The Carbon Age

Author : Eric Roston
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 321 pages
File Size : 44,9 Mb
Release : 2010-08-09
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780802778970

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The Carbon Age by Eric Roston Pdf

What do bubbles in a soft drink, a bullet-proof vest, a plastic chair, and our DNA have in common? Carbon. It is, and forever has been, the ubiquitous architect of life and civilization, forming the chemical backbone of every living creature. And yet, when we hear the word today, it is more often than not in a crisis situation: carbon dioxide emissions are destroying the ozone layer and warming the planet; the volatile Middle East explodes atop its stores of hydrocarbons; carbohydrates threaten obesity and diabetics. Carbon, thus, sustains us and threatens us in equal measure, Eric Roston illuminates this essential element in all its forms, cleverly recreating the intricate carbon cycle on the page by tracing its journey from the Big Bang to Earth and its extraordinary infiltration of this planet and, in time, influence on humankind and civilization. Evoking its ubiquity-more than 99% of all 31 million known substances contain carbon-Roston chronicles the ways we have used it, often to surprising, and sometimes to catastrophic, effect: having sped up the carbon cycle in the last two centuries, we are now attempting to wrestle Earth's geochemical cycle back from the brink. Blending the latest science with original reporting, Roston makes us aware, as never before, of the seminal impact carbon has, and has had, on our lives.

Author : Eric Roston
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 309 pages
File Size : 53,8 Mb
Release : 2011-08
Category : Electronic
ISBN : 1437978568

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Carbon Age by Eric Roston Pdf

Carbon has always been the ubiquitous architect and chemical scaffolding of life and civilization; all living things draw carbon from their environments to stay alive, and the great cycle by which carbon moves through organisms, ground, water, and atmosphere has long been a kind of global circulatory system that helps keep earth in balance. And yet ¿carbon¿ today often indicates crisis: carbon dioxide emissions have sped up the carbon cycle; chlorofluorocarbons are destroying the ozone layer and warming the planet; the Middle East explodes atop its stores of volatile hydrocarbons. Here, Roston chronicles the often surprising ways mankind has used it over centuries, and the growing catastrophe of the industrial era. Illustrations.

Author : Timothy Mitchell
Publisher : Verso Books
Page : 289 pages
File Size : 43,8 Mb
Release : 2013-06-25
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781781681169

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Carbon Democracy by Timothy Mitchell Pdf

“A brilliant, revisionist argument that places oil companies at the heart of 20th century history—and of the political and environmental crises we now face.” —Guardian Oil is a curse, it is often said, that condemns the countries producing it to an existence defined by war, corruption and enormous inequality. Carbon Democracy tells a more complex story, arguing that no nation escapes the political consequences of our collective dependence on oil. It shapes the body politic both in regions such as the Middle East, which rely upon revenues from oil production, and in the places that have the greatest demand for energy. Timothy Mitchell begins with the history of coal power to tell a radical new story about the rise of democracy. Coal was a source of energy so open to disruption that oligarchies in the West became vulnerable for the first time to mass demands for democracy. In the mid-twentieth century, however, the development of cheap and abundant energy from oil, most notably from the Middle East, offered a means to reduce this vulnerability to democratic pressures. The abundance of oil made it possible for the first time in history to reorganize political life around the management of something now called “the economy” and the promise of its infinite growth. The politics of the West became dependent on an undemocratic Middle East. In the twenty-first century, the oil-based forms of modern democratic politics have become unsustainable. Foreign intervention and military rule are faltering in the Middle East, while governments everywhere appear incapable of addressing the crises that threaten to end the age of carbon democracy—the disappearance of cheap energy and the carbon-fuelled collapse of the ecological order. In making the production of energy the central force shaping the democratic age, Carbon Democracy rethinks the history of energy, the politics of nature, the theory of democracy, and the place of the Middle East in our common world.

Author : John F. Marra
Publisher : Columbia University Press
Page : 388 pages
File Size : 54,8 Mb
Release : 2019-06-25
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780231546782

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Hot Carbon by John F. Marra Pdf

There are few fields of science that carbon-14 has not touched. A radioactive isotope of carbon, it stands out for its unusually long half-life. Best known for its application to estimating the age of artifacts—carbon dating—carbon-14 helped reveal new chronologies of human civilization and geological time. Everything containing carbon, the basis of all life, could be placed in time according to the clock of radioactive decay, with research applications ranging from archeology to oceanography to climatology. In Hot Carbon, John F. Marra tells the untold story of this scientific revolution. He weaves together the workings of the many disciplines that employ carbon-14 with gripping tales of the individuals who pioneered its possibilities. He describes the concrete applications of carbon-14 to the study of all the stuff of life on earth, from climate science’s understanding of change over time to his own work on oceanic photosynthesis with microscopic phytoplankton. Marra’s engaging narrative encompasses nuclear testing, the peopling of the Americas, elephant poaching, and the flax plants used for the linen in the Shroud of Turin. Combining colorful narrative prose with accessible explanations of fundamental science, Hot Carbon is a thought-provoking exploration of how the power of carbon-14 informs our relationship to the past.

Author : Dag Olav Hessen
Publisher : Reaktion Books
Page : 272 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2017-11-15
Category : Science
ISBN : 9781780238746

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The Many Lives of Carbon by Dag Olav Hessen Pdf

In its pure form, carbon appears as the soft graphite of a pencil or as the sparkling diamond in a woman’s engagement ring. Underneath the surface, carbon is also the basic building block of the cells in our bodies and of all known life on earth. And at a molecular level, carbon bonds with oxygen to create carbon dioxide—a gas as vital to our life on this planet as it is detrimental at high levels in our atmosphere. As we face the climate change crisis, it’s now more important than ever to understand carbon and its life cycle. The Many Lives of Carbon is the story of this all-important chemical element, labeled C on our periodic tables. It’s the story of balance—between photosynthesis and cell respiration, between building and burning, between life and death. Dag Olav Hessen is our guide as we discover carbon in minerals, rocks, wood, and rain forests. He explains how carbon is studied by scientists, as well as its role in the greenhouse effect, and, not least, the impact of manmade emissions. Hessen isn’t afraid to ask the difficult questions as he confronts us with the literally burning issue of climate change. How will ecosystems respond to global change, and how will this feed back into our climate systems? How bad could climate change be, and will our ecosystems recover? What are our moral obligations in the face of excess carbon production? Neither alarmist nor moralistic, Hessen takes readers on a journey from atom to planet in informative, compelling prose.

Author : Christopher J. Preston
Publisher : MIT Press
Page : 223 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2019-02-19
Category : Science
ISBN : 9780262537094

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The Synthetic Age by Christopher J. Preston Pdf

Imagining a future in which humans fundamentally reshape the natural world using nanotechnology, synthetic biology, de-extinction, and climate engineering. We have all heard that there are no longer any places left on Earth untouched by humans. The significance of this goes beyond statistics documenting melting glaciers and shrinking species counts. It signals a new geological epoch. In The Synthetic Age, Christopher Preston argues that what is most startling about this coming epoch is not only how much impact humans have had but, more important, how much deliberate shaping they will start to do. Emerging technologies promise to give us the power to take over some of Nature's most basic operations. It is not just that we are exiting the Holocene and entering the Anthropocene; it is that we are leaving behind the time in which planetary change is just the unintended consequence of unbridled industrialism. A world designed by engineers and technicians means the birth of the planet's first Synthetic Age. Preston describes a range of technologies that will reconfigure Earth's very metabolism: nanotechnologies that can restructure natural forms of matter; “molecular manufacturing” that offers unlimited repurposing; synthetic biology's potential to build, not just read, a genome; “biological mini-machines” that can outdesign evolution; the relocation and resurrection of species; and climate engineering attempts to manage solar radiation by synthesizing a volcanic haze, cool surface temperatures by increasing the brightness of clouds, and remove carbon from the atmosphere with artificial trees that capture carbon from the breeze. What does it mean when humans shift from being caretakers of the Earth to being shapers of it? And in whom should we trust to decide the contours of our synthetic future? These questions are too important to be left to the engineers.

Author : Larry Vardiman,Andrew Snelling,Eugene F. Chaffin
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 856 pages
File Size : 53,6 Mb
Release : 2000
Category : Bible
ISBN : PSU:000058238530

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Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth by Larry Vardiman,Andrew Snelling,Eugene F. Chaffin Pdf

This book presents part two of the research results of an eight-year project titled Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth (RATE). A previous volume presenting part one of the research was published in 2000, titled Radioisotopes and the age of the Earth : a young-earth creationist research initiative. RATE Project sponsors included Institute for Creation Research and Creation Research Society, with start-up support from Answers in Genesis Ministries. Researchers included seven scientists and one biblical Hebrew scholar: Dr. Steven A. Austin, Dr. Andrew Snelling, Dr. John Baumgardner, Dr. Eugene F. Chaffin, Dr. Donald B. DeYoung, Dr. Russell Humphreys, Dr. Larry Vardiman and Dr. Steven W. Boyd.

Author : Jennifer Savoie
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 32 pages
File Size : 40,9 Mb
Release : 1999
Category : Carbon
ISBN : UCR:31210013505803

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Analysis of Carbon Isotopes, Determination of Ground-water Age, and Estimated Characteristics of the Contaminant Source at Two Fuel-spill Plumes, Western Cape Cod, Massachusetts, 1996 by Jennifer Savoie Pdf

Author : Laura Loria
Publisher : Encyclopaedia Britannica
Page : 32 pages
File Size : 52,7 Mb
Release : 2017-12-15
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 9781680488227

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The Carbon Cycle by Laura Loria Pdf

Climate change is a hot topic, but few readers understand exactly how it has disrupted Earth's natural cycles. This text offers a straightforward explanation of the carbon cycle, including what carbon is, the places where it is found, and how it is exchanged. In addition, readers will gain insight into how human activity affects the carbon cycle in nature. Each chapter features charts or photographic illustrations to enhance comprehension, as well as vocabulary boxes and open-ended questions that invite readers to think critically about the topic.

Author : Saci Lloyd
Publisher : Hachette Children's
Page : 384 pages
File Size : 46,8 Mb
Release : 2011-06-16
Category : Juvenile Fiction
ISBN : 9781444906332

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The Carbon Diaries 2015 by Saci Lloyd Pdf

It's January 1st, 2015, and the UK is the first nation to introduce carbon dioxide rationing, in a drastic bid to combat climate change. As her family spirals out of control, Laura Brown chronicles the first year of rationing with scathing abandon. Will her mother become one with her inner wolf? Will her sister give up her weekends in Ibiza? Does her father love the pig more than her? Can her band The Dirty Angels make it big? And will Ravi Datta ever notice her? In these dark days, Laura deals with the issues that really matter: love, floods and pigs. The Carbon Diaries 2015 is one girl's drastic bid to stay sane in a world unravelling at the seams.

Author : Edward A.G. Schuur,Ellen R.M. Druffel,Susan E. Trumbore
Publisher : Springer
Page : 315 pages
File Size : 46,9 Mb
Release : 2016-05-17
Category : Science
ISBN : 9783319256436

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Radiocarbon and Climate Change by Edward A.G. Schuur,Ellen R.M. Druffel,Susan E. Trumbore Pdf

This book is a useful guide for researchers in ecology and earth science interested in the use of accelerator mass spectrometry technology. The development of research in radiocarbon measurements offers an opportunity to address the human impact on global carbon cycling and climate change. Presenting radiocarbon theory, history, applications, and analytical techniques in one volume builds a broad outline of the field of radiocarbon and its emergent role in defining changes in the global carbon cycle and links to climate change. Each chapter presents both classic and cutting-edge studies from different disciplines involving radiocarbon and carbon cycling. The book also includes a chapter on the history and discovery of radiocarbon, and advances in radiocarbon measurement techniques and radiocarbon theory. Understanding human alteration of the global carbon cycle and the link between atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and climate remains one of the foremost environmental problems at the interface of ecology and earth system science. Many people are familiar with the terms ‘global warming’ and ‘climate change’, but fewer are able to articulate the science that support these hypotheses. This book addresses general questions such as: what is the link between the carbon cycle and climate change; what is the current evidence for the fate of carbon dioxide added by human activities to the atmosphere, and what has caused past changes in atmospheric carbon dioxide? How can the radiocarbon and stable isotopes of carbon combined with other tools be used for quantifying the human impact on the global carbon cycle?

Author : Brian Belval
Publisher : The Rosen Publishing Group, Inc
Page : 50 pages
File Size : 49,6 Mb
Release : 2009-08-15
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN : 9781615311668

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The Carbon Elements by Brian Belval Pdf

The Carbon elements consist of carbon, silicon, germanium, tin, and lead. This book illustrates the properties of each and how they're used in daily life, including in electronics, automotive parts, and medicine.

Author : Per Frederik Thorkelsson Scholander (physiologiste).)
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 26 pages
File Size : 55,5 Mb
Release : 1962
Category : Ice
ISBN : OCLC:493510102

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Radio-carbon Age and Oxygen-18 Content of Greenland Icebergs by Per Frederik Thorkelsson Scholander (physiologiste).) Pdf

Author : Tim Di Muzio
Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
Page : 216 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2015-08-31
Category : Political Science
ISBN : 9781783480999

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Carbon Capitalism by Tim Di Muzio Pdf

As fossil fuels deplete, what happens to capitalist political economies they support? This book examines a new theory for understanding energy, social reproduction and capitalism.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 1482 pages
File Size : 54,6 Mb
Release : 1892
Category : Hardware
ISBN : WISC:89053378295

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The Iron Age by Anonim Pdf