that is appealing for undergraduates andbeginning graduate students• Provides a useful educational tool through a combination of observations andlaboratory demonstrations which can be viewed over the web• Contains instructions on how to reproduce the simple but informativelaboratory experiments• Includes copious problems (with sample answers) to help students learn thematerial.

This book introduces systematically the concept of weakly-bound complexes into the broad field of atmospheric sciences. To fill up the gap between our rapidly expanding knowledge of the individual properties of Van der Waals and hydrogen-bonded molecules, and our understanding of their role in the atmospheric processes, an ensemble of related topics are covered by a team of expert co-authors. The general properties of the weakly bound molecular complexes (or “clusters”) are discussed, as well as their distribution in the planetary atmospheres. Collision-induced and dimeric absorption and emission are considered in the context of atmospheric spectroscopy. The advanced experimental techniques which enable us to study the spectroscopic features of molecular complexes in the gas phase, or which are adsorbed, are reviewed. The role of molecular complexes in the cometary atmosphere, the Earth mesosphere, and the atmospheres of the giant planets and some of their satellites are also discussed in detail.