Ebook PDF Etextbook PDF For Global Climate Change Turning Knowledge Into Action Full Chapter

(eTextbook PDF) for Global Climate
Change: Turning Knowledge Into

Action
Visit to download the full and correct content document:
https://ebookmass.com/product/etextbook-pdf-for-global-climate-change-turning-know
ledge-into-action/
contents
Preface XVi
about the author XX
Part 1 the eviDence: iS thiS normal? 1
chapter
1 “So, What’s Up with the
Weather?” 2
Weather and Climate 4
Is the Climate Changing? 4
How Stable Is the Climate? 4
Historical Climate Change 5
Pause for thought 1.1 5
Recent Climate Change 6
Summary 22 Why Should We
A Century of Warming 8 Care? 22 Looking Ahead . . . 22 Critical
Pause for thought 1.2 10 Thinking Questions 23 Key Terms 23
Has Warming Stopped? 10 chapter
Pause for thought 1.3 11 2 the evidence: observing
Lessons from the Deep Past 11 Climate Change 24
Global Temperature 26
Major Factors that Affect Climate
Estimating Global Temperature 27
Change 11
Why Use Temperature Anomalies? 27
Radiative Forcing 12
Radiative Feedback 13
The Temperature Data 28
Timescales of Climate Change 14
Land Surface Temperature 28
Ocean Air and Sea Surface
Greenhouse Gases 17
Temperature 28
Climate Models 18
Air Balloons 29
How Accurate Are Economic
Satellites 29
Projections? 19
Satellites and Sea Surface
Should Climate Models Be Used to Guide
Temperature 29
Policy? 21
Global Historic Climatology Network 29
Missing Data 30
The Next Decade? 21
Changes in Sea Level 30
vii
viii Global Climate ChanGe
Is Changing Sea Level Normal? 30 Permafrost 40

How Fast Is the Sea Rising? 32 Mountain Glaciers 41
Why Is Sea Level Rising? 33 Changing Patterns of Climate 43
Pause for thought 2.2 33 Changes in Diurnal Temperature 43
The Melting Cryosphere 33 Changes in Precipitation 43
Polar Sea Ice 34 Droughts and Fires 46
The Greenland Ice Sheet 36 Hurricane Frequency and Intensity 47
The Antarctic Ice Sheets 37 Summary 50 Why Should We
Pause for thought 2.3 40 Care? 50 Looking Ahead . . . 50 Critical
Thinking Questions 51 Key Terms 51
Part 2 FolloW the energy: atmoSPhere,

oceanS, anD climate 52
chapter
3 energy and earth’s
Climate 54
The Source of All Energy:
The Sun 56
Sunspots 57
The Solar Cycle 57
Changes in TSI Measured by Satellite 58
Could the Sun Be Responsible for Recent
Climate Change? 58
Orbital Cycles 59
Obliquity 59
Heating the Atmosphere 67
Eccentricity 59
The Energy Budget 69
Precession 60
Cold Comfort 69
Could Orbital Cycles Be Responsible for
The Distribution of Greenhouse Gases 70
Recent Climate Change? 61
Pause for thought 3.2 61 Measuring the Flow of Energy 71
The Atmosphere 62 The Natural Greenhouse Gas Effect 71

Structure and Composition of the
Atmosphere 62 The Enhanced Greenhouse
Gas Effect 74
The Troposphere 62
Pause for thought 3.3 64 The Lower Troposphere 74
What Is a Greenhouse Gas? 64 Warming the Middle and Upper

Troposphere 74
Could Greenhouse Gases Be Responsible
for Recent Climate Change? 67 Back to the Surface 74
Pause for thought 3.4 67 Up to the Stratosphere 75
Contents ix
Pause for Thought 3.6 76 The Structure of the Oceans 96

Radiative Forcing 76 The Surface 96
The Sun 76 Thermohaline Circulation 99
Greenhouse Gas Forcing 76 The Antarctic Bottom Water (AABW) 100
Other Sources of Radiative Forcing Wind-Driven Circulation 100
in the Atmosphere 77 The Marine Atmosphere Boundary Layer
Pause for Thought 3.7 79 (MABL) 101
Pause for Thought 3.8 80
Ekman Transport 102
The Role of Albedo and Clouds 80 Pause for Thought 4.4 103
The Final Verdict on Radiative Winds and Oceans 103
Forcing 80
Tropical Divergence 103
The Question of Climate
Subtropical Convergence and Gyres 103
Sensitivity 81
The Antarctic Circumpolar Current 106
Sea Ice 107
Summary 82 Why Should We Care? 82
Looking Ahead . . . 82 Critical Thinking Seasonal Ice 108
Questions 83 Key Terms 83 The Oceans as a Heat Sink 108
Atmosphere–Ocean
Chapter Interaction 108
4 Understanding Weather and Complex Interconnected Systems 108
Climate 84 Tropical Cyclones 109
Global Heat Transfer 86 Monsoons 110
The Source of Energy 86 The Asian Monsoon 111
The Global Distribution of Energy 86 The West African Monsoon 112
Understanding Atmospheric Monsoons and Milankovitch Cycles 112
Circulation: 87
The Impact of Monsoons 112
Convection in the Tropics: Hadley
Interannual and Longer-Term
Cells 87
Natural Variations 112
Mid-latitude Deserts 90
The North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) 112
Mid-latitude Westerlies: Ferrel Cells 90 Pause for Thought 4.6 113
El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) 113
The Polar Fronts 90
The Madden–Julian Oscillation 118
The Pacific Decadal Oscillation (PDO) 120
Cyclonic Frontal Systems: Heating the
The Atlantic Multidecadal Oscillation
Poles 91
(AMO) 121
The Oceans 94
The Circulation of Water in the
Oceans 95 Care? 124 Looking Ahead . . . 124 Critical
Pause for Thought 4.3 96 Thinking Questions 124 Key Terms 125
x Global Climate ChanGe
Part 3 DeeP time: a long hiStory

oF natUral climate change 126
chapter
5 Revealing ancient
Climate 128
Decoding the Past 130
A Story in Stone 130
The Climatologist’s Toolbox 131
Interpreting Lithology 131
chapter
Pause for thought 5.4 136 6 Climate history 160
Pause for thought 5.5 139 Climate, Life, and Geological
Using Chemistry to Interpret Ancient Time 162
Climate 139 Pause for thought 6.1 162
Pause for thought 5.6 145 What Controlled Ancient
Trace Elements as Environmental Climate? 162
Markers 146 Fire and Ice: The Story of “Snowball”
Organic Chemicals as a Proxy for Ocean Earth 162
Temperature 146 The Power of Ice 162
Fossils as Environmental Indicators 147 The Power of Greenhouse Gases 164
From Ice to Oven 164
The Recent Past 149
Ice and Coal: The Great Permo-
Dendrochronology: Using Tree Rings to Carboniferous Glaciation 165
Date Climate Change 149
Why a Carboniferous Glaciation? 165
Dendroclimatology: Tree Rings as a Proxy Pause for thought 6.2 167
for Climate Change 150
The Great Extinction: The Permo-
Triassic Climate Crisis 167
Scleroclimatology: Corals as a Proxy for
The Permo-Triassic World 167
Climate Change 151
Could the Permo-Triassic Extinction
Stalactites and Stalagmites as Proxies of
Happen Today? 168
Climate Change 151
The Record of Climate Change in Ice
The Cretaceous Hothouse
Cores 152
World 170
Cretaceous Volcanism 170
The Record of Climate Change from
Sediment Cores 155 Cretaceous Atmospheric
Temperatures 171
Carbon Dioxide in the Cretaceous Atmo-
Care? 158 Looking Ahead . . . 158 Critical sphere 171
Thinking Questions 159 Key Terms 159 The Cretaceous Oceans 172
Contents xi
Cooling the Cretaceous 173 Living in a Land of Ice and Snow 189
Does the Cretaceous Provide a Vision of Climate Stability: Is It Always Cold During
the Future? 173 an Ice Age? 192
The K–T Extinction 173 Pause for Thought 6.10 195
Pause for Thought 6.4 174 The Ice Core Story: An 800,000-Year Record
The Last Days of “Summer” 174 of Our Recent Climate History 195
Too Hot for Comfort: The Paleocene
Epoch 175 Rapid Climate Change 197
The Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Anomaly
(PETA): A Vision of the Future? 175 The Last Glacial Maximum (LGM): The End
Pause for Thought 6.5 179 of an Ice Age 200
The Great Global Cooling 179 The Holocene 202

What Turned Down the Thermostat? 179 New Tools Enhance the Holocene Climate
Record 203
The First Chills: The Eocene Epoch 180
Pause for Thought 6.6 180 Global Recovery from the Younger Dryas
Event 203
The First Ice Sheets: The Oligocene
Epoch 180 The 8,200-Year Cooling Event 203
Pause for Thought 6.7 182 The Holocene Climate Maximum 204
The Neogene Period 183 More Holocene Cooling 204
Passing the Precipice: The Miocene The Medieval Climate Anomaly 204
Epoch 183 Pause for Thought 6.13 204
Back to the Future: The Pliocene The Little Ice Age 205
Epoch 184 The Maunder Minimum 205
Pause for Thought 6.8 186 Looking Forward to Future Climate
The Quaternary Period 186 Change 205
A Story of Ice: The Pleistocene Epoch 186 Summary 206 Why Should We
Pause for Thought 6.9 189 Care? 206 Looking Ahead . . . 206 Critical
Thinking Questions 207 Key Terms 207
Part 4 impacts of climate change: from polar Bears

to politics 208
Chapter
7 The Global Impact of
Climate Change 210
A Global Problem 212
Projections of Climate Change 212
Coping with, Adapting to, and Mitigating
Climate Change 212
Examples of the Impact of Climate Change
on Society 213
xii Global Climate ChanGe
Examples of the Impact of Climate Change The Social and Human Impacts of Ocean
on the Environment 214 Acidification 232
Dealing with Risk and Uncertainty 214 Waiting for Political Action 232
Adaptation to Climate Change in Case Study 5: The Roof of the
the Natural World 216 World 232
Terrestrial Biomes and Ecosystems 216 The Himalayas as a Reservoir of Water 233
Environmental Vulnerability 218 Warming the Himalayas 233
Human Impact on the Biosphere 218 Pause for thought 7.3 237
How Will Ecosystems Adapt to Modern Case Study 6: Rising Global Sea
Climate Change? 218 Level 237
Case Studies of the Global Impact The Last Great Flood 237
of Climate Change 219 Expanding the Ocean 238
How to Approach the Case Studies 220 Melting the Last Great Ice Sheets 238
Case Study 1: Freshwater Understanding Ice Sheet Dynamics 238
Resources 220 The Impact of Rising Sea Level 238
Water Supply 221 Case Study 7: Small Pacific Island
Water Stress 221 Communities 244
Water Stress in the United States 221 Pause for thought 7.4 245
Water Stress in Europe 223 Pause for thought 7.5 245
The Middle East: Water Stress and Political Case Study 8: Sickness and
Conflict 224 Diseases 245
Pause for thought 7.1 225 The Deterioration of Human Health 246
Sub-Saharan Africa: Drought and The Threat from Malaria 246
Migration 225 Case Study 9: The Melting of Arctic
Case Study 2: The Amazon Tundra 247
Forests 225 Disappearing Tundra and
A Treasure of Biodiversity 225 Permafrost 247
A Wealth of Human Knowledge 226 Pause for thought 7.6 250
Carbon Storage in the Amazon 226 Are There Any Positive Impacts of
Pause for thought 7.2 227 Climate Change? 250
Case Study 3: Reef Systems 227 Summary 252 Why Should We
Care? 252 Looking Ahead . . . 252 Critical
The Great Barrier Reef 227 Thinking Questions 252 Key Terms 253
Coral Bleaching 227
Lessons from El Niño 228 chapter
An Eye in the Sky 228 8 People and Politics 254
Case Study 4: Ocean Acidification 230
Climate Policy 256
Understanding Ocean Chemistry 230
The Role of Stakeholders 256
Making and Dissolving Shells 230 Pause for thought 8.1 257
Rapidly Changing Ocean Chemistry 231 Informing Legislation: Sources of Climate
Endangering Shallow Marine Data in the United States 258
Ecosystems 231 Weighing the Costs and Benefits in the
Struggling Reef Systems 231 Climate Debate 258
Contents xiii
The Economic Analysis of Climate The Social Conservative Perspective 276

Change 258 A More Liberal Perspective: Social
Finding an Economic Solution in the Devel- Liberals 276
oping World 261 Climate Skeptics 277
Pause for thought 8.2 262 Denialism at Work 277
The International Response to Turning Knowledge into
Climate Change 263 Action 277
The Kyoto Protocol 263 The Role of the Traditional Media 278
The UN and Climate Change 263 The Impact of Online and Social
First Steps: The IPCC’s First Assessment Media 278
Report and the UNFCCC 264 Talking About Risk 278
The Policy Mechanisms of the Kyoto Cultural Risk Theory 279
Protocol 268
The First Steps Towards More Effective
Communication 280
The Social Impact of Climate Pause for thought 8.4 280
Change in the United States 275
Developing an Effective Communication
The Six Americas Report: Weighing Public
Strategy 280
Opinion 275
The Environmental Movement in the
United States 275
Looking Ahead . . . 283 Critical Thinking
The Climate Change Countermovement in Questions 283 Key Terms 285
the United States 275
Part 5 gloBal SolUtionS: managing the criSiS 286
chapter
9 the energy Crisis 288
The Energy Problem 290

The Challenge of Energy
Poverty 290
World Energy Demand 290
Conventional Sources of Power:
Coal 292
Origins of Coal 292
The Use of Coal in China 294
The Use of Coal in the United States 294 Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) 295
Clean Coal Technology (CCT) 294 Pause for thought 9.2 297
The Political Power of Big Coal 294 The “Coal Power in a Warming World”
How Efficient Is Coal Power? 295 Report 297
The Integrated Gasification Combined The Future of Coal 298
Cycle (IGCC) System 295 Pause for thought 9.3 298
xiv Global Climate ChanGe
Conventional Sources of Power: Wind Energy 309

Natural Gas 298 Solar Power 310
Origins of Natural Gas 298 Wave Power 311
Is Gas More Efficient than Coal? 299 Tidal Power 311
World Demand for Natural Gas 299 Solid Biomass 311
Natural Gas Consumption 299 Biofuels 312
The Future of Natural Gas 300 Hydrogen 313
Energy Security and Natural Gas in the Pause for Thought 9.7 315
European Union 300 The Politics of Change 315
Natural Gas Reserves 300 Renewable Energy Standards in the United
Pause for Thought 9.4 300 States 315
Conventional Sources of Power: Renewable Energy Standards in China 315
Oil 301 A New Energy Infrastructure 316
Oil Reserves 301 Are We Subsidizing Greenhouse
Oil Sands, Heavy Oil, and Extra-Heavy Gas Emissions? 316
Oil 301
Oil and Energy Security 302 Looking Ahead . . . 319 Critical Thinking
Oil and the Transportation Crisis 302 Questions 319 Key Terms 321
Fuel Efficiency and Mileage

Standards 303 Chapter
Future Fuel Efficiency and Mileage 10 Turning Knowledge into
Standards 303 Action 322
The Cost of Fuel Inefficiency 304 The Deep Roots of Climate
The Future of Oil 304 Change 324
Pause for Thought 9.5 304 Population Growth and Poverty as Drivers
Conventional Sources of Power: of Climate Change 324
Nuclear Power 304 Who Will Take the Lead? 324
The Nuclear Power Fear Factor 304 Do Nations Have a Right to Pursue
New Interest in Nuclear Power 305 Economic Growth? 325
Did France Get Nuclear Power Right? 305 Pause for Thought 10.1 327
The United States and Nuclear Power 305 Energy Demand and Greenhouse
The Rest of the World and Nuclear
Gas Emissions 327
Power 306 Global Energy Consumption 328
Is Nuclear Power Really Necessary? 306 Emissions from the United States 328
The Future Is Glowing? 306 Emissions from China 329
Pause for Thought 9.6 307 Emissions from Bangladesh 329
Renewable Energy 307 Facing an Uncertain Future 329
Global Use of Renewable Energy 307 Why Should We Worry About
Hydroelectric Power 307 Emissions? 330
Can Emissions Decrease Without Interna-
Small Hydroelectric Schemes 308
tional Action? 330
Geothermal Power 308
The Way Forward: Finding a
“New” Renewable Energy 309 Solution 331
Contents xv
Enhancing the Sequestration of CO2 from Fuel Switching and CCS 338
Fossil Fuels 331 Renewables 338
Increasing the Generation of Power Biostorage 338
from Sources That Produce Fewer
Emissions 332
The United States: Regional and
Enhancing CO2 Sequestration During
State Initiatives 339
Industrial Production 332
Geoengineering: A Last
Increasing the Efficiency of Public and
Resort? 339
Commercial Transport by Road 333
Geoengineering Technologies 339
Decreasing the Use of Public and
Solar Radiation Management (SRM) 340
Commercial Transport by Road 333
Carbon Dioxide Reduction (CDR) 341
Decreasing the Overall Demand for Power
Through Conservation and Geopolitical Implications of
Efficiency 333 Geoengineering 343
Reducing Greenhouse Gases from Waste Epilogue 344
Treatment 334 Accepting Responsibility 344
Stopping Unnecessary Deforestation and The Power of One 345
Loss of Carbon from Soils 334 Time for Action 345
Changing Agricultural Practices to Reduce Pause for Thought 10.3 345
Greenhouse Gas Emissions 336
Driving in the Carbon Wedges: The Care? 346 Looking Ahead . . . 346 Critical
Carbon Mitigation Initiative 337 Thinking Questions 347 Key Terms 347
Efficiency and Conservation 338
appendix a Climate Change and the Scientific Method A-1
appendix B A Quick Science Primer A-4
appendix c Online Resources A-9
appendix D The Köppen Climate Classification System A-33
appendix e Weather Extremes A-37
appendix F Common Conversions A-44
Glossary G-1
credits C-1
index I-1
Preface
The danger is that global warming may become self- The climate change debate has shown us that most
sustaining, if it has not done so already. The melting of scientists lack the skills necessary to communicate a
the Arctic and Antarctic ice caps reduces the fraction of complex and nuanced message to policymakers and
solar energy reflected back into space, and so increases the general public, especially when a determined
the temperature further. Climate change may kill off the minority is committed to undermining their message.
Scientists, industrialists, politicians, and the general
Amazon and other rain forests, and so eliminate one of
public are all valid stakeholders in this important
the main ways in which carbon dioxide is removed from
debate, but when extreme views are given unwar-
the atmosphere. The rise in sea temperature may trigger ranted attention, public confusion and dangerous
the release of large quantities of carbon dioxide, trapped inaction result.
as hydrates on the ocean floor. Both these phenomena The world does not have decades to settle out-
would increase the greenhouse effect, and so global standing questions about climate change before taking
warming, further. We have to reverse global warming decisive action. Our action (or inaction) today will have
urgently, if we still can. very real social, economic, political, and environmental
consequences in the futureÐ and our children and
StePhen haWKing, aBc news interview,
grandchildren will hold us accountable.
aug. 16, 2006
As an Earth scientist, I understand that Earth's
climate and ecosystems are subject to natural changes.
every major scientific body in the world now accepts The geological evidence is clear that sometime over the
that human-caused global warming is almost certain next 20,000 years, in the absence of human interven-
to cause significant climate change before the end tion, we will return to the frozen world that predated
of the 21st century. In 2007, The United Nations modern civilization. Much farther back in time, during
Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) the Cretaceous Period, it is equally clear that the world
concluded, ª Warming of the climate system is was so warm that deciduous forests stretched almost
unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of as far as the poles. Climate change can be natural, but
increases in global average air and ocean tempera- today it is not entirely natural, and for those facing the
tures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising risk of climate change, the question is almost irrele-
global average sea level.º vant. If the climate is changing, for whatever reason, it
Recent years have only deepened this concern. In places the lives of hundreds of thousands in peril and
2012 many climate records were shattered, including the welfare of millions more at risk. There is a major
a new minimum extent for summer ice in the Arctic humanitarian crisis looming in the near future, and it
and the expansive melting of surface ice on Greenland. demands earnest engagement and prudent action.
In the United States, record temperatures started This book will help you reach an informed decision
to dominate the eastern two-thirds of the nation by about global warming and climate change. Your decision
March, and 2012 became the all-time warmest year on will be based on a scientific foundation that separates fact
record. These high temperatures created drought and from hypothesis and reason from conjecture. You will not
wildfires that affected large parts of the nation and find all the answers in these pages, but you should find
the largest hurricane on record hit the northeast coast yourself prepared to ask more of the right questions.
of the United States late in the season, wreaking havoc There is still hope. Your reading and research will
in New York and New Jersey. As the year ended, illuminate many possible solutions. It is a fascinating
record precipitation in parts of the Pacific Northwest journey from science through economics to psychology
delivered more rain in a few days than normally falls and politics. It is a path festooned with hyperbolism
over the entire year. The physical evidence of global and speculation, specious conjecture, and professional
climate change is overwhelming, but a vociferous rivalry, and, at the end, the final destination is still not
minority still refuses to believe that it has anything clear. This is as much a moral, ethical, economic, and
to do with human activity. For the average person political issue as it is a scientific issue, and progress
who wants to understand global climate change and depends on the active engagement of people and gov-
global warming, the debate is very confusing. Many ernments around the world. We take a serious risk by
of the facts and figures are complex and hard to ignoring the early symptoms of climate change. Wishful
understand, and different groups seem to interpret inaction has a very poor historical record of success.
the same data in such different ways. Who should we Whatever the costÐ and there will be a costÐ we all
believe? need to ask ourselves ª What are we willing to pay?º
xvi
Preface xvii
to the Student exist for students to role-play and discuss climate

change from different perspectives. Role-playing is a
This book examines what scientists know about great way to understand why the subject is so divisive,
global warming and climate change and considers and it encourages students to find answers through
political and economic solutions that will balance the further reading, research, and collaborative interaction
competing needs of people around the world. It does inside and outside class.
not answer every question it raises, but it invites you Throughout the book, but especially in Chapters 1
to discover answers for yourself. The text contains through 6, students are encouraged to learn and apply
brief Checkpoints to help you review the material as the scientific method to their study. The overall thrust
you read and short Pause for Thought sections that ask of the text is to encourage critical thinking and analysis
you to consider some topics in a broader context. By and leave students with a deeper understanding of
addressing Critical Thinking questions at the end of how climate change will impact all levels of society. The
each chapter, you are challenged to think about each data used in this book are the most up-to date available
problem from the contrasting perspectives of different at time of writing and publication and take into con-
stakeholders in the debate. This can be achieved sideration the anticipated conclusions of the IPCC 5th
through role-play in class and online discussion, Assessment Report.
where you can examine the arguments proposed by
each stakeholder group and analyze their discussions
with a professor.
Throughout the book, you are encouraged to
learn and apply the scientific method to your study. chapter Features
You are encouraged to think in terms of observing,
Each chapter contains the following features and
recording, analyzing, and synthesizing data before
tools:
developing and testing hypotheses. As with any
other scientific debate, you must consider all the • Learning Outcomes at the start of each chapter
available facts about climate change issues before help students focus on priority concepts and
reaching a conclusion. topics.
Climate change is an urgent concern that will • Checkpoint questions integrated throughout
impact your life and the lives of your children. I hope chapter sections help students check their under-
you will go out and get involved in the debate after standing as they read.
reading this book because, whatever your political • Pause for Thought questions throughout the
opinion, we need informed, engaged, and active chapters ask students to consider topics in a broader
citizens who are prepared to take up new positions context.
of leadership in society. The cost of inappropriate • Summary sections revisit the main chapter topics
action could be measured in trillions of dollars, tens and Learning Outcomes.
of thousands of lost jobs, and many lost opportuni- • Why Should We Care? sections emphasize the most
ties for economic development. It is equally true important chapter themes and present brief closing
that the cost of inaction will be measured by the loss thoughts on the chapter topics.
of millions of lives and by a level of environmental • Looking Ahead sections provide a bridge to and
destruction and species extinction unseen for millions preview of the next chapter's topics and themes.
of years. • Critical thinking Questions help students to extend
and apply their understanding of chapter topics
and themes with higher-order activities that can be
done alone or as group work.
• A list of Key Terms with references to chapter page
to the teacher numbers reinforce important vocabulary. The Key
This book is an introductory text for students with Terms are also defined in the back of book Glossary.
a limited background in science, but it has enough
content to be suitable for more advanced classes.
Unlike most other textbooks on global climate change
and global warming, the content does not only focus
on the science but also includes extensive coverage of
social, economic, political, and environmental aspects
of climate change.
This book is optimal for classes where there is time
for discussion and debate. Many stakeholders are
involved in the climate debate, and many opportunities
xviii Global Climate ChanGe
chapter organization Part three: Deep time: a long history

The chapters of this book are grouped into five sections of natural climate change
that address specific aspects of the climate change The best way to predict the future behavior of any
debate. system is to understand how it has behaved in the
past.
Part one: the evidence: is this normal?
chapter 5: revealing ancient climate introduces
Is the climate change we observe today part of a natural the tools that scientists use to investigate the history
cycle or due to the emission of heat-trapping green- of ancient climate change. These tools range from a
house gases by human activity? simple hand lens that can be used to identify rocks and
fossils in the field to highly specialized and expensive
chapter 1: So What’s Up with the Weather? begins
analytical equipment that delivers quantitative data on
with a discussion of the global climate change and
the nature of ancient climate.
global warming debate and introduces some important
distinctions between climate and weather. Looking chapter 6: climate history considers three periods of
back into the deep history of climate change, it becomes Earth history when the climate was so extreme that life
clear that some climate change is normal and natural, on Earth nearly came to an end. This chapter also traces
but greenhouse gases released into the atmosphere by the evolution of Earth's climate from the hothouse of
human activity have driven recent changes. the Cretaceous world to the icehouse of today. The
chapter covers the last 150,000 years of climate history
chapter 2: the evidence: observing climate
in more detail, focuses on the origin of long and short-
change investigates the physical evidence of global
term climate cycles, and investigates the rate at which
climate change. Data collected by satellite combined
climate changes.
with direct measurements from the land and oceans
show that the temperature of Earth is rising due to
an imbalance between the amount of energy entering Part Four: the impact of climate
and leaving Earth's atmosphere. From this discussion,
it becomes clear that we need to explore more of the change: From Polar Bears to Politics
science behind Earth's climate system if we want to Our knowledge of the risks associated with climate
differentiate between the natural and anthropogenic change grows each year, but turning this knowledge
(human-made) factors that drive climate change. into effective political action has not been easy.
chapter 7: the global impact of climate change

Part two: Follow the energy: investigates the physical and environmental impacts of
atmosphere, oceans, and climate climate change over the past 150 years and the possible
The energy that arrives on Earth from the Sun drives a impact of continued warming on future climate. The
complex climate machine, where a small change in just chapter focuses on the social and economic impact
one part can have global consequences. of projected climate change, using case studies from
around the world to illustrate the many dimensions of
chapter 3: earth’s climate System focuses on the the climate problem.
physical science of global warming and introduces
students to complex interactions between the Sun, chapter 8: Politics and People considers how
atmosphere, hydrosphere, lithosphere, cryosphere, and growing awareness of climate change made global
biosphere that determine how Earth's climate changes. warming an important political issue around the world,
The focus is on the flow of energy through Earth's culminating in the formation of the United Nations
climate system and how even small changes in the Framework Convention on Climate Change and the
balance between incoming and outgoing energy can be Kyoto Protocol. This chapter considers the history of
amplified into significant changes in climate. the Kyoto Protocol, reflects on our inability to make
further progress with it, and illustrates the role of major
chapter 4: Understanding Weather and climate stakeholders in the climate debate. The chapter stresses
investigates how these changes in the energy content the major social, political, economic, and ethical issues
of Earth's climate system are translated into changes in involved in the climate debate and will stimulate dis-
regional climate and weather through the movement of cussion about science, society, and the role of the media
mass and energy in the atmosphere and oceans. in determining public opinion.
Preface xix
Part Five: Global Solutions: Managing and colleagues at the University of Richmond, for help
and understanding. To Geography/GIS/Meteorology
the Crisis Editor Christian Botting and Senior Project Editor
At a time when global action to prevent climate change Crissy Dudonis for their humanity, constant encour-
is more important than ever before, the world is increas- agement, and help with making this book the best it
ingly distracted by an urgent demand for economic could be. I would also like to thank their colleagues at
growth in the developing world and by the emergence Pearson, including Editorial Assistant Bethany Sexton,
of new geopolitical rivalries. Assistant Editor Sean Hale, Media Producer Tod Regan,
Senior Marketing Manager Maureen McLaughlin, and
Chapter 9: The Energy Crisis introduces the energy Senior Marketing Assistant Nicola Houston. I would
crisis that is driven by population growth, and the also like to thank the many production staff at Pearson
urgent need to avoid damaging climate change. The and elsewhere who helped produce the book, including
chapter identifies energy poverty as a moral and ethical Managing Editor Gina Cheselka, Production Liaison
challenge for a world that wants to cut greenhouse gas Connie Long, International Mapping Project Manager
emissions. Countries such as China and India still lag Kevin Lear, Element Associate Director, Full Service
far behind the developed nations in per capita gross Heidi Allgair, and Photo Researcher Christa Tilley.
domestic product (GDP), and they need to make use of I am grateful to the following reviewers for their
cheap and abundant coal reserves to generate enough feedback during the book development; they were
power to support their economic growth. This chapter immensely helpful in focusing and improving the text:
looks at all the major sources of energy available to
meet this rising demand for energy, and considers how Mark Boardman, Miami University;
different priorities and changing government subsidies Wolfgang H. Berger, University of California: San
could encourage the more rapid development of clean, Diego
renewable energy technologies. Carsten Braun, Westfield State College
Jeffrey Bury, University of California: Santa Cruz
Chapter 10: Turning Knowledge into Action looks
Greg Carbone, University of South Carolina: Columbia
for ways to balance the competing priorities of economic
John Chiang, University of California: Berkeley
growth and emissions reduction in a world where rapid
Dawn Ferris, The Ohio State University
population growth is expected to continue well into this
Tim G. Frazier, University of Idaho
century. The chapter considers whether it is possible to
Ryan Zahn Hinrichs, Drew University
minimize greenhouse gas emissions without harming
Peter Jacques, University of Central Florida
economic development and still prepare the world to
Bruce R. James, University of Maryland
adapt to the inevitable climate change that is already
Jean Lynch-Stieglitz, Georgia Tech
locked into Earth's climate system.
Scott A. Mandia, Suffolk County Community College
Patricia Manley, Middlebury College
There is an immense amount of useful NASA,
Heidi Marcum, Baylor University
NOAA, and USGS original data available to students.
Isabel Montanez, University of California: Davis
Dave Robertson, University of Missouri
Jame Schaeffer, Marquette University
Marshall Shepherd, University of Georgia
Richard Snow, Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Robert Turner, Skidmore University
Stacey Verardo, George Mason University.
A special thanks to Thompson Webb, Brown Univer-
sity, for his incredibly helpful accuracy reviews.
But most of all, I want to thank my wife, Michele

Cox, and daughter, Sarah, who had to live with me as
Acknowledgments I spent far too many weekends working inside, when I
should have been outside playing with them instead.
I want to acknowledge the help and assistance of many
people who helped me write this text. To Don Beville David Kitchen
formerly of Pearson, for suggesting that I take on the University of Richmond
project in the first place. To my dean, James Narduzzi, kitchenclimatebook@gmail.com
about the author
David Kitchen earned a B.Sc.

and Ph.D. in geology from Queen's
University±Belfast. After working for
two years as a petroleum geologist in
the North Sea, he was appointed as lec-
turer in the University of Ulster where he
taught Earth Sciences and worked with
research administration and development
from 1981 to 2001. He also spent many
happy summers working as adjunct pro-
fessor on field courses for the UK's Open
University. In 2001, Dr. Kitchen moved to
the United States to work at the University
of Richmond in Virginia. As associate dean and associate professor he leads a team developing
academic, professional, and lifelong education programs and teaches environmental sciences,
with a focus on climate change. He has served as the university representative on the National
Council of Environmental Deans and Directors, as environmental fellow for the Associated
Colleges of the South, as coordinator of university environmental programs, and as coordina-
tor of the Environmental Studies course team, and he serves on the university's Sustainability
Working Group and Environmental Awareness Group. In collaboration with the National Council
for Science and the Environment, Dr. Kitchen was awarded a NASA climate change education
grant to help develop new online modules in global climate change.
xx
This page intentionally left blank
Part 1
The evidence: is This
normal?
Chapter 1: So What’S Up With the
Weather?
Chapter 2: the evidence:
obServing climate change
Parts of New Jersey and New York City were devastated in late October
2012 by a 4 meter (13 foot) storm surge that was driven ahead of
Hurricane Sandy. It is not yet clear if climate change will affect the
frequency and intensity of future hurricanes, but increasing global sea
level will enhance the risk of all future storm surges.
earth’s climate is changing.
Climate records are being set across the
world as heat waves, droughts, floods,
snowstorms, tornados, and hurricanes
impact the lives of millions of people. There
are now clear signs of changing climate
on every continent across the globe. As
the human and financial costs of extreme
weather rise we must understand why
global climate is changing and work hard
to mitigate its worst impacts. Geological
evidence has uncovered a record of
continuous and natural climate change, but
the extreme weather we observe today is
different because none of the usual forces
that drive climate change appear to be
responsible. Recent climate change appears
to be the consequence of a precipitous
increase in the emission of heat-trapping
greenhouse gases from deforestation,
industry and agriculture. Levels of carbon
dioxide in the atmosphere have risen by
40% since preindustrial times, and are now
higher than at any time during the previous
800,000 years. Computer models project
that a level of emissions this high will
accelerate climate change until we reduce
emissions from all sources. Climate change
is a global problem that requires a global
solution. Chapter 1 introduces important
concepts about weather, climate, and
climate change and Chapter 2 presents
physical evidence that regional climate is
changing rapidly across the globe.
Hurricane Katrina was a powerful Category Five
hurricane with winds of 160 mph. Each year
hurricanes transfer enormous amount of energy
from the tropics to higher latitudes, helping
regulate Earth’s climate. There may be a link
between the intensity of hurricanes and higher
ocean temperatures, driven in large part by
climate change and global warming.
“So, What’s Up
with the Weather?”
Introduction
Chapter
1
Almost every day, some claim or counterclaim about climate change and global
warming hits the headlines. For most of us this is very confusing. Some people consider
every storm, drought, heat wave, and record temperature further evidence for global
warming; others dismiss these same events as natural climate variation. Isn’t everyone
looking at the same data? How can the same facts be interpreted in such different ways?
When the interpretation of scientific data makes it imperative that we change
the ways we create and use energy, the origin of these data becomes controversial
and politically-charged. Before we undertake any action that will have a long-term
impact on society, we need to understand how and why global climate changes. The
geological record shows us that climate change is a normal part of Earth’s history,
and while most scientists conclude that recent changes in global temperature and
climate are due to the emission of human-made (anthropogenic) heat-trapping
greenhouse gases, a small but vocal minority disagrees. In order to project the
future impact of anthropogenic emissions accurately, we must understand the
different factors that have driven climate in the past and how small changes in global
temperature will affect Earth’s climate today.
Learning When you finish this chapter you

Outcomes should be able to:
• Discuss how global temperature has changed over geological time
• Identify some of the principal factors that control global climate over different timescales
• Describe the recent historical temperature record
• Determine possible causes of recent changes in global temperature
• Understand how climate models can be used to project climate change
• Evaluate the possible impact of human activity on the atmosphere
3
4 Global Climate ChanGe
Weather and Climate

Before we begin to discuss climate change it is
important to discuss the difference between weather
and climate. Weather is experienced from day to day.
One day can be hot and dry and the next cool and
wet. Climate, on the other hand, can be related to
the statistical probability that any day during the
year will be similar to the same day in previous or
following years. In Virginia, the winter temperatures
are often close to freezing, but the weather on any
one day is very unpredictable. The temperature in
January can reach as high as 25°C (78°F), but based
on weather records, it is very likely that cool air, rain,
sleet, and ice will soon return because the climate
of Virginia is characterized by cool, wet winters and
hot, humid but relatively dry summers. What is the
climate like where you live? Is there much variation
in weather from year to year?
CHeCkPOINT 1.1 ▸ In your own words, describe the
difference between weather and climate.
(a)
Is the Climate
Changing?
Anomaly (˚C) relative to 1901–2000 average
0.8
Over the past 100 years, global Jan–Dec global mean temperature over land and water
0.6
temperature has been rising
0.4
at a rate that is slow in terms
0.2
of a human lifespan but rapid
enough to worry climate sci- 0.0
entists (Figure 1.1b). Climate -0.2
varies naturallyÐ within limits. -0.4
Occasional extreme weather -0.6
events and temperature -0.8
1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
records do not prove that Year
(b)
climate is changing, but scien-
tists have discovered that the Increase in mean
Probability of occurrence
past few decades have experienced a statistically signif-

ate
icant increase in the number of record heat waves and a

lim
More
te
decrease in the number of record cold spells (Figure 1.1a hot

ma
sc
weather
and Figure 1.1b). (Chapters 2 and 7 will investigate this
iou
cli
w
v
evidence in more detail.) It is clear that Earth's climate

Pre
Ne
More
is changing, but we need to find out why and what is Less record hot
cold weather
likely to happen in the future. weather
(c) Cold Average temperature Hot

How Stable Is the Climate?
Scientists have created a historical temperature record ▲ Figure 1.1: (a) Forest fires will become more common, at
great cost to both human and animal communities. As global
based on tree rings, ice cores, sediment cores, and temperature rises, evaporation increases and droughts intensify.
other proxy climate data. This record indicates that (b) Annual Average Global Surface Temperature change from
global average temperature has been comparatively 1880–2008 relative to the average temperature of the period
stable since the last ice sheets retreated from Europe 1901–2000 (known as the temperature anomaly). The vertical
and North America around 9,000 years ago. Following gray bars indicate the range of uncertainty for each data point.
(c) The probability of temperature extremes changes with
a postglacial temperature maximum around 8,000 climate. As the climate shifts to warmer temperatures, there is
years ago, a slow global cooling trend developed less chance of a record cold spell and a much greater chance of a
that continued until the end of the 19th century record heat wave.
Chapter 1 “So, What’s Up with the Weather?” 5
(Figure 1.2). During that time, shifts in the regional harvests in Europe led to the expansion of commerce
pattern of climate still occurred over many parts of the and trade. The records show that this period of pros-
world, such as in Africa, Europe, and North America, perity came to end during the 17th and 18th centuries
and some of these shifts had profound impacts on when the climate started to cool, with the devastating
human settlement. Looking back over the past 5,000 human consequences of war, famine, and disease.
years, we see that modern civilizations have generally There are now many different published reconstruc-
grown and prospered under conditions well suited to tions of global temperature that include this period
agriculture, the generation of excess economic capacity, of time (Figure 1.3). These data, predominantly from
and the growth of commerce and trade, but the threat measurements on land in the Northern Hemisphere,
of climate change was always present. The record is confirm the existence of a warmer period around 1,000
full of examples of human settlements that were dev- years ago known as the Medieval Climate Anomaly
astated by water shortages, famine, and disease. (MCA) and a period of distinct regional cooling that
started around 400 years ago known as the Little Ice
CHeCkPOINT 1.2 ▸ Explain how we know that global
Age (LIA). This is a clear record of natural variation in
climate has been relatively stable over the past 8,000 years.
climate that is not the result of human activity. Even
so, the implications are disturbing: If small natural
Historical Climate Change changes in global temperature have such a large impact
The recent history of climate change is well docu- on society, what can we expect to happen as a con-
mented by historical records. A period of warming in sequence of a larger increase in global temperature
parts of the Northern Hemisphere during the 10th to projected by the end of the 21st century?
12th centuries led to prosperity, population growth, CHeCkPOINT 1.3 ▸ Why is the historical record of cli-
and the expansion of settlement. The Vikings arrived mate change alarming to some scientists?
in Greenland and North America at this time, and good
The Hockey Stick One of the most convincing recon-
structions of historical climate change came in a
groundbreaking paper published in 1998 (Figure 1.4).
This paper by climate scientist Michael Mann and
colleagues analyzed proxy data from a number
of sources in both hemispheres. When plotted on
a simple graph, the spatial pattern of these data
resembled a hockey stick, with a long shaft reflect-
ing prolonged and gradual global cooling over the
past 1,000 years and a pronounced upturned face
created by rapid warming in the 20th century. This
hockey stick graph was controversial when it was
first published, because it suggested that the MCA
(a)
and LIA were transient, hemispheric, or regional
2.0
phenomena and supported the growing hypothesis
Temperature anomaly (˚C)
Holocene temperature variations

1.5 that recent warming was due to human activity. There
1.0 is no longer any scientific basis for this controversy,
End of last 0.5 as the data that produced the first hockey stick graph
glacial
0.0 have been confirmed many times by other researchers
period
using different tools to determine past temperature. It
-0.5
is clear that recent changes in global temperature are
-1.0 unprecedented in the historical record.
12 10 8 6 4 2 0
1.1
Thousands of years before present
(b) pause FOr... Why is a rise in global
thOught temperature of just 1°C
▲ Figure 1.2: (a) The recent and rapid melting of Arctic Sea so important?
ice marks the end of a prolonged period of global cooling It may help to think of this in terms of your own body
that lasted for thousands of years. In this enhanced satellite temperature. Similarly to Earth, you gain energy from
photograph, widespread seasonal (winter) ice is shown in light
your internal system and surroundings, and you lose
gray and thicker multiyear ice in white. (b) Temperature change
since the end of the last glaciation compared to the mid-20th energy from the surface of your skin. You remain healthy
century average temperature. Note how temperature over the as long as you maintain an average core temperature very
last 8,000 years has trended towards lower global temperatures. close to 37°C (98.6°F). What would happen to you if your
This analysis is the average of eight studies using different temperature increased or decreased by just 5°C (9°F)?
methods that determine air temperature.
0.9 Northern Hemisphere temperature change

Northern hemisphere temperature variations over the past 1,000 years
0.6 0.5
0.3
0
Temperature change (˚C)

-0.3 0.0
-0.6
-0.9
–0.5
200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000
(a) Year
–1.0
1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000

Year
▲ Figure 1.4: A more detailed graph of temperature change
over the last 1,800 years compared to a 1961–1990 average. This
is the infamous “hockey stick curve” that was constructed with
data collected from many different sources and is discussed
in more detail in Chapter 4. The red line at the right marks the
modern instrumental record, the blue line the actual data points,
the black line a running average, and the gray areas an estimate
of the statistical uncertainty of the data.
(b) CHeCkPOINT 1.4 ▸ Why is the evidence for recent rapid

climate change no longer in any doubt?
recent Climate Change

The human impact on global temperature emerged
from climate data around the middle of the 20th
century, when industrial production reached a peak
following the end of World War II. Scientists discov-
ered that carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere were
increasing and understood that this could raise global
(c) temperature by trapping more of Earth© s outgoing
energy. By carefully measuring the ratios of different
▲ Figure 1.3: (a) Temperature change over the last 2,000 carbon isotopes, scientists were able to show that the
years compared to the average temperature in the mid-20th
century. The red line at the far right indicates actual 20th century
additional carbon dioxide came from the burning of
temperature measurements; the other colored lines represent fossil fuels and that it was steadily accumulating in both
estimates of historical temperature by different authors based on the atmosphere and oceans. When global temperatures
a variety of temperature proxies such as tree rings, corals, and ice started to increase rapidly in the mid-1970s it was not
cores. These data are biased towards northern hemisphere land at all surprising to most of the scientific community,
temperatures and show evidence of both a Medieval Climate
Anomaly when Europe was warm and prosperous and a Little Ice
but it was not clear how much of the warming was due
Age when winters in Europe and the United States were much to natural changes in climate and how much was due
colder on average than today. Data from many studies using to human activity.
different methods to determine past temperature were used to
construct this diagram. The red line that starts in the middle of CHeCkPOINT 1.5 ▸ How did scientists determine that
the 19th century is the instrumental temperature record. The
the increase in carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and
wide range of results, particularly for older data, gives some idea
of the uncertainties involved in determining past temperature, oceans comes mostly from the burning of fossil fuels?
but there is still remarkable correspondence between most of
these data, and the underlying trend is consistent. (b) A scene Temperature records The instrumental record of tem-
from Germany where buildings constructed during prosperous
medieval times survive to the present day. (c) During the Little perature change is disappointingly limited. The longest
Ice Age many rivers in Europe froze so deeply that frost fairs record of surface temperature comes from central
could be held on the thick ice over the winter. England, where a continuous record stretches back to
0.8
Anomaly (˚C) relative to 1901–2000
Jan–Dec global mean temperature over land and water
0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2
-0.4
-0.6
-0.8
1880 1890 1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010
(a) Year
3
Radiative forcing
2
LLGHG
Forcing (W m-2)
1 Ozone (troposphere)
Ozone (stratosphere)
Aerosol direct
0 Cloud albedo
Volcanic eruptions
-1 Solar
Land use
LLGHG, ozone, aerosols, and land use
-2
-3
1850 1875 1900 1925 1950 1975 2000
(b) Year
▲ Figure 1.5: Global Temperature and Radiative Forcing (natural and human factors that affect
the flux of energy at the top of the atmosphere and act to change global climate) (a) The average
temperature measured each year from 1880 compared to the average annual temperatures
from 1901 to 2000 (this is known as the temperature anomaly). The vertical gray bars indicate
the range of uncertainty for each data point. (b) The impact on radiative forcing (and thus global
warming and cooling) of different parameters that affect the intensity of solar radiation and the
influence of greenhouse gases (Huber and Knutti, 2011). Compare the impact of carbon dioxide
to the other parameters recorded, and note the strong cooling affect of volcanic activity during
the Little Ice Age in the mid–19th century.
1659. Reliable regional data only began to be recorded put atmospheric temperatures at their highest point in
in the 1850s, with the development of modern trade and 1 million years, but we are now facing a very real pos-
a little help from the British Empire. Truly global infor- sibility that global temperature could rise by as much as
mation became available only after the 1970s, with the 4°C (7.2°F) by the end of the 21st century. A temperature
launch of the first of a number of weather satellites. increase of this magnitude would have a devastating
impact on global ecosystems and on human society.
recent Observations on land Recent data records
show that global atmospheric temperature over land recent Observations in the Oceans The world's
and oceans has risen by as much as 0.6°C (1.08°F) on oceans have absorbed as much as 90% of the excess
average over the past 100 years (Figure 1.5a). In 2005, heat produced by recent global warming, and a clear
average land surface temperatures 1 exceeded 1°C warming trend has been identified over the upper 700
(1.8°F) above the 1901±2000 annual average, a general meters (~3,000 feet). The average water temperature is
baseline that many climate scientists have adopted. now over 0.49°C above the 20th-century average. This
This may not sound like much of a change, but this may not sound like much of a change, but the oceans
global figure is amplified within Earth's climate system are a huge reservoir of heat, and if all this additional
and translated regionally into much larger changes in energy were suddenly released into the atmosphere,
temperature. To put this in perspective, a further rise it would be enough to increase air temperature by a
in land±ocean air temperature of just 1°C (1.8°F) would much as 22˚C (40˚F) (Figure 1.6).
1 Land surface measurements alone are generally higher than

combined land±ocean data because air over the oceans is strongly CHeCkPOINT 1.6 ▸ How much of the additional heat
influenced by ocean temperatures, and these are moderated by added to Earth’s climate system is locked up in the
ocean circulation and the high heat capacity of water. (It takes more oceans?
energy to heat 1 gram of water than 1 gram of rock by 1°C.)
Build-up in earth’s total heat content smooths out the impact of short-term natural cycles and
200 highlights the underlying trend in global temperature.
Variation in Heat Content since 1950 (1021 Joules)
Looking for a slow rise in global temperature against

Ocean heating a background of natural variation is analogous to sitting
160
Land and atmosphere heating
on the beach trying to spot the incoming tide. Large and
120
small waves lapping against the shore make it difficult
for a casual observer to discern how the tide is moving.
Only by watching over a longer period of time will the
80 observer be able to determine the direction of the tide.
In the same way, a gradual increase in global tempera-
40 ture emerges from the background of natural climate
variation only after years of careful observation. A casual
0 observer will not notice the underlying trend in global
temperature and will be confused by the ebb and flow of
1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 the succeeding waves of natural climate change.
Year
(a)
CHeCkPOINT 1.7 ▸ Why is the incoming tide a good
analogy for recent climate change?
emerging from the little Ice age Between 1880

and 1909, solar output was relatively stable, and
historically high levels of volcanic activity
had a cooling effect on global climate (see
Figure 1.5b). From 1910 to 1945, sunspot
activity increased and volcanic activity
waned; the atmosphere started to warm
as Earth finally emerged from the Little
Ice Age. It is not completely clear if
this warming was entirely free from
human influence, but climate models
can reproduce this warming using only
natural factors such as an increase in the
intensity of solar radiation and a reduction
in the intensity of global volcanism.
Cooling Off again During the period

1946 to 1975, and especially between the
(b) late 1940s and early 1950s, the warming trend
from the first half of the 20th century flattened
and may have even reversed for a short time. Most
scientists attribute this to a combination of solar
cycles, volcanism, and air pollution from industrial
▲ Figure 1.6: (a) The global heat content of the oceans has aerosols. At the time, the media speculated about
increased since 1955. Note how much energy is stored in the whether Earth was about to enter a new ice age, but
oceans relative to the land and atmosphere. Units of energy are
in Joules. (b) Much of the mainstream argument against climate
then, as now, most scientists understood that global
change focuses on air temperature, but this overlooks the temperatures were likely to rise.
overwhelming influence of the vast oceans that cover more than
70% of Earth’s surface. CHeCkPOINT 1.8 ▸ Why did global temperature stop ris-
ing during the middle of the 20th century?
a Century of Warming
Estimates of global atmospheric temperature over land a Human element emerges Global warming
and ocean from 1880 to the present show significant re-emerged after 1975, and for the first time, climate
variation from year to year due to the impact of short- models were not able to reproduce these changes in
term solar, volcanic, atmospheric, and oceanic events temperature by using only natural factors. A signifi-
(see Figure 1.5a). The temperature curve has a more cant contribution from heat-trapping greenhouse gas
even profile when averaged over five years because this emissions was required to match the output of their
Europe

4
Asia
3

4
North America
4 2 3
3 1 2
2 0 1
1 0
1900 1950 2000 2050
0
1900 1950 2000 2050
1900 1950 2000 2050
South America
3
Africa Australia

2 4 4
1 3 3
0 2 2
1 1
1900 1950 2000 2050
0 0
1900 1950 2000 2050 1900 1950 2000 2050

Models using both anthropogenic & natural forcings
Models using natural forcing only
▲ Figure 1.7: On these temperature graphs from different regions around the
Projected changes world the black lines indicate observed temperature change. The shaded red
Range of anomalies with natural forcing only in and blue lines indicate temperature change projected from model-simulations.
20th century simulations The solid blue lines indicate projected changes using natural forcing alone, and
Observations the solid red lines project changes that include an element of anthropogenic
forcing. The model-simulated temperatures are projected to 2050. The thickness
of the colored lines reflects the range of data uncertainty. Note that it is only
the model simulations that include an element of anthropogenic forcing that
match observed temperature change.
models with observations. This was the first real CHeCkPOINT 1.9 ▸ What are some of the tools that cli-
evidence that the burning of fossil fuels was having a mate scientists use to understand ancient climate change?
real impact on climate change (Figure 1.7).
Subsequent observations, compiled from ground
stations, weather balloons, and weather satellites, The Hadley Centre Coupled Model, version 3
confirm that Earth is warming over most of its surface, (HadCM3) climate model shows that the Northern
but warming is uneven. Compared to the average tem- Hemisphere experienced the greatest amount of
perature from 1901±2000, surface temperature over the warming between 1995±2004 (but note the Antarctic
land is increasing much faster than over the oceans Peninsula on Figure 1.8a), and projects a further rise
(0.85°C vs. 0.37°C) and while much of the Northern in temperature in excess of 5°C±6°C (9.0°±10.8°F) over
Hemisphere at high latitudes is getting warmer (the high northern latitudes between 2070±2100 if heat-
Arctic is warming at twice the global average rate), trapping greenhouse gas emissions are not curtailed
parts of Antarctica may be getting colder. (Figure 1.9).
The Warmest decade on record

The year 2010 was the hottest since 1880,
according to the World Meteorological
Organization, National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration (NOAA),
and National Aeronautics and Space
Equator Administration (NASA). Land surface
temperatures were more than 1°C
(1.8°F) above the 1901±2000 average,
and every year in the 21st century so
far has ranked among the 12 warmest
since 1850. The climate is changing
rapidly, and scientists suggest that
heat-trapping greenhouse gases from
industry, agriculture, and deforesta-
–4.0 –2.0 –1.0 –0.5 –0.2 0.2 0.5 1.0 2.0 4.0 tion appear to be the most likely cause.
(a)
Degrees centigrade (°C)
1.6 CHeCkPOINT 1.10 ▸ Are the changes in atmospheric

1.4 temperature observed over the past two decades unusual?
1.2
1.0
1.2
Zonal mean
0.8 pause FOr... Why is there no evidence

0.6 thOught of anthropogenic warming
0.4 prior to1975?
0.2 Anthropogenic warming has been present for as long as
0 people have been cutting down trees, burning wood, and
-0.2 planting crops, but the effects were masked prior to 1975
-90 -60 -30 0 30 60 90 by large natural swings in climate and the cooling effect
(b) Latitude
of volcanic and industrial aerosols.
▲ Figure 1.8: (a) When degree of observed temperature
change around the world today (illustrated in this global map) is
compared with the best fit data from climate models it becomes Has Warming Stopped?
clear that natural variation in climate alone cannot explain the
observed change in global temperature. Note the warming Following a rapid increase in global surface tempera-
indicated around the Amazon Basin in South America and the ture between 1975 and 2005, the pace of warming
Antarctic Peninsula. (b) Temperature is not rising uniformly slowed between 2005 and 2012. Despite the fact that this
around the globe. The Northern Hemisphere, and especially is the warmest decade on record, many climate skeptics
the Arctic region, are warming much faster than the Southern suggest that global warming has come to a natural end.
Hemisphere.
But basic physics tells us that average global tempera-
ture will increase by at least 1.2°C
B1: 2011–2030 B1: 2046–2065 B1: 2080–2099 (2.2°F) when we double the level
of CO2 and other greenhouse gases
in the atmosphere, and climate
models project an actual increase
in global temperature by as much
A1B: 2011–2030 A1B: 2046–2065 A1B: 2080–2099 as 2°C to 4.5°C (3.6°F to 8.1°F) by
the end of the 21st century due to
the multiplying effect of changes
◀ Figure 1.9: Multi-model projections

A2: 2011–2030 A2: 2046–2065 A2: 2080–2099 of annual mean surface air temperature
change in °C for different future emissions
scenarios that depend on a combination
of economic and social factors discussed
later in the text. Anomalies are relative to
the average of the period 1980 to 1999.
Surface air temperature change (°C) The current rate of emissions project a
future path between the moderate and
0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 4.5 5.0 5.5 6.0 6.5 7.0 7.5 high emissions scenarios.
▶ Figure 1.10: The Cretaceous hothouse

world. This is an artist's rendering of how
large parts of the world looked during the
Cretaceous Period. This was a time when
the dinosaurs were at the pinnacle of their
success, and the landscape was changing
as the first flowering trees, plants, and early
grasses started to appear. It was a warm
world that was very biologically productive
with high levels of animal and plant
diversity.
in Earth's climate system that are

described in detail in Chapters 3 and 4.
Regrettably, global warming has not
stopped.
CHeCkPOINT 1.11 ▸ Why are scientists confident that
global warming has not stopped over the past decade? 1.4 pause FOr... Climate has had a major
thOught impact on human evolution.
At the end of the last glacial maximum, modern humans
1.3
who had evolved in much warmer southern climates
pause FOr... Why do you think that the
topic of climate change has were able to displace Homo neanderthalensis, a human
thOught species much better adapted to cold climates. What
become so controversial?
changes in human evolution might occur over the next
Is climate change the only controversial area of science? 100,000 years if the world continues to warm?
Can you think of any common factors that link climate
change with other areas of scientific controversy?
The long history of global cooling that spans the
time between the hothouse of the Cretaceous and the
lessons from the deep Past icehouse of today is recorded in the concentration of
The geological record shows that climate change is a Oxygen 18 (18O), a heavy isotope of oxygen found in
natural part of Earth's history. During the Cretaceous the shells of marine organisms (Figure 1.12). These data
Period, over 65 million years ago, fossil, isotope and indicate that ocean temperatures declined steadily from
geochemical evidence suggests that global temperatures a maximum during the Eocene Epoch to a low point
were well above current norms. This was a hothouse during the Pleistocene Epoch, with notable periods of
world where vast forests extended toward an ice-free very rapidly declining temperature during the Eocene
pole in Antarctica, the dinosaurs were at the pinnacle of Epoch and late Miocene Epoch. We will look again at
their success, and the first flowering trees, plants, and the geological history of climate change in Chapters
early grasses were starting to appear (Figure 1.10). 5 and 6 and consider what this can tell us about how
The icehouse world we live in today began around Earth's climate is likely to change in the future.
2.5 million years ago in the Northern Hemisphere, and CHeCkPOINT 1.13 ▸ According to oxygen isotope
as much as 30 million years ago in Antarctica. Unique data, what happened to global temperature between the
rock formations and layers of glacial sediment show us Eocene and Pleistocene Epochs?
that ice sheets have advanced from the Arctic to reach
as far south as New York and the south of Ireland in
the recent geological past (Figure 1.11). The periodic major Factors that affect
advance and retreat of these ice sheets has affected the
course of human evolution, and the entire history of
Climate Change
human civilization has occurred within a geologically Many natural factors contribute to climate change
brief period of time during the most recent interglacial and are capable of producing rapid changes in global
stage when the ice sheets retreated to higher latitudes. temperature. The overall process is complex and
This icehouse world is our home, and in the absence of is explored in more detail in Chapters 5 and 6. Even
human activity to upset the balance of global climate, as global temperatures increase over the next few
we will stay this way for a long time to come. decades, certain regions may experience short-term
cooling as the pattern of circulation in the oceans and
CHeCkPOINT 1.12 ▸ How do we know that the poles atmosphere changes. The following section introduces
were warmer during the Cretaceous Period and that ice some of these factors and considers their impact on
has periodically covered New York since the start of the recent climate change. We will come back to look at
Pleistocene Epoch 2.5 million years ago? them again in much more detail in Chapters 3 and 4.
11
150° 120° 0° 30° 60° 90° 120° 150°
60°
ATL ANTIC
30° 30°
Tropic of Cancer OCEAN PAC IFIC
OC EA N
PACIFIC
PAC IFIC
Equator
a
0° 0°
OCE AN
N INDIAN
IND
D IAN
OCEAN
OCE
C
Tropic of Capricorn
rn
30° 30°
ATLL ANTIC
AN
0 1,500 3,000
0 Miles
Ice sheet or glacier OCEA N
0 1,500
50 3,000 Kilometers
lo
60° 60°
ctic Circle
Antarctic
(a)
30°W 20°W 10°W 0° 10°E 20°E 60°E

70°N
0 400 800 Miles

70°N
ARCTIC OCEAN
0 400 800 Kilometers
ARCTIC
60°
OCEAN 30°W N
°N
60
ATLANTIC
150°W
OCEAN
50°W
140°W
50
°N
0 400 Miles
PACIFIC
0 400 Kilometers
OCEAN
40° 60°W
N 40°N
40°N
130°W ATLANTIC
OCEAN
70°W
(b) (c)
▲ Figure 1.11: Ocean temperatures declined steadily from a maximum during the Eocene Epoch
to a low point (a) during the Pleistocene Epoch (approximately 26,000 to 19,000 years ago) when
ice sheets (b) advanced as far south as New York and (c) almost as far as London.
radiative Forcing change in the amount of energy moving though this

system will have a profound impact on global climate.
Radiative forcing refers to an imbalance that develops at
the top of the atmosphere between the amount of incoming The Sun The Sun is by far the most important factor
radiation (energy) from the sun and outgoing radiation that controls radiative forcing. The radiant energy it
(heat) from the Earth. These data are measured by instru- produces has been nearly constant for millions of years,
ments on satellites and show that Earth is very close to although it cycles within well-defined narrow limits
radiative balance. This balance is critically important, and due to the growth and decay of sunspots.
it is maintained by many complex processes that move,
transform, and radiate energy within Earth's climate albedo Earth's natural reflectivity (albedo) changes
systemÐ the atmosphere, hydrosphere, biosphere, cryo- with the seasons and plays a critical role in regulating
sphere, and lithosphere (Figure 1.13). Even a very small Earth's radiative balance. Snow, ice, clouds, and aerosols
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
DANCE ON STILTS AT THE GIRLS’ UNYAGO, NIUCHI
Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

the Newala of to-day does; there was once another Newala in a lovely
valley at the foot of the plateau. I visited it and found scarcely a trace
of houses, only a Christian cemetery, with the graves of several
missionaries and their converts, remaining as a monument of its
former glories. But the surroundings are wonderfully beautiful. A
thick grove of splendid mango-trees closes in the weather-worn
crosses and headstones; behind them, combining the useful and the
agreeable, is a whole plantation of lemon-trees covered with ripe
fruit; not the small African kind, but a much larger and also juicier
imported variety, which drops into the hands of the passing traveller,
without calling for any exertion on his part. Old Newala is now under
the jurisdiction of the native pastor, Daudi, at Chingulungulu, who,
as I am on very friendly terms with him, allows me, as a matter of
course, the use of this lemon-grove during my stay at Newala.
FEET MUTILATED BY THE RAVAGES OF THE “JIGGER”
(Sarcopsylla penetrans)
The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

some 1,600 feet lower down. The way is not only long and fatiguing,
but the water, when we get it, is thoroughly bad. We are suffering not
only from this, but from the fact that the arrangements at Newala are
nothing short of luxurious. We have a separate kitchen—a hut built
against the boma palisade on the right of the baraza, the interior of
which is not visible from our usual position. Our two cooks were not
long in finding this out, and they consequently do—or rather neglect
to do—what they please. In any case they do not seem to be very
particular about the boiling of our drinking-water—at least I can
attribute to no other cause certain attacks of a dysenteric nature,
from which both Knudsen and I have suffered for some time. If a
man like Omari has to be left unwatched for a moment, he is capable
of anything. Besides this complaint, we are inconvenienced by the
state of our nails, which have become as hard as glass, and crack on
the slightest provocation, and I have the additional infliction of
pimples all over me. As if all this were not enough, we have also, for
the last week been waging war against the jigger, who has found his
Eldorado in the hot sand of the Makonde plateau. Our men are seen
all day long—whenever their chronic colds and the dysentery likewise
raging among them permit—occupied in removing this scourge of
Africa from their feet and trying to prevent the disastrous
consequences of its presence. It is quite common to see natives of
this place with one or two toes missing; many have lost all their toes,
or even the whole front part of the foot, so that a well-formed leg
ends in a shapeless stump. These ravages are caused by the female of
Sarcopsylla penetrans, which bores its way under the skin and there
develops an egg-sac the size of a pea. In all books on the subject, it is
stated that one’s attention is called to the presence of this parasite by
an intolerable itching. This agrees very well with my experience, so
far as the softer parts of the sole, the spaces between and under the
toes, and the side of the foot are concerned, but if the creature
penetrates through the harder parts of the heel or ball of the foot, it
may escape even the most careful search till it has reached maturity.
Then there is no time to be lost, if the horrible ulceration, of which
we see cases by the dozen every day, is to be prevented. It is much
easier, by the way, to discover the insect on the white skin of a
European than on that of a native, on which the dark speck scarcely
shows. The four or five jiggers which, in spite of the fact that I
constantly wore high laced boots, chose my feet to settle in, were
taken out for me by the all-accomplished Knudsen, after which I
thought it advisable to wash out the cavities with corrosive
sublimate. The natives have a different sort of disinfectant—they fill
the hole with scraped roots. In a tiny Makua village on the slope of
the plateau south of Newala, we saw an old woman who had filled all
the spaces under her toe-nails with powdered roots by way of
prophylactic treatment. What will be the result, if any, who can say?
The rest of the many trifling ills which trouble our existence are
really more comic than serious. In the absence of anything else to
smoke, Knudsen and I at last opened a box of cigars procured from
the Indian store-keeper at Lindi, and tried them, with the most
distressing results. Whether they contain opium or some other
narcotic, neither of us can say, but after the tenth puff we were both
“off,” three-quarters stupefied and unspeakably wretched. Slowly we
recovered—and what happened next? Half-an-hour later we were
once more smoking these poisonous concoctions—so insatiable is the
craving for tobacco in the tropics.
Even my present attacks of fever scarcely deserve to be taken
seriously. I have had no less than three here at Newala, all of which
have run their course in an incredibly short time. In the early
afternoon, I am busy with my old natives, asking questions and
making notes. The strong midday coffee has stimulated my spirits to
an extraordinary degree, the brain is active and vigorous, and work
progresses rapidly, while a pleasant warmth pervades the whole
body. Suddenly this gives place to a violent chill, forcing me to put on
my overcoat, though it is only half-past three and the afternoon sun
is at its hottest. Now the brain no longer works with such acuteness
and logical precision; more especially does it fail me in trying to
establish the syntax of the difficult Makua language on which I have
ventured, as if I had not enough to do without it. Under the
circumstances it seems advisable to take my temperature, and I do
so, to save trouble, without leaving my seat, and while going on with
my work. On examination, I find it to be 101·48°. My tutors are
abruptly dismissed and my bed set up in the baraza; a few minutes
later I am in it and treating myself internally with hot water and
lemon-juice.
Three hours later, the thermometer marks nearly 104°, and I make
them carry me back into the tent, bed and all, as I am now perspiring
heavily, and exposure to the cold wind just beginning to blow might
mean a fatal chill. I lie still for a little while, and then find, to my
great relief, that the temperature is not rising, but rather falling. This
is about 7.30 p.m. At 8 p.m. I find, to my unbounded astonishment,
that it has fallen below 98·6°, and I feel perfectly well. I read for an
hour or two, and could very well enjoy a smoke, if I had the
wherewithal—Indian cigars being out of the question.
Having no medical training, I am at a loss to account for this state
of things. It is impossible that these transitory attacks of high fever
should be malarial; it seems more probable that they are due to a
kind of sunstroke. On consulting my note-book, I become more and
more inclined to think this is the case, for these attacks regularly
follow extreme fatigue and long exposure to strong sunshine. They at
least have the advantage of being only short interruptions to my
work, as on the following morning I am always quite fresh and fit.
My treasure of a cook is suffering from an enormous hydrocele which
makes it difficult for him to get up, and Moritz is obliged to keep in
the dark on account of his inflamed eyes. Knudsen’s cook, a raw boy
from somewhere in the bush, knows still less of cooking than Omari;
consequently Nils Knudsen himself has been promoted to the vacant
post. Finding that we had come to the end of our supplies, he began
by sending to Chingulungulu for the four sucking-pigs which we had
bought from Matola and temporarily left in his charge; and when
they came up, neatly packed in a large crate, he callously slaughtered
the biggest of them. The first joint we were thoughtless enough to
entrust for roasting to Knudsen’s mshenzi cook, and it was
consequently uneatable; but we made the rest of the animal into a
jelly which we ate with great relish after weeks of underfeeding,
consuming incredible helpings of it at both midday and evening
meals. The only drawback is a certain want of variety in the tinned
vegetables. Dr. Jäger, to whom the Geographical Commission
entrusted the provisioning of the expeditions—mine as well as his
own—because he had more time on his hands than the rest of us,
seems to have laid in a huge stock of Teltow turnips,[46] an article of
food which is all very well for occasional use, but which quickly palls
when set before one every day; and we seem to have no other tins
left. There is no help for it—we must put up with the turnips; but I
am certain that, once I am home again, I shall not touch them for ten
years to come.
Amid all these minor evils, which, after all, go to make up the
genuine flavour of Africa, there is at least one cheering touch:
Knudsen has, with the dexterity of a skilled mechanic, repaired my 9
× 12 cm. camera, at least so far that I can use it with a little care.
How, in the absence of finger-nails, he was able to accomplish such a
ticklish piece of work, having no tool but a clumsy screw-driver for
taking to pieces and putting together again the complicated
mechanism of the instantaneous shutter, is still a mystery to me; but
he did it successfully. The loss of his finger-nails shows him in a light
contrasting curiously enough with the intelligence evinced by the
above operation; though, after all, it is scarcely surprising after his
ten years’ residence in the bush. One day, at Lindi, he had occasion
to wash a dog, which must have been in need of very thorough
cleansing, for the bottle handed to our friend for the purpose had an
extremely strong smell. Having performed his task in the most
conscientious manner, he perceived with some surprise that the dog
did not appear much the better for it, and was further surprised by
finding his own nails ulcerating away in the course of the next few
days. “How was I to know that carbolic acid has to be diluted?” he
mutters indignantly, from time to time, with a troubled gaze at his
mutilated finger-tips.
Since we came to Newala we have been making excursions in all
directions through the surrounding country, in accordance with old
habit, and also because the akida Sefu did not get together the tribal
elders from whom I wanted information so speedily as he had
promised. There is, however, no harm done, as, even if seen only
from the outside, the country and people are interesting enough.
The Makonde plateau is like a large rectangular table rounded off
at the corners. Measured from the Indian Ocean to Newala, it is
about seventy-five miles long, and between the Rovuma and the
Lukuledi it averages fifty miles in breadth, so that its superficial area
is about two-thirds of that of the kingdom of Saxony. The surface,
however, is not level, but uniformly inclined from its south-western
edge to the ocean. From the upper edge, on which Newala lies, the
eye ranges for many miles east and north-east, without encountering
any obstacle, over the Makonde bush. It is a green sea, from which
here and there thick clouds of smoke rise, to show that it, too, is
inhabited by men who carry on their tillage like so many other
primitive peoples, by cutting down and burning the bush, and
manuring with the ashes. Even in the radiant light of a tropical day
such a fire is a grand sight.
Much less effective is the impression produced just now by the
great western plain as seen from the edge of the plateau. As often as
time permits, I stroll along this edge, sometimes in one direction,
sometimes in another, in the hope of finding the air clear enough to
let me enjoy the view; but I have always been disappointed.
Wherever one looks, clouds of smoke rise from the burning bush,
and the air is full of smoke and vapour. It is a pity, for under more
favourable circumstances the panorama of the whole country up to
the distant Majeje hills must be truly magnificent. It is of little use
taking photographs now, and an outline sketch gives a very poor idea
of the scenery. In one of these excursions I went out of my way to
make a personal attempt on the Makonde bush. The present edge of
the plateau is the result of a far-reaching process of destruction
through erosion and denudation. The Makonde strata are
everywhere cut into by ravines, which, though short, are hundreds of
yards in depth. In consequence of the loose stratification of these
beds, not only are the walls of these ravines nearly vertical, but their
upper end is closed by an equally steep escarpment, so that the
western edge of the Makonde plateau is hemmed in by a series of
deep, basin-like valleys. In order to get from one side of such a ravine
to the other, I cut my way through the bush with a dozen of my men.
It was a very open part, with more grass than scrub, but even so the
short stretch of less than two hundred yards was very hard work; at
the end of it the men’s calicoes were in rags and they themselves
bleeding from hundreds of scratches, while even our strong khaki
suits had not escaped scatheless.
NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAHUTA
I see increasing reason to believe that the view formed some time
back as to the origin of the Makonde bush is the correct one. I have
no doubt that it is not a natural product, but the result of human
occupation. Those parts of the high country where man—as a very
slight amount of practice enables the eye to perceive at once—has not
yet penetrated with axe and hoe, are still occupied by a splendid
timber forest quite able to sustain a comparison with our mixed
forests in Germany. But wherever man has once built his hut or tilled
his field, this horrible bush springs up. Every phase of this process
may be seen in the course of a couple of hours’ walk along the main
road. From the bush to right or left, one hears the sound of the axe—
not from one spot only, but from several directions at once. A few
steps further on, we can see what is taking place. The brush has been
cut down and piled up in heaps to the height of a yard or more,
between which the trunks of the large trees stand up like the last
pillars of a magnificent ruined building. These, too, present a
melancholy spectacle: the destructive Makonde have ringed them—
cut a broad strip of bark all round to ensure their dying off—and also
piled up pyramids of brush round them. Father and son, mother and
son-in-law, are chopping away perseveringly in the background—too
busy, almost, to look round at the white stranger, who usually excites
so much interest. If you pass by the same place a week later, the piles
of brushwood have disappeared and a thick layer of ashes has taken
the place of the green forest. The large trees stretch their
smouldering trunks and branches in dumb accusation to heaven—if
they have not already fallen and been more or less reduced to ashes,
perhaps only showing as a white stripe on the dark ground.
This work of destruction is carried out by the Makonde alike on the
virgin forest and on the bush which has sprung up on sites already
cultivated and deserted. In the second case they are saved the trouble
of burning the large trees, these being entirely absent in the
secondary bush.
After burning this piece of forest ground and loosening it with the
hoe, the native sows his corn and plants his vegetables. All over the
country, he goes in for bed-culture, which requires, and, in fact,
receives, the most careful attention. Weeds are nowhere tolerated in
the south of German East Africa. The crops may fail on the plains,
where droughts are frequent, but never on the plateau with its
abundant rains and heavy dews. Its fortunate inhabitants even have
the satisfaction of seeing the proud Wayao and Wamakua working
for them as labourers, driven by hunger to serve where they were
accustomed to rule.
But the light, sandy soil is soon exhausted, and would yield no
harvest the second year if cultivated twice running. This fact has
been familiar to the native for ages; consequently he provides in
time, and, while his crop is growing, prepares the next plot with axe
and firebrand. Next year he plants this with his various crops and
lets the first piece lie fallow. For a short time it remains waste and
desolate; then nature steps in to repair the destruction wrought by
man; a thousand new growths spring out of the exhausted soil, and
even the old stumps put forth fresh shoots. Next year the new growth
is up to one’s knees, and in a few years more it is that terrible,
impenetrable bush, which maintains its position till the black
occupier of the land has made the round of all the available sites and
come back to his starting point.
The Makonde are, body and soul, so to speak, one with this bush.
According to my Yao informants, indeed, their name means nothing
else but “bush people.” Their own tradition says that they have been
settled up here for a very long time, but to my surprise they laid great
stress on an original immigration. Their old homes were in the
south-east, near Mikindani and the mouth of the Rovuma, whence
their peaceful forefathers were driven by the continual raids of the
Sakalavas from Madagascar and the warlike Shirazis[47] of the coast,
to take refuge on the almost inaccessible plateau. I have studied
African ethnology for twenty years, but the fact that changes of
population in this apparently quiet and peaceable corner of the earth
could have been occasioned by outside enterprises taking place on
the high seas, was completely new to me. It is, no doubt, however,
correct.
The charming tribal legend of the Makonde—besides informing us
of other interesting matters—explains why they have to live in the
thickest of the bush and a long way from the edge of the plateau,
instead of making their permanent homes beside the purling brooks
and springs of the low country.
“The place where the tribe originated is Mahuta, on the southern
side of the plateau towards the Rovuma, where of old time there was
nothing but thick bush. Out of this bush came a man who never
washed himself or shaved his head, and who ate and drank but little.
He went out and made a human figure from the wood of a tree
growing in the open country, which he took home to his abode in the
bush and there set it upright. In the night this image came to life and
was a woman. The man and woman went down together to the
Rovuma to wash themselves. Here the woman gave birth to a still-
born child. They left that place and passed over the high land into the
valley of the Mbemkuru, where the woman had another child, which
was also born dead. Then they returned to the high bush country of
Mahuta, where the third child was born, which lived and grew up. In
course of time, the couple had many more children, and called
themselves Wamatanda. These were the ancestral stock of the
Makonde, also called Wamakonde,[48] i.e., aborigines. Their
forefather, the man from the bush, gave his children the command to
bury their dead upright, in memory of the mother of their race who
was cut out of wood and awoke to life when standing upright. He also
warned them against settling in the valleys and near large streams,
for sickness and death dwelt there. They were to make it a rule to
have their huts at least an hour’s walk from the nearest watering-
place; then their children would thrive and escape illness.”
The explanation of the name Makonde given by my informants is
somewhat different from that contained in the above legend, which I
extract from a little book (small, but packed with information), by
Pater Adams, entitled Lindi und sein Hinterland. Otherwise, my
results agree exactly with the statements of the legend. Washing?
Hapana—there is no such thing. Why should they do so? As it is, the
supply of water scarcely suffices for cooking and drinking; other
people do not wash, so why should the Makonde distinguish himself
by such needless eccentricity? As for shaving the head, the short,
woolly crop scarcely needs it,[49] so the second ancestral precept is
likewise easy enough to follow. Beyond this, however, there is
nothing ridiculous in the ancestor’s advice. I have obtained from
various local artists a fairly large number of figures carved in wood,
ranging from fifteen to twenty-three inches in height, and
representing women belonging to the great group of the Mavia,
Makonde, and Matambwe tribes. The carving is remarkably well
done and renders the female type with great accuracy, especially the
keloid ornamentation, to be described later on. As to the object and
meaning of their works the sculptors either could or (more probably)
would tell me nothing, and I was forced to content myself with the
scanty information vouchsafed by one man, who said that the figures
were merely intended to represent the nembo—the artificial
deformations of pelele, ear-discs, and keloids. The legend recorded
by Pater Adams places these figures in a new light. They must surely
be more than mere dolls; and we may even venture to assume that
they are—though the majority of present-day Makonde are probably
unaware of the fact—representations of the tribal ancestress.
The references in the legend to the descent from Mahuta to the
Rovuma, and to a journey across the highlands into the Mbekuru
valley, undoubtedly indicate the previous history of the tribe, the
travels of the ancestral pair typifying the migrations of their
descendants. The descent to the neighbouring Rovuma valley, with
its extraordinary fertility and great abundance of game, is intelligible
at a glance—but the crossing of the Lukuledi depression, the ascent
to the Rondo Plateau and the descent to the Mbemkuru, also lie
within the bounds of probability, for all these districts have exactly
the same character as the extreme south. Now, however, comes a
point of especial interest for our bacteriological age. The primitive
Makonde did not enjoy their lives in the marshy river-valleys.
Disease raged among them, and many died. It was only after they
had returned to their original home near Mahuta, that the health
conditions of these people improved. We are very apt to think of the
African as a stupid person whose ignorance of nature is only equalled
by his fear of it, and who looks on all mishaps as caused by evil
spirits and malignant natural powers. It is much more correct to
assume in this case that the people very early learnt to distinguish
districts infested with malaria from those where it is absent.
This knowledge is crystallized in the
ancestral warning against settling in the
valleys and near the great waters, the
dwelling-places of disease and death. At the
same time, for security against the hostile
Mavia south of the Rovuma, it was enacted
that every settlement must be not less than a
certain distance from the southern edge of the
plateau. Such in fact is their mode of life at the
present day. It is not such a bad one, and
certainly they are both safer and more
comfortable than the Makua, the recent
intruders from the south, who have made USUAL METHOD OF
good their footing on the western edge of the CLOSING HUT-DOOR
plateau, extending over a fairly wide belt of
country. Neither Makua nor Makonde show in their dwellings
anything of the size and comeliness of the Yao houses in the plain,
especially at Masasi, Chingulungulu and Zuza’s. Jumbe Chauro, a
Makonde hamlet not far from Newala, on the road to Mahuta, is the
most important settlement of the tribe I have yet seen, and has fairly
spacious huts. But how slovenly is their construction compared with
the palatial residences of the elephant-hunters living in the plain.
The roofs are still more untidy than in the general run of huts during
the dry season, the walls show here and there the scanty beginnings
or the lamentable remains of the mud plastering, and the interior is a
veritable dog-kennel; dirt, dust and disorder everywhere. A few huts
only show any attempt at division into rooms, and this consists
merely of very roughly-made bamboo partitions. In one point alone
have I noticed any indication of progress—in the method of fastening
the door. Houses all over the south are secured in a simple but
ingenious manner. The door consists of a set of stout pieces of wood
or bamboo, tied with bark-string to two cross-pieces, and moving in
two grooves round one of the door-posts, so as to open inwards. If
the owner wishes to leave home, he takes two logs as thick as a man’s
upper arm and about a yard long. One of these is placed obliquely
against the middle of the door from the inside, so as to form an angle
of from 60° to 75° with the ground. He then places the second piece
horizontally across the first, pressing it downward with all his might.
It is kept in place by two strong posts planted in the ground a few
inches inside the door. This fastening is absolutely safe, but of course
cannot be applied to both doors at once, otherwise how could the
owner leave or enter his house? I have not yet succeeded in finding
out how the back door is fastened.
MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

This is the general way of closing a house. The Makonde at Jumbe
Chauro, however, have a much more complicated, solid and original
one. Here, too, the door is as already described, except that there is
only one post on the inside, standing by itself about six inches from
one side of the doorway. Opposite this post is a hole in the wall just
large enough to admit a man’s arm. The door is closed inside by a
large wooden bolt passing through a hole in this post and pressing
with its free end against the door. The other end has three holes into
which fit three pegs running in vertical grooves inside the post. The
door is opened with a wooden key about a foot long, somewhat
curved and sloped off at the butt; the other end has three pegs
corresponding to the holes, in the bolt, so that, when it is thrust
through the hole in the wall and inserted into the rectangular
opening in the post, the pegs can be lifted and the bolt drawn out.[50]
MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY
With no small pride first one householder and then a second

showed me on the spot the action of this greatest invention of the
Makonde Highlands. To both with an admiring exclamation of
“Vizuri sana!” (“Very fine!”). I expressed the wish to take back these
marvels with me to Ulaya, to show the Wazungu what clever fellows
the Makonde are. Scarcely five minutes after my return to camp at
Newala, the two men came up sweating under the weight of two
heavy logs which they laid down at my feet, handing over at the same
time the keys of the fallen fortress. Arguing, logically enough, that if
the key was wanted, the lock would be wanted with it, they had taken
their axes and chopped down the posts—as it never occurred to them
to dig them out of the ground and so bring them intact. Thus I have
two badly damaged specimens, and the owners, instead of praise,
come in for a blowing-up.
The Makua huts in the environs of Newala are especially
miserable; their more than slovenly construction reminds one of the
temporary erections of the Makua at Hatia’s, though the people here
have not been concerned in a war. It must therefore be due to
congenital idleness, or else to the absence of a powerful chief. Even
the baraza at Mlipa’s, a short hour’s walk south-east of Newala,
shares in this general neglect. While public buildings in this country
are usually looked after more or less carefully, this is in evident
danger of being blown over by the first strong easterly gale. The only
attractive object in this whole district is the grave of the late chief
Mlipa. I visited it in the morning, while the sun was still trying with
partial success to break through the rolling mists, and the circular
grove of tall euphorbias, which, with a broken pot, is all that marks
the old king’s resting-place, impressed one with a touch of pathos.
Even my very materially-minded carriers seemed to feel something
of the sort, for instead of their usual ribald songs, they chanted
solemnly, as we marched on through the dense green of the Makonde
bush:—
“We shall arrive with the great master; we stand in a row and have
no fear about getting our food and our money from the Serkali (the
Government). We are not afraid; we are going along with the great
master, the lion; we are going down to the coast and back.”
With regard to the characteristic features of the various tribes here
on the western edge of the plateau, I can arrive at no other
conclusion than the one already come to in the plain, viz., that it is
impossible for anyone but a trained anthropologist to assign any
given individual at once to his proper tribe. In fact, I think that even
an anthropological specialist, after the most careful examination,
might find it a difficult task to decide. The whole congeries of peoples
collected in the region bounded on the west by the great Central
African rift, Tanganyika and Nyasa, and on the east by the Indian
Ocean, are closely related to each other—some of their languages are
only distinguished from one another as dialects of the same speech,
and no doubt all the tribes present the same shape of skull and
structure of skeleton. Thus, surely, there can be no very striking
differences in outward appearance.
Even did such exist, I should have no time
to concern myself with them, for day after day,
I have to see or hear, as the case may be—in
any case to grasp and record—an
extraordinary number of ethnographic
phenomena. I am almost disposed to think it
fortunate that some departments of inquiry, at
least, are barred by external circumstances.
Chief among these is the subject of iron-
working. We are apt to think of Africa as a
country where iron ore is everywhere, so to
speak, to be picked up by the roadside, and
where it would be quite surprising if the
inhabitants had not learnt to smelt the
material ready to their hand. In fact, the
knowledge of this art ranges all over the
continent, from the Kabyles in the north to the
Kafirs in the south. Here between the Rovuma
and the Lukuledi the conditions are not so
favourable. According to the statements of the
Makonde, neither ironstone nor any other
form of iron ore is known to them. They have
not therefore advanced to the art of smelting
the metal, but have hitherto bought all their
THE ANCESTRESS OF
THE MAKONDE
iron implements from neighbouring tribes.
Even in the plain the inhabitants are not much
better off. Only one man now living is said to
understand the art of smelting iron. This old fundi lives close to
Huwe, that isolated, steep-sided block of granite which rises out of
the green solitude between Masasi and Chingulungulu, and whose
jagged and splintered top meets the traveller’s eye everywhere. While
still at Masasi I wished to see this man at work, but was told that,
frightened by the rising, he had retired across the Rovuma, though
he would soon return. All subsequent inquiries as to whether the
fundi had come back met with the genuine African answer, “Bado”
(“Not yet”).
BRAZIER
Some consolation was afforded me by a brassfounder, whom I

came across in the bush near Akundonde’s. This man is the favourite
of women, and therefore no doubt of the gods; he welds the glittering
brass rods purchased at the coast into those massive, heavy rings
which, on the wrists and ankles of the local fair ones, continually give
me fresh food for admiration. Like every decent master-craftsman he
had all his tools with him, consisting of a pair of bellows, three
crucibles and a hammer—nothing more, apparently. He was quite
willing to show his skill, and in a twinkling had fixed his bellows on
the ground. They are simply two goat-skins, taken off whole, the four
legs being closed by knots, while the upper opening, intended to
admit the air, is kept stretched by two pieces of wood. At the lower
end of the skin a smaller opening is left into which a wooden tube is
stuck. The fundi has quickly borrowed a heap of wood-embers from
the nearest hut; he then fixes the free ends of the two tubes into an
earthen pipe, and clamps them to the ground by means of a bent
piece of wood. Now he fills one of his small clay crucibles, the dross
on which shows that they have been long in use, with the yellow
material, places it in the midst of the embers, which, at present are
only faintly glimmering, and begins his work. In quick alternation
the smith’s two hands move up and down with the open ends of the
bellows; as he raises his hand he holds the slit wide open, so as to let
the air enter the skin bag unhindered. In pressing it down he closes
the bag, and the air puffs through the bamboo tube and clay pipe into
the fire, which quickly burns up. The smith, however, does not keep
on with this work, but beckons to another man, who relieves him at
the bellows, while he takes some more tools out of a large skin pouch
carried on his back. I look on in wonder as, with a smooth round
stick about the thickness of a finger, he bores a few vertical holes into
the clean sand of the soil. This should not be difficult, yet the man
seems to be taking great pains over it. Then he fastens down to the
ground, with a couple of wooden clamps, a neat little trough made by
splitting a joint of bamboo in half, so that the ends are closed by the
two knots. At last the yellow metal has attained the right consistency,
and the fundi lifts the crucible from the fire by means of two sticks
split at the end to serve as tongs. A short swift turn to the left—a
tilting of the crucible—and the molten brass, hissing and giving forth
clouds of smoke, flows first into the bamboo mould and then into the
holes in the ground.
The technique of this backwoods craftsman may not be very far
advanced, but it cannot be denied that he knows how to obtain an
adequate result by the simplest means. The ladies of highest rank in
this country—that is to say, those who can afford it, wear two kinds
of these massive brass rings, one cylindrical, the other semicircular
in section. The latter are cast in the most ingenious way in the
bamboo mould, the former in the circular hole in the sand. It is quite
a simple matter for the fundi to fit these bars to the limbs of his fair
customers; with a few light strokes of his hammer he bends the
pliable brass round arm or ankle without further inconvenience to
the wearer.
SHAPING THE POT
SMOOTHING WITH MAIZE-COB
CUTTING THE EDGE

FINISHING THE BOTTOM
LAST SMOOTHING BEFORE

BURNING
FIRING THE BRUSH-PILE

LIGHTING THE FARTHER SIDE OF
THE PILE
TURNING THE RED-HOT VESSEL
NYASA WOMAN MAKING POTS AT MASASI

Pottery is an art which must always and everywhere excite the
interest of the student, just because it is so intimately connected with
the development of human culture, and because its relics are one of
the principal factors in the reconstruction of our own condition in
prehistoric times. I shall always remember with pleasure the two or
three afternoons at Masasi when Salim Matola’s mother, a slightly-
built, graceful, pleasant-looking woman, explained to me with
touching patience, by means of concrete illustrations, the ceramic art
of her people. The only implements for this primitive process were a
lump of clay in her left hand, and in the right a calabash containing
the following valuables: the fragment of a maize-cob stripped of all
its grains, a smooth, oval pebble, about the size of a pigeon’s egg, a
few chips of gourd-shell, a bamboo splinter about the length of one’s
hand, a small shell, and a bunch of some herb resembling spinach.
Nothing more. The woman scraped with the
shell a round, shallow hole in the soft, fine
sand of the soil, and, when an active young
girl had filled the calabash with water for her,
she began to knead the clay. As if by magic it
gradually assumed the shape of a rough but
already well-shaped vessel, which only wanted
a little touching up with the instruments
before mentioned. I looked out with the
MAKUA WOMAN closest attention for any indication of the use
MAKING A POT. of the potter’s wheel, in however rudimentary
SHOWS THE a form, but no—hapana (there is none). The
BEGINNINGS OF THE embryo pot stood firmly in its little
POTTER’S WHEEL
depression, and the woman walked round it in
a stooping posture, whether she was removing
small stones or similar foreign bodies with the maize-cob, smoothing
the inner or outer surface with the splinter of bamboo, or later, after
letting it dry for a day, pricking in the ornamentation with a pointed
bit of gourd-shell, or working out the bottom, or cutting the edge
with a sharp bamboo knife, or giving the last touches to the finished
vessel. This occupation of the women is infinitely toilsome, but it is
without doubt an accurate reproduction of the process in use among
our ancestors of the Neolithic and Bronze ages.
There is no doubt that the invention of pottery, an item in human
progress whose importance cannot be over-estimated, is due to
women. Rough, coarse and unfeeling, the men of the horde range
over the countryside. When the united cunning of the hunters has
succeeded in killing the game; not one of them thinks of carrying
home the spoil. A bright fire, kindled by a vigorous wielding of the
drill, is crackling beside them; the animal has been cleaned and cut
up secundum artem, and, after a slight singeing, will soon disappear
under their sharp teeth; no one all this time giving a single thought
to wife or child.
To what shifts, on the other hand, the primitive wife, and still more
the primitive mother, was put! Not even prehistoric stomachs could
endure an unvarying diet of raw food. Something or other suggested
the beneficial effect of hot water on the majority of approved but
indigestible dishes. Perhaps a neighbour had tried holding the hard
roots or tubers over the fire in a calabash filled with water—or maybe
an ostrich-egg-shell, or a hastily improvised vessel of bark. They
became much softer and more palatable than they had previously
been; but, unfortunately, the vessel could not stand the fire and got
charred on the outside. That can be remedied, thought our
ancestress, and plastered a layer of wet clay round a similar vessel.
This is an improvement; the cooking utensil remains uninjured, but
the heat of the fire has shrunk it, so that it is loose in its shell. The
next step is to detach it, so, with a firm grip and a jerk, shell and
kernel are separated, and pottery is invented. Perhaps, however, the
discovery which led to an intelligent use of the burnt-clay shell, was
made in a slightly different way. Ostrich-eggs and calabashes are not
to be found in every part of the world, but everywhere mankind has
arrived at the art of making baskets out of pliant materials, such as
bark, bast, strips of palm-leaf, supple twigs, etc. Our inventor has no
water-tight vessel provided by nature. “Never mind, let us line the
basket with clay.” This answers the purpose, but alas! the basket gets
burnt over the blazing fire, the woman watches the process of
cooking with increasing uneasiness, fearing a leak, but no leak
appears. The food, done to a turn, is eaten with peculiar relish; and
the cooking-vessel is examined, half in curiosity, half in satisfaction
at the result. The plastic clay is now hard as stone, and at the same
time looks exceedingly well, for the neat plaiting of the burnt basket
is traced all over it in a pretty pattern. Thus, simultaneously with
pottery, its ornamentation was invented.
Primitive woman has another claim to respect. It was the man,
roving abroad, who invented the art of producing fire at will, but the
woman, unable to imitate him in this, has been a Vestal from the
earliest times. Nothing gives so much trouble as the keeping alight of
the smouldering brand, and, above all, when all the men are absent
from the camp. Heavy rain-clouds gather, already the first large
drops are falling, the first gusts of the storm rage over the plain. The
little flame, a greater anxiety to the woman than her own children,
flickers unsteadily in the blast. What is to be done? A sudden thought
occurs to her, and in an instant she has constructed a primitive hut
out of strips of bark, to protect the flame against rain and wind.
This, or something very like it, was the way in which the principle
of the house was discovered; and even the most hardened misogynist
cannot fairly refuse a woman the credit of it. The protection of the
hearth-fire from the weather is the germ from which the human
dwelling was evolved. Men had little, if any share, in this forward
step, and that only at a late stage. Even at the present day, the
plastering of the housewall with clay and the manufacture of pottery
are exclusively the women’s business. These are two very significant
survivals. Our European kitchen-garden, too, is originally a woman’s
invention, and the hoe, the primitive instrument of agriculture, is,
characteristically enough, still used in this department. But the
noblest achievement which we owe to the other sex is unquestionably
the art of cookery. Roasting alone—the oldest process—is one for
which men took the hint (a very obvious one) from nature. It must
have been suggested by the scorched carcase of some animal
overtaken by the destructive forest-fires. But boiling—the process of
improving organic substances by the help of water heated to boiling-
point—is a much later discovery. It is so recent that it has not even
yet penetrated to all parts of the world. The Polynesians understand
how to steam food, that is, to cook it, neatly wrapped in leaves, in a
hole in the earth between hot stones, the air being excluded, and
(sometimes) a few drops of water sprinkled on the stones; but they
do not understand boiling.
To come back from this digression, we find that the slender Nyasa
woman has, after once more carefully examining the finished pot,
put it aside in the shade to dry. On the following day she sends me
word by her son, Salim Matola, who is always on hand, that she is
going to do the burning, and, on coming out of my house, I find her
already hard at work. She has spread on the ground a layer of very
dry sticks, about as thick as one’s thumb, has laid the pot (now of a
yellowish-grey colour) on them, and is piling brushwood round it.
My faithful Pesa mbili, the mnyampara, who has been standing by,
most obligingly, with a lighted stick, now hands it to her. Both of
them, blowing steadily, light the pile on the lee side, and, when the
flame begins to catch, on the weather side also. Soon the whole is in a
blaze, but the dry fuel is quickly consumed and the fire dies down, so
that we see the red-hot vessel rising from the ashes. The woman
turns it continually with a long stick, sometimes one way and
sometimes another, so that it may be evenly heated all over. In
twenty minutes she rolls it out of the ash-heap, takes up the bundle
of spinach, which has been lying for two days in a jar of water, and
sprinkles the red-hot clay with it. The places where the drops fall are
marked by black spots on the uniform reddish-brown surface. With a
sigh of relief, and with visible satisfaction, the woman rises to an
erect position; she is standing just in a line between me and the fire,
from which a cloud of smoke is just rising: I press the ball of my
camera, the shutter clicks—the apotheosis is achieved! Like a
priestess, representative of her inventive sex, the graceful woman
stands: at her feet the hearth-fire she has given us beside her the
invention she has devised for us, in the background the home she has
built for us.
At Newala, also, I have had the manufacture of pottery carried on
in my presence. Technically the process is better than that already
described, for here we find the beginnings of the potter’s wheel,
which does not seem to exist in the plains; at least I have seen
nothing of the sort. The artist, a frightfully stupid Makua woman, did
not make a depression in the ground to receive the pot she was about
to shape, but used instead a large potsherd. Otherwise, she went to
work in much the same way as Salim’s mother, except that she saved
herself the trouble of walking round and round her work by squatting
at her ease and letting the pot and potsherd rotate round her; this is
surely the first step towards a machine. But it does not follow that
the pot was improved by the process. It is true that it was beautifully
rounded and presented a very creditable appearance when finished,
but the numerous large and small vessels which I have seen, and, in
part, collected, in the “less advanced” districts, are no less so. We
moderns imagine that instruments of precision are necessary to
produce excellent results. Go to the prehistoric collections of our
museums and look at the pots, urns and bowls of our ancestors in the
dim ages of the past, and you will at once perceive your error.
MAKING LONGITUDINAL CUT IN
BARK
DRAWING THE BARK OFF THE LOG
REMOVING THE OUTER BARK

BEATING THE BARK
WORKING THE BARK-CLOTH AFTER BEATING, TO MAKE IT

SOFT
MANUFACTURE OF BARK-CLOTH AT NEWALA

To-day, nearly the whole population of German East Africa is
clothed in imported calico. This was not always the case; even now in
some parts of the north dressed skins are still the prevailing wear,
and in the north-western districts—east and north of Lake
Tanganyika—lies a zone where bark-cloth has not yet been
superseded. Probably not many generations have passed since such
bark fabrics and kilts of skins were the only clothing even in the
south. Even to-day, large quantities of this bright-red or drab
material are still to be found; but if we wish to see it, we must look in
the granaries and on the drying stages inside the native huts, where
it serves less ambitious uses as wrappings for those seeds and fruits
which require to be packed with special care. The salt produced at
Masasi, too, is packed for transport to a distance in large sheets of
bark-cloth. Wherever I found it in any degree possible, I studied the
process of making this cloth. The native requisitioned for the
purpose arrived, carrying a log between two and three yards long and
as thick as his thigh, and nothing else except a curiously-shaped
mallet and the usual long, sharp and pointed knife which all men and
boys wear in a belt at their backs without a sheath—horribile dictu!
[51]
Silently he squats down before me, and with two rapid cuts has
drawn a couple of circles round the log some two yards apart, and
slits the bark lengthwise between them with the point of his knife.
With evident care, he then scrapes off the outer rind all round the
log, so that in a quarter of an hour the inner red layer of the bark
shows up brightly-coloured between the two untouched ends. With
some trouble and much caution, he now loosens the bark at one end,
and opens the cylinder. He then stands up, takes hold of the free
edge with both hands, and turning it inside out, slowly but steadily
pulls it off in one piece. Now comes the troublesome work of
scraping all superfluous particles of outer bark from the outside of
the long, narrow piece of material, while the inner side is carefully
scrutinised for defective spots. At last it is ready for beating. Having
signalled to a friend, who immediately places a bowl of water beside
him, the artificer damps his sheet of bark all over, seizes his mallet,
lays one end of the stuff on the smoothest spot of the log, and
hammers away slowly but continuously. “Very simple!” I think to
myself. “Why, I could do that, too!”—but I am forced to change my
opinions a little later on; for the beating is quite an art, if the fabric is
not to be beaten to pieces. To prevent the breaking of the fibres, the
stuff is several times folded across, so as to interpose several
thicknesses between the mallet and the block. At last the required
state is reached, and the fundi seizes the sheet, still folded, by both
ends, and wrings it out, or calls an assistant to take one end while he
holds the other. The cloth produced in this way is not nearly so fine
and uniform in texture as the famous Uganda bark-cloth, but it is
quite soft, and, above all, cheap.
Now, too, I examine the mallet. My craftsman has been using the
simpler but better form of this implement, a conical block of some
hard wood, its base—the striking surface—being scored across and
across with more or less deeply-cut grooves, and the handle stuck
into a hole in the middle. The other and earlier form of mallet is
shaped in the same way, but the head is fastened by an ingenious
network of bark strips into the split bamboo serving as a handle. The
observation so often made, that ancient customs persist longest in
connection with religious ceremonies and in the life of children, here
finds confirmation. As we shall soon see, bark-cloth is still worn
during the unyago,[52] having been prepared with special solemn
ceremonies; and many a mother, if she has no other garment handy,
will still put her little one into a kilt of bark-cloth, which, after all,
looks better, besides being more in keeping with its African
surroundings, than the ridiculous bit of print from Ulaya.
MAKUA WOMEN

Ebook PDF Etextbook PDF For Global Climate Change Turning Knowledge Into Action Full Chapter

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Ebook PDF Etextbook PDF For Global Climate Change Turning Knowledge Into Action Full Chapter

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

(eTextbook PDF) for Global Climate

Change: Turning Knowledge Into

Part 1 the eviDence: iS thiS normal? 1

Is Changing Sea Level Normal? 30 Permafrost 40

Part 2 FolloW the energy: atmoSPhere,

The Atmosphere 62 The Natural Greenhouse Gas Effect 71

What Is a Greenhouse Gas? 64 Warming the Middle and Upper

Pause for Thought 3.6 76 The Structure of the Oceans 96

Part 3 DeeP time: a long hiStory

The Great Global Cooling 179 The Holocene 202

Part 4 impacts of climate change: from polar Bears

The Economic Analysis of Climate The Social Conservative Perspective 276

Part 5 gloBal SolUtionS: managing the criSiS 286

The Energy Problem 290

Conventional Sources of Power: Wind Energy 309

Fuel Efficiency and Mileage

appendix a Climate Change and the Scientific Method A-1

appendix B A Quick Science Primer A-4

appendix c Online Resources A-9

appendix D The Köppen Climate Classification System A-33

appendix e Weather Extremes A-37

appendix F Common Conversions A-44

to the Student exist for students to role-play and discuss climate

chapter organization Part three: Deep time: a long history

chapter 7: the global impact of climate change

But most of all, I want to thank my wife, Michele

David Kitchen earned a B.Sc.

Learning When you finish this chapter you

Weather and Climate

past few decades have experienced a statistically signif-

icant increase in the number of record heat waves and a

decrease in the number of record cold spells (Figure 1.1a hot

evidence in more detail.) It is clear that Earth's climate

(c) Cold Average temperature Hot

Holocene temperature variations

0.9 Northern Hemisphere temperature change

Temperature change (˚C)

1000 1200 1400 1600 1800 2000

(b) CHeCkPOINT 1.4 ▸ Why is the evidence for recent rapid

recent Climate Change

1 Land surface measurements alone are generally higher than

Looking for a slow rise in global temperature against

emerging from the little Ice age Between 1880

Cooling Off again During the period

Temperature anomaly (˚C)

Temperature anomaly (˚C)

Temperature anomaly (˚C)

1900 1950 2000 2050 1900 1950 2000 2050

The Warmest decade on record

1.6 CHeCkPOINT 1.10 ▸ Are the changes in atmospheric

0.8 pause FOr... Why is there no evidence

◀ Figure 1.9: Multi-model projections

▶ Figure 1.10: The Cretaceous hothouse

in Earth's climate system that are

150° 120° 0° 30° 60° 90° 120° 150°

30°W 20°W 10°W 0° 10°E 20°E 60°E

0 400 800 Miles

radiative Forcing change in the amount of energy moving though this

Newala, too, suffers from the distance of its water-supply—at least

The water-supply of New Newala is in the bottom of the valley,

NATIVE PATH THROUGH THE MAKONDE BUSH, NEAR

MAKONDE LOCK AND KEY AT JUMBE CHAURO

MODE OF INSERTING THE KEY