Water from heaven : the story of water from the big bang to the rise of civilization, and beyond / Robert Kandel.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kandel, Robert S.

Standardized Title:

Eaux du ciel. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Water.

Physical Description:

xiii, 312 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

New York : Columbia University Press, [2003]

Summary:

Covering a vast array of scientific fields and recent discoveries, this book tracks a remarkable substance in its liquid, solid, and gaseous states as it cycles through the seas, the atmosphere, land, icecaps and under the earth. Robert Kandel describes what we humans are doing to the water cycle and the climate and explains where we are heading.

Contents:

Priming the Pump 1

The States of Water 3

Some Remarkable Properties 5

Water's Many Cycles 6

Part I Water in the Universe from the Big Bang to the Appearance of Man 9

1. Beginnings 11

From Hydrogen to Oxygen, and All the Rest 11

Water in the Interstellar Medium 17

2. The Churning of the Earth 19

Saving the Water at the Birth of the Planets 19

Primordial Waters

from Inside the Earth or from Outside? 23

Outgassing and Deluge 25

A Living Solid Earth: Oceans, Sea-floor spreading, Continental Drift, Earthquakes, and Volcanoes 28

3. Origin and Evolution of Life 39

An Extraterrestrial Origin? 39

Matter Living and Inert 40

Where and When Did Life Appear? 45

Life Without the Sun at the Bottom of the Sea 47

The Invention of Photosynthesis and the Conquest of Dry Land 50

4. Catastrophes 55

Climbing Up an Evolutionary Ladder? 55

Mass Extinctions 56

The Demise of the Dinosaurs 58

Deadly Impact 61

Man the Exterminator 64

5. Ice, Moon, and Planets 66

The Moon, Time, and Tide 66

The Precession of the Equinoxes 70

The Moon and Milankovitch 72

Ice on the Move 75

Ice in the Tropics 80

Part II Water in Today's World 83

6. Water and Energy Cycles 85

Ice Budgets 85

Water Budgets: Clouds, Rain, and Snow 87

Water Budgets: Evaporation, Condensation, and Latent Heat 89

Energy Budgets and the Greenhouse Effect 92

Latitudes and Seasons 95

Land and Sea 98

7. Winds, Waves, and Currents 101

The Tropical Furnace and the Hadley Circulation 101

East Winds, West Winds, and the Gyrations of the Oceans 104

Land and Sea: Monsoons 108

East-West: El Nino, La Nina, and the Pacific Basin 111

North-South: The Atlantic 120

8. Water's Deep Memories 124

The Salt of the Sea 124

The Great Conveyor Belt 131

Foreseeable Accidents, or Surprises? 132

9. Clouds, Rain, and Angry Skies 135

Making Rain 135

Stability or Instability? 139

From Fair-weather Cumulus to Cumulonimbus: Convection and Precipitation 141

Cyclones and Convective Cloud Systems 142

Tornadoes 146

Tropical Cyclones: Hurricanes and Typhoons 149

Gently Falling Snow and Rain 151

Acid Rain 152

10. Earth's Water, Between Sky and Sea 155

Watersheds and Water Flows 155

Vegetation, Evapotranspiration, and the Soil 161

Infiltration and Underground Water 164

Runoff: From Rills to Rivers 170

Along the Great Rivers 177

Water on the Continental Scale 182

Part III Water in Human History, Past and Future 187

11. Water and Man's Rise to Civilization 189

Out of the Ice Age 189

The Nile 195

Water's Revenge 196

Drinking Water for the Cities 201

Clean But Toxic Water 204

Water Down the Drain 207

Water for Food 209

Land for Food? 211

Mosquitoes and Disease 213

Water for Industry 214

Water Business 215

Nuclear Power and Water 217

12. Problems for the 21st Century 220

A New Millennium? 220

The Water Resource 221

Satisfaction of Water Needs 225

Water Management: Cooperation or Conflict? 228

Water Between Israel and the Arabs 232

13. Butterflies and Humans in a Warming Greenhouse 239

The Butterfly Effect 239

The Greenhouse Effect 242

Global Warming? 243

The Real Risks 246

A New Deal in Water 249

14. Back to the Ice Age 252

The End of the Pleistocene? 252

From the Twentieth to the 21st Century 253

Finite and Infinite Resources 255

Avoidable Catastrophe 257

15. Conclusion

the End of the Story? 259

Back to the Beginning? 259.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [289]-298) and index.

ISBN:

0231122446

OCLC:

50403883