Main description:

The Legacy of Carbon Dioxide: Past and Present Impacts covers the truly varied roles carbon dioxide has played and continues to play in the character of our planet. Chapters address the synthesis of CO2 in stars, the evolution of the atmosphere over billions of years, the chemical and physical properties of CO2 and how those influence common phenomena. How well this knowledge is understood and how it was determined, including existing uncertainties in our confidence and the stress from competing possibilities are discussed. Much of the technological jargon in various incorporated sciences has been modified to ease consumption by the non-expert.

Features:

Provides a historical panorama on how much the world has changed over the eons and the vast influence of carbon dioxide in these changes

Follows CO2 through acidic explosive waters, volcanic episodes, sequestered reservoirs, and the chemistry of life

Examines the broad scope of chemical and physical attributes carbon dioxide is capable of and their impacts

Much of the technological verbiage in various incorporated sciences has been modified to ease consumption by the non-expert. This book is a valuable resource for readers interested in the science of carbon dioxide as well as natural science, the environment, scientific methods, chemistry, and geological sciences.

Contents:

1. Starting Elements. 2. Early Earth and Our Solar system. 3. Discovery. 4. Structure. 5. Radiocarbon and Its Dioxide. 6. The Air Today. 7. Ye Olde Aire. 8. Proxies. 9. Fire. 10. Carbon Dioxide and Water. 11. Going with the Flow. 12. Carbonates: The Enduring Legacy. 13. Volcanoes. 14. Photosynthesis. 15. Respiration and Metabolism. 16. Weathering. 17. Carbon Dioxide and Ice Overs. 18. Food and Drink. 19. Fossil Fuels. 20. Isotope Stories. Appendix: On a Piece of Chalk. Bibliography.