Note continued: 14.4.2. Vertebrates

14.5. Diversification of the Terrestrial Biosphere

14.5.1. Plants

14.5.2. Early evolution and diversification of mammals

14.5.3. Archaic mammals

14.5.4. Climate change and mammals

14.5.5. Diversification of modern mammals

14.5.6. Birds

14.6. Extinction: Glaciers, Volcanoes, and Impacts

14.7. Summary

Sources and Further Reading

Key Terms

Review Questions

Food for Thought

ch. 15 The Neogene: The Iceman Cometh

15.1. Introduction to the Neogene

15.2. Tectonics and Sedimentation

15.2.1. Europe, Asia, and Africa

15.2.2. Central and South America

15.2.3. Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of North America

15.2.4. Western North America

15.2.5. West Coast of North America

15.2.6. Evolution of the San Andreas Fault system

15.3. How Was the West Widened? Evolution of the Basin and Range

15.3.1. Background

15.3.2. Hypotheses for the formation of the Basin and Range

15.4. Climate, Ocean Circulation, and Chemistry

15.5. The "Ice Ages": Evolution of a Theory

15.5.1. Background

15.5.2. The eccentricity of James Croll

15.5.3. Precession of the equinoxes

15.5.4. Milutin Milankovitch and obliquity

15.5.5. Planktonic foraminifera and the oxygen isotope curve

15.6. Neogene Life

15.6.1. Marine life

15.6.2. Land plants

15.6.3. Terrestrial vertebrates

15.6.4. Evolution of humans

15.7. Extinction

15.8. Summary

Sources and Further Reading

Key Terms

Review Questions

Food for Thought

pt. IV Humans and the Environment

ch. 16 Rapid Climate Change During the Holocene

16.1. Introduction to the Holocene

16.2. Beginning of the Holocene

16.2.1. Sea-level rise

16.2.2. Younger Dryas

16.3. Rapid Climate Change on Millennial Time Scales

16.3.1. Rapid climate change involving the oceans

16.3.2. Rapid climate change on land

16.4. Rapid Climate Change on Centennial Time Scales

16.5. Rapid Climate Change on Interdecadal to Multidecadal Time Scales

16.6. Climatic Modes and Climatic Irreversibility

16.7. Summary

Sources and Further Reading

Key Terms

Review Questions

Food for Thought

ch. 17 Humans and Earth Systems: Past, Present, and Future

17.1. Introduction

17.2. Examples of Human-Climate Interactions During the Last Millennium

17.3. Brief History of the Growing Dependence on Fossil Fuels

17.4. Alternative Energy Sources and Technologies

17.4.1. Wind, geothermal, and solar energy

17.4.2. Hydroelectric power

17.4.3. Nuclear energy

17.4.4. Methane gas hydrates

17.4.5. Biofuels

17.4.6. Automobiles

17.5. Consequences of Anthropogenic Warming

17.5.1. Temperature change

17.5.2. Sea-level rise

17.5.3. Storms

17.5.4. Fisheries

17.5.5. Precipitation patterns

17.5.6. Disease

17.6. Biodiversity and Extinction

17.7. Closer to Home

17.8. Why Should We Care and What Can Be Done?

17.9. Summary

Sources and Further Reading

Key Terms

Review Questions

Food for Thought

ch. 18 Days of Future Past: Science, Society, and the Nature of Nature

18.1. Ockham's Razor

18.2. Experimental and Historical Sciences

18.2.1. Hypothesis testing

18.2.2. Cause and effect

18.2.3. Laws and history

18.3. Nature of Earth Systems

18.3.1. Deep time

18.3.2. Scale, process, and measurement

18.3.3. Directionality and evolution

18.3.4. General characteristics of Earth's systems

18.4. Notion of Progress

18.5. Science and Society

18.6. Summary

Sources and Further Reading

Key Terms

Review Questions