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Like the bird whose death signaled dangerous conditions in a mine, the demise of animals that once flourished should give humans pause. How is our fate linked to the earth's creatures, and the cycle of flourishing and extinction? Which are the simple workings of nature's order, and which are omens of ecological disaster? Does human activity accelerate extinction? What really causes it? In an illuminating and elegantly written account of the widespread reduction of the world's wildlife, renowned paleontologist Niles Eldredge poses these questions and examines humankind's role in the larger life cycles of the earth, composing a provocative general theory of extinction.

Biodiversity. --- Ecology. --- Extinction (Biology) --- Adansonia. --- Aesthetics. --- Algae. --- American Museum of Natural History. --- American School of Classical Studies at Athens. --- Amherst College. --- Arthropod. --- Awareness. --- Bacteria. --- Basset Hound. --- Biodiversity. --- Biologist. --- Broad-billed roller. --- Brown University. --- Carnivore. --- Cenozoic. --- Comoro Islands. --- Cretaceous. --- Darwinism. --- East Africa. --- Ecological crisis. --- Ecology. --- Ecosystem. --- Endemism. --- Eocene. --- Evolution. --- Extinction event. --- Extinction. --- Flora. --- Forest floor. --- Fossil collecting. --- Future Evolution. --- Genetic diversity. --- Geologist. --- Geology. --- Giant coua. --- Global temperature. --- Guineafowl. --- Herbivore. --- Holocene extinction. --- Hominidae. --- Homo sapiens. --- Human evolution. --- Human eye. --- Ian Tattersall. --- Imagery. --- In Specie. --- Jellyfish. --- Jurassic. --- Lemur. --- Living systems. --- Longevity. --- Mammal. --- Mesite. --- Mesozoic. --- Miocene. --- Multicellular organism. --- Northern Hemisphere. --- Oligocene. --- Ordovician. --- Organism. --- Outcrop. --- Overexploitation. --- Paleocene. --- Paleontology. --- Paleozoic. --- Permian. --- Pheasant. --- Plant. --- Pleistocene. --- Quaternary extinction event. --- Quinine. --- Rainforest. --- Reason. --- Result. --- River mouth. --- Rock (geology). --- Rocky shore. --- Sediment. --- Sedimentary rock. --- Serengeti. --- Silurian. --- Speciation. --- State of the Environment. --- Stratum. --- Tanzania. --- Tenrec. --- Terrestrial animal. --- Trilobite. --- Tropical rainforest. --- Unicellular organism. --- University of London. --- University of Minnesota. --- University of Virginia. --- Vegetation. --- Vertebrate paleontology. --- Vertebrate. --- Wetland. --- Yale University. --- Year.

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The 4.4-billion-year history of the oceans and their role in Earth's climate systemIt has often been said that we know more about the moon than we do about our own oceans. In fact, we know a great deal more about the oceans than many people realize. Scientists know that our actions today are shaping the oceans and climate of tomorrow-and that if we continue to act recklessly, the consequences will be dire. In this timely and accessible book, Eelco Rohling traces the 4.4 billion-year history of Earth's oceans while also shedding light on the critical role they play in our planet's climate system.Beginning with the formation of primeval Earth and the earliest appearance of oceans, Rohling takes readers on a journey through prehistory to the present age, vividly describing the major events in the ocean's evolution-from snowball and greenhouse Earth to the end-Permian mass extinction, the breakup of the Pangaea supercontinent, and the changing climate of today. Along the way, he explores the close interrelationships of the oceans, climate, solid Earth processes, and life, using the context of Earth and ocean history to provide perspective on humankind's impacts on the health and habitability of our planet-and on what the future may hold for us.An invaluable introduction to the cutting-edge science of paleoceanography, The Oceans enables you to make your own informed opinions about the environmental challenges we face as a result of humanity's unrelenting drive to exploit the world ocean and its vital resources.

Paleoceanography. --- Ocean --- Climatic changes. --- History. --- Ammonoidea. --- Atlantic Ocean. --- Biological pump. --- Biosphere. --- Calcium carbonate. --- Calcium. --- Calculation. --- Cambrian explosion. --- Carbon cycle. --- Climate change. --- Climate state. --- Climate. --- Climatology. --- Cretaceous. --- Cyanobacteria. --- Deep sea. --- Earth system science. --- Earth's energy budget. --- Earth. --- Ecosystem. --- Eocene. --- Eutrophication. --- Evaporation. --- Evaporite. --- Extinction event. --- Flood basalt. --- Fungus. --- Geochemistry. --- Geologic record. --- Geologic time scale. --- Geologist. --- Global temperature. --- Global warming. --- Great Oxygenation Event. --- Greenhouse gas. --- Ice age. --- Ice cap. --- Ice sheet. --- Ice-albedo feedback. --- Indian Ocean. --- Interglacial. --- Marine biology. --- Meltwater. --- Mesozoic. --- Methane. --- Mountain chain. --- Neoproterozoic. --- Nitrogen. --- North America. --- Nutrient. --- Ocean Drilling Program. --- Ocean acidification. --- Ocean. --- Oceanic basin. --- Oceanic crust. --- Oceanography. --- Overfishing. --- Pacific Ocean. --- Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum. --- Pelagic zone. --- Permafrost. --- Permian. --- Permian–Triassic extinction event. --- Photosynthesis. --- Plate tectonics. --- Pollution. --- Prokaryote. --- Radiative forcing. --- Radiometric dating. --- Reforestation. --- Salinity. --- Sapropel. --- Sea ice. --- Sea level rise. --- Sea level. --- Sea surface temperature. --- Seawater. --- Sediment. --- Snow. --- Snowball Earth. --- Southern Hemisphere. --- Southern Ocean. --- Subduction. --- Suggestion. --- Supercontinent. --- Surface area. --- Surface water. --- Technology. --- Temperature gradient. --- Temperature record. --- Tropics. --- Upwelling. --- Volcanic rock. --- Volcanism. --- Volcano. --- Weathering. --- World Ocean. --- Year. --- Zooplankton.

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One of the greatest mysteries in reconstructing the history of life on Earth has been the apparent absence of fossils dating back more than 550 million years. We have long known that fossils of sophisticated marine life-forms existed at the dawn of the Cambrian Period, but until recently scientists had found no traces of Precambrian fossils. The quest to find such traces began in earnest in the mid-1960s and culminated in one dramatic moment in 1993 when William Schopf identified fossilized microorganisms three and a half billion years old. This startling find opened up a vast period of time--some eighty-five percent of Earth's history--to new research and new ideas about life's beginnings. In this book, William Schopf, a pioneer of modern paleobiology, tells for the first time the exciting and fascinating story of the origins and earliest evolution of life and how that story has been unearthed. Gracefully blending his personal story of discovery with the basics needed to understand the astonishing science he describes, Schopf has produced an introduction to paleobiology for the interested reader as well as a primer for beginning students in the field. He considers such questions as how did primitive bacteria, pond scum, evolve into the complex life-forms found at the beginning of the Cambrian Period? How do scientists identify ancient microbes and what do these tiny creatures tell us about the environment of the early Earth? (And, in a related chapter, Schopf discusses his role in the controversy that swirls around recent claims of fossils in the famed meteorite from Mars.) Like all great teachers, Schopf teaches the non-specialist enough about his subject along the way that we can easily follow his descriptions of the geology, biology, and chemistry behind these discoveries. Anyone interested in the intriguing questions of the origins of life on Earth and how those origins have been discovered will find this story the best place to start.

Evolutionary paleobiology. --- Micropaleontology. --- Life --- Paleontology --- Origin. --- Abiogenesis. --- Acritarch. --- Addition. --- Aerobic organism. --- Amino acid. --- Archaea. --- Archean. --- Autotroph. --- Bacteria. --- Beijing Zoo. --- Burgess Shale. --- Carbon dioxide. --- Cell wall. --- Charles Darwin. --- Charles Doolittle Walcott. --- Chert. --- Chloroplast. --- Chromosome. --- Coelom. --- Coffin. --- Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event. --- Crust (geology). --- Cyanobacteria. --- Darwin's Dilemma. --- Determination. --- Deuterium. --- Electricity. --- Enzyme. --- Eukaryote. --- Evolution. --- Evolutionary biology. --- Fermentation. --- Foraminifera. --- Fungus. --- Gene. --- Genetic engineering. --- Geologist. --- Geology. --- Giant salamander. --- Glucose. --- Glycine. --- Glycolysis. --- Greenhouse effect. --- Hallucigenia. --- Heterocyst. --- Heterotroph. --- Hydrocarbon. --- Interstellar cloud. --- Law of superposition. --- Layperson. --- Lipid. --- Marine biology. --- Metabolism. --- Meteorite. --- Microorganism. --- Microwave. --- Mitochondrion. --- Mitosis. --- Molecule. --- Monomer. --- Mycoplasma. --- Natural gas. --- Nitrate. --- Nitrogen. --- Nucleic acid. --- Nucleotide. --- Organic acid. --- Organic compound. --- Organism. --- Ottoia. --- Paleobiology. --- Paleontology. --- Paleozoic. --- Phanerozoic. --- Photosynthesis. --- Phototroph. --- Plant. --- Plate tectonics. --- Polymer. --- Precambrian. --- Prokaryote. --- Properties of water. --- Protein. --- Proterozoic. --- Protozoa. --- Purple bacteria. --- Pyruvic acid. --- Ribosome. --- Richard Feynman. --- Sedimentary rock. --- Smithsonian Institution. --- Stromatolite. --- Sulfate minerals. --- Taxon. --- Tempo and Mode in Evolution. --- Thioformaldehyde. --- Thomas Kuhn. --- Trilobite. --- Zygote.

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The solar system has always been a messy place in which gravity wreaks havoc. Moons form, asteroids and comets crash into planets, ice ages commence, and dinosaurs disappear. By describing the dramatic consequences of such disturbances, this authoritative and entertaining book reveals the fundamental interconnectedness of the solar system--and what it means for life on Earth. After relating a brief history of the solar system, Alan Rubin describes how astronomers determined our location in the Milky Way. He provides succinct and up-to-date accounts of the energetic interactions among planetary bodies, the generation of the Earth's magnetic field, the effects of other solar-system objects on our climate, the moon's genesis, the heating of asteroids, and the origin of the mysterious tektites. Along the way, Rubin introduces us to the individual scientists--including the famous, the now obscure, and the newest generation of researchers--who have enhanced our understanding of the galactic neighborhood. He shows how scientific discoveries are made; he discusses the uncertainty that presides over the boundaries of knowledge as well as the occasional reluctance of scientists to change their minds even when confronted by compelling evidence. This fresh historical perspective reveals science as it is: an imperfect but self-correcting enterprise. Journeying to the frontiers of knowledge, Rubin concludes with the exciting realm of astrobiology. He chronicles the history of the search for life on Mars and describes cutting-edge lines of astrobiological inquiry, including panspermia (the possible transfer of life from planet to planet), the likelihood of technologically advanced alien civilizations in our galaxy, and our probable responses to alien contact. Authoritative and up-to-date but also entertaining and fluidly written, Disturbing the Solar System will appeal to any reader who has ever picked up a rock or gazed at the moon with a sense of wonder.

Life on other planets. --- Gravity. --- Catastrophes (Geology) --- Accretion (astrophysics). --- Antimatter. --- Aristarchus (crater). --- Astrobiology. --- Astronomer. --- Astronomy. --- Astrophysics. --- Binary star. --- Canyon Diablo (meteorite). --- Carbon dioxide. --- Carbonaceous chondrite. --- Chondrite. --- Chondrule. --- Comet. --- Cosmic Background Explorer. --- Cosmic dust. --- Cosmic ray. --- Crater chain. --- Debris disk. --- Discovery and exploration of the Solar System. --- Earth's magnetic field. --- Exoplanet. --- Extinction event. --- Extraterrestrial life. --- Formation and evolution of the Solar System. --- Galactic Center. --- Geologist. --- Giant planet. --- Giant-impact hypothesis. --- Gravity anomaly. --- Heliocentrism. --- Hubble Space Telescope. --- Impact crater. --- Impact event. --- Impact structure. --- Incompatible element. --- Iridium anomaly. --- Iron meteorite. --- Jupiter. --- Kara crater. --- Lunar eclipse. --- Lunar mare. --- Lunar meteorite. --- Magnetic anomaly. --- Magnetic field. --- Magnetosphere. --- Martian meteorite. --- Mesosiderite. --- Meteor Crater. --- Meteor shower. --- Meteorite. --- Meteoroid. --- Microorganism. --- Molecular cloud. --- Moon rock. --- Nebular hypothesis. --- Neutron star. --- Nuclear explosion. --- Nuclear fusion. --- Nuclear reaction. --- Occultation. --- Oort cloud. --- Orbit. --- Orbital eccentricity. --- Orbital period. --- Origin of the Moon. --- Orion Nebula. --- Panspermia. --- Planet. --- Planetary body. --- Planetary nebula. --- Planetary surface. --- Planetary system. --- Planetesimal. --- Polarity reversal (seismology). --- Projectile. --- Radiation damage. --- Radiation pressure. --- Radioactive decay. --- Radionuclide. --- Rings of Saturn. --- Rubble pile. --- Runaway greenhouse effect. --- Saturn. --- Sediment. --- Shock metamorphism. --- Silicate. --- Small Solar System body. --- Solar System. --- Solar eclipse. --- Solar flare. --- Solar mass. --- Spacecraft. --- Spiral galaxy. --- Supernova. --- Tektite. --- Uranus. --- Urey (crater). --- Van Allen radiation belt. --- Volcanism.