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Very Short Introductions #358
Climate: A Very Short Introduction
In this wide-ranging Very Short Introduction to climate, Mark Maslin considers all aspects of the global climate system, exploring and explaining the different components that control climate on Earth. He considers the processes that allow energy to reach the Earth and how it is redistributed around the planet by the ocean-atmosphere system; the relationship and differences between climate and the weather; how climate has affected life on Earth and humansettlements; and the cyclic and quasi-cyclic features of climate such as the Milankovitch cycles and El Nino. He concludes by touching on the issue of climate change, and outlines some of the approaches that are now being taken to tackle it.ABOUT THE The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
177 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 27, 2013
30 people are currently reading
480 people want to read
About the author
Mark Maslin
20 books34 followersProfessor Mark Maslin FRGS, FRSA is the Director of the UCL Environment Institute and Head of the Department of Geography. He is an Executive Director of Carbon Auditors Ltd/Inc. He is science advisor to the Global Cool Foundation and Carbon Sense Ltd. He is a trustee of the charity TippingPoint and a member of Cheltenham Science Festival Advisory Committee. Maslin is a leading scientist with particular expertise in past global and regional climatic change and has publish over 100 papers in journals such as Science, Nature, and Geology. He has been awarded grants of over £28 million, twenty-six of which have been awarded by NERC. His areas of scientific expertise include causes of past and future global climate change particularly ocean circulation and gas hydrates. He also works on monitoring land carbon sinks using remote sensing and ecological models and international and national climate change policies.
Professor Maslin has presented over 45 public talks over the last three years including Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds, RGS, Tate Modern, Royal Society of Medicine, British Museum, Natural History Museum, CLG, and Goldman Sachs. This year he has also join the editorial board of The Geographical Journal. He has supervised 10 Research fellows, 10 PhD students and 19 MSc students. He has also have written 7 popular books, over 25 popular articles (e.g., for New Scientist, Independent and Guardian), appeared on radio, television and been consulted regularly by the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky News. His latest popular book is the high successful Oxford University Press “Global Warming: A Very Short Introduction” the second edition was published late last year and has sold over 40,000 copies. He was the led author of the first UCL Environment Institute Policy Report, which was the basis of the Channel 4 ‘Dispatches’ program Greenwash (5/3/07). Maslin was also a co-author of the recent Lancet report ‘Managing the health effects of climate change’ and a DIFD Report on Population, Climate Change and the Millennium Development Goals.
Academic Qualifications
University of Cambridge, Darwin College 1989 - March 1993
PhD The study of the palaeoceanography of the N.E. Atlantic during Pleistocene (Supervisor: Sir N. J. Shackleton FRS).
University of Bristol 1986-1989
BSc (Hons) in Physical Geography First Class
Geology & Chemistry was also studied at honours level. Two dissertations were written
an experimental hydrological investigation of the formation of the karst landscape in the mountains of Mallorca.
a literature review investigating the mechanisms causing global glaciation and deglaciation.
Work Experience
May 2007
Head of Department of Geography
Oct 2006
Professor of Physical Geography
Oct 2002
Reader/Associate Professor in Palaeoclimatology at the ECRC, Department of Geography, University College London, U.K.
Jan 1995 onwards
Lecturer in Palaeoceanography, Palaeoclimatology and Physical Geography at the ECRC, Department of Geography, University College London, U.K.
Aug 1993 to Oct 1995
Research Scientist at the Geologisch Paleontologisches Institut, University of Kiel, Germany, working ODP Leg 155 (Amazon Fan) samples.
Professor Maslin has presented over 45 public talks over the last three years including Oxford, Cambridge, Leeds, RGS, Tate Modern, Royal Society of Medicine, British Museum, Natural History Museum, CLG, and Goldman Sachs. This year he has also join the editorial board of The Geographical Journal. He has supervised 10 Research fellows, 10 PhD students and 19 MSc students. He has also have written 7 popular books, over 25 popular articles (e.g., for New Scientist, Independent and Guardian), appeared on radio, television and been consulted regularly by the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5 and Sky News. His latest popular book is the high successful Oxford University Press “Global Warming: A Very Short Introduction” the second edition was published late last year and has sold over 40,000 copies. He was the led author of the first UCL Environment Institute Policy Report, which was the basis of the Channel 4 ‘Dispatches’ program Greenwash (5/3/07). Maslin was also a co-author of the recent Lancet report ‘Managing the health effects of climate change’ and a DIFD Report on Population, Climate Change and the Millennium Development Goals.
Academic Qualifications
University of Cambridge, Darwin College 1989 - March 1993
PhD The study of the palaeoceanography of the N.E. Atlantic during Pleistocene (Supervisor: Sir N. J. Shackleton FRS).
University of Bristol 1986-1989
BSc (Hons) in Physical Geography First Class
Geology & Chemistry was also studied at honours level. Two dissertations were written
an experimental hydrological investigation of the formation of the karst landscape in the mountains of Mallorca.
a literature review investigating the mechanisms causing global glaciation and deglaciation.
Work Experience
May 2007
Head of Department of Geography
Oct 2006
Professor of Physical Geography
Oct 2002
Reader/Associate Professor in Palaeoclimatology at the ECRC, Department of Geography, University College London, U.K.
Jan 1995 onwards
Lecturer in Palaeoceanography, Palaeoclimatology and Physical Geography at the ECRC, Department of Geography, University College London, U.K.
Aug 1993 to Oct 1995
Research Scientist at the Geologisch Paleontologisches Institut, University of Kiel, Germany, working ODP Leg 155 (Amazon Fan) samples.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
October 26, 2019
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.
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.
January 6, 2023
A really helpful little book for trying to get ideas that are only vaguely remembered from school straight in your head after many years!
Maslin explains that the climate is controlled by the different amount of solar energy received at the Equator and the poles and that “climate is simply the redistribution of energy to undo this imbalance”. Complications are caused by the Earth’s axis of rotation being at an angle with respect to the sun and the Earth rotating every 24 hours.
The ocean dominates the movement of heat away from the Equator (because the intense heat from the sun warms up the air near the surface and causes it to rise high into the atmosphere, creating a space and low atmosphere pressure, filled by air being sucked in which does nothing to help the removal of heat so the surface currents of the ocean transport most of the heat) and the atmosphere dominates in the mid- to high-latitudes (at about 30* north and south the hot air begins to sink, forming the sub-tropical high pressure zone and the movement of warm sun-tropical air northward is only stopped when it meets the cold Polar air mass at the Polar Front). The Earth’s general wind pattern of three-cellar, two jet-stream per hemisphere model is complicated by the Coriolis effect and because the continents heat up much faster than the oceans (causing the surface air over the land to rise, which can alter the general circulation of surface wind).
Surface ocean is important in transporting heat around the globe. The circulation of the ocean starts with the wind. As the wind blows on the surface water, the friction allows energy to be transferred from the winds to the surface water, leading to major currents. The wind energy is transferred to greater depths in the water column turbulence, which allows wind driven currents to be very deep. The circulation of the deep ocean is one of the major controls on global climate due to its ability to exchange heat between the two hemispheres.
Maslin also explains how our modern climate system is a product of millions of years of plate tectonics. Tectonics has both direct (atmospheric circulation changed by mountain and plateau uplift or changes in ocean circulation brought about by the hydrological cycle or ocean gateways) and indirect (subduction, volcanism, and the consumption of gases by chemical weathering) effects.
I would recommend this book to a friend.
Maslin explains that the climate is controlled by the different amount of solar energy received at the Equator and the poles and that “climate is simply the redistribution of energy to undo this imbalance”. Complications are caused by the Earth’s axis of rotation being at an angle with respect to the sun and the Earth rotating every 24 hours.
The ocean dominates the movement of heat away from the Equator (because the intense heat from the sun warms up the air near the surface and causes it to rise high into the atmosphere, creating a space and low atmosphere pressure, filled by air being sucked in which does nothing to help the removal of heat so the surface currents of the ocean transport most of the heat) and the atmosphere dominates in the mid- to high-latitudes (at about 30* north and south the hot air begins to sink, forming the sub-tropical high pressure zone and the movement of warm sun-tropical air northward is only stopped when it meets the cold Polar air mass at the Polar Front). The Earth’s general wind pattern of three-cellar, two jet-stream per hemisphere model is complicated by the Coriolis effect and because the continents heat up much faster than the oceans (causing the surface air over the land to rise, which can alter the general circulation of surface wind).
Surface ocean is important in transporting heat around the globe. The circulation of the ocean starts with the wind. As the wind blows on the surface water, the friction allows energy to be transferred from the winds to the surface water, leading to major currents. The wind energy is transferred to greater depths in the water column turbulence, which allows wind driven currents to be very deep. The circulation of the deep ocean is one of the major controls on global climate due to its ability to exchange heat between the two hemispheres.
Maslin also explains how our modern climate system is a product of millions of years of plate tectonics. Tectonics has both direct (atmospheric circulation changed by mountain and plateau uplift or changes in ocean circulation brought about by the hydrological cycle or ocean gateways) and indirect (subduction, volcanism, and the consumption of gases by chemical weathering) effects.
I would recommend this book to a friend.
November 20, 2014
I enjoyed reading this short introduction to climate, before this book i was not aware of the importance of some facts like the oceans salinity, or the importance of gulf stream to Europe and some other amazing facts.
I highly recommand it.
I highly recommand it.
December 28, 2017
Poorly explained with badly labelled graphs and skips over large swaths of major criticisms concerning climate change and climate modeling with the persuasive argument punch that is "because science"
December 6, 2025
The content itself gets five stars, though the presentation is iffy. There's a ton of information in a little book but it's information without a clear narrative and ends up being a dense barrage of facts for much of the book. I don't think it's a problem with the format (though I don't think it helps) since the writing is a bit dry and fit more for a textbook, something which other VSIs have handled better. I sometimes wondered where the editor was. I don't read much science-related stuff so maybe it's a problem with me not being used to this style, but I would expect a VSI to be written for exactly this audience.
I would still recommend it despite all of this though since it's pretty comprehensive (at least, starting from zero) for being very short. Read it like a mini textbook.
The book starts by explaining what climate is, how it affects how humans interact with the world and each other, and how the Earth gets and distributes energy from the sun, the starting point of climate. The next few chapters cover how energy is distributed by the atmosphere and ocean, the line between weather and climate, how extreme weather and climates form, and the effects of the position and movement of continents to the climate. Ice ages are covered next, which lead into the final chapters about climate change, its causes, its future, possible responses, and the end of climate as we know it with the destruction of climate processes and ultimately the Earth itself.
I would still recommend it despite all of this though since it's pretty comprehensive (at least, starting from zero) for being very short. Read it like a mini textbook.
The book starts by explaining what climate is, how it affects how humans interact with the world and each other, and how the Earth gets and distributes energy from the sun, the starting point of climate. The next few chapters cover how energy is distributed by the atmosphere and ocean, the line between weather and climate, how extreme weather and climates form, and the effects of the position and movement of continents to the climate. Ice ages are covered next, which lead into the final chapters about climate change, its causes, its future, possible responses, and the end of climate as we know it with the destruction of climate processes and ultimately the Earth itself.
August 26, 2024
This was an enlightening read on climate and how it works. Ever since I started working on climate change it has become essential for me to understand how the global climate and the environment of planet earth works. I plan to read Maslin's other book titled 'Climate change' to learn more about how climate change affects us and what we can do to avoid it. 4/5 stars.
March 10, 2023
I gave 5* for the first seven chapters for the easy to understand explanation of the complex variables that result in our climate, and then gave 1* for the final three chapters relating to climate change in a rushed and vague manner….hence 3*.
May 22, 2024
A very clear guide to the science behind climate with plenty of emphasis on climate change. My only issue is that it is now more than ten years old and both the science and the climate are evolving fast!
September 9, 2018
Now I know it all.
March 9, 2020
If you get this little book from a library then you will never want to return it and keep it forever. An amazing book.
December 11, 2020
This book reads like it was written in two days, and the author had pulled an all-nighter beforehand.
January 6, 2021
Ciekawa rzecz, ale niedługo będzie dekada od wydania oryginału, więc poziom wiedzy bywa już gdzieniegdzie nieaktualny. Ale zgodnie z nazwą serii - Krótkie wprowadzenie - doskonale spełnia swoją rolę.
February 23, 2021
Ciekawe kompendium wiedzy o zmianch klimatu, niestety dużym problemem jest brak uźródłowienia podawanych faktów.
October 17, 2021
Concise and well-written, a very good introduction to the mechanisms that drive our climate
February 16, 2024
I didn’t care for the ending
August 7, 2024
Could have gone into more depth, even for a very short intro
May 6, 2020
Climate - A great non-technical, but still fully scientific summary of what drives planetary climate. It’s not primarily about climate change, but what is and drives climate in the first place: atmosphere and oceans, weather vs climate, extremes, changes, history & future.
4/5
4/5
August 15, 2013
Good introduction. Pretty concise with the concepts, but there is an obvious agenda to it as it promotes us to look for alternative ways to look ways to prevent extreme climate change.
April 13, 2017
Excellent! "Climate: A Very Short Introduction" is exactly what Mark Maslin titled it to be. Really concise overview of Water Resources, Management, and Worldwide issues.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews