Climate Change

Professor Trevor Letcher is an Emeritus Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, and living in the United Kingdom. He was previously Professor of Chemistry, and Head of Department, at the University of the Witwatersrand, Rhodes University, and Natal, in South Africa (1969-2004). He has published over 300 papers on areas such as chemical thermodynamic and waste from landfill in peer reviewed journals, and 100 papers in popular science and education journals. Prof. Letcher has edited and/or written 32 major books, of which 22 were published by Elsevier, on topics ranging from future energy, climate change, storing energy, waste, tyre waste and recycling, wind energy, solar energy, managing global warming, plastic waste, renewable energy, and environmental disasters. He has been awarded gold medals by the South African Institute of Chemistry and the South African Association for the Advancement of Science, and the Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics honoured him with a Festschrift in 2018. He is a life member of both the Royal Society of Chemistry (London) and the South African Institute of Chemistry. He is on the editorial board of the Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics, and is a Director of the Board of the International Association of Chemical Thermodynamics since 2002.

• PART 1: INTRODUCTION1. Climate Change: A complex problem2. The Role of Atmospheric Gases in Climate ChangePART 2: TOOLS USED TO INVESTIGE AND PREDICT CLIMATE CHANGE3. Climate Change through Earth's History4. Numerical Modelling of the Global Climate and Carbon-cycle SystemPART 3: INDICATORS5. Global Surface Temperatures and Climate Change6. Sea Ice and Climate Change7. Antarctic Sea Ice Changes and their Implications8. Land Ice: indicator and integrator of Climate Change9. Glaciers and Climate Change 10.Poleward Expansion of the Atmospheric Circulation and Climate Change11. Rising Sea levels and Climate Change12. Ocean Current Changes13. Ocean Acidification and Climate Change14. Permafrost and Climate Change15. The Jet Stream and Climate Change16. Extreme Weather and Climate Change17. Bird Ecology and Climate Change18. Insect Communities and Climate Change19. Sea Life, Pelagic Ecosystems, and Climate Change20. Changes in Coral Reef Ecosystems as a result of Climate Change21. Marine Biodiversity and Climate Change22. Intertidal Indicators of Climate and Global Change23. Lichens and Climate Change24. Plant Pathogens as Indicators of Climate Change25. Invasive Plants and Climate Change26. Biological Diversity and Climate Change27.The Role of Forests in the Carbon Cycle and Climate ChangePART 4: OTHER POSSIBLE CONTRIBUTING FACTORS TO CLIMATE CHANGE28. The Variation of the Earth’s Movements (orbital, tilt and precession) and Climate Change29. The Role of Volcanic Activity in Climate and Global Change30. Atmospheric Aerosols and their Role in Climate Change31. Climate Change and Agriculture32. Widespread surface solar radiation changes and their effects on the Climate: dimming and brightening33. Space Weather and Cosmic Ray effects and Climate ChangePART 5: SOCIETAL ASPECTS OF GLOBAL CHANGE34. Engineering Aspects of Climate Change35. Societal Adaptation to Climate Change