* Major new textbook explaining the science, policy, and politics of climate change and what it means for the future of humanity and planet Earth* Presents all of the key data, provides easy to follow explanations, and tackles the 'climate change sceptics' head-on* Authored by one of the world's leading climate researchers and backed by the Climate Impact Group of the prestigious Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO)Barrie Pittock, one of the world's leading climate researchers, argues that we need to act urgently to avoid increasingly severe climate change. This timely book sorts fact from fiction as the author examines the arguments surrounding the reality of climate change and the divergent views of greenhouse skeptics and doom-and-gloom alarmists.Pittock looks at the controversy around global warming and other predicted changes, especially:• The scientific basis of the changes observed to date• How they relate to natural variations• Why the evidence points to larger changes later this centuryClimate Change: Turning up the Heat explains how our attitudes toward risk and uncertainty - constant companions in life - influence our decision-making and, ultimately, how much we and future generations stand to lose from rapid climate change. It outlines the current concerns of the major international players and reviews the response to date, detailing national interests. Importantly, it shows there is real hope of managing climate change and minimizing the risk of disaster if we step up efforts to develop and apply innovative technological and policy solutions.