Continues the series providing scientific information for policy makers and evaluating emerging research topics from the perspective of geophysics. Provides a scientific framework to assist the evaluation of the possible impacts of present and future global changes on the biosphere by drawing on the broad spatial and temporal geological record to show how particular kinds of environmental changes have causes species to migrate, become extinct, or give rise to other species. Illustrates that some species and ecosystems are naturally fragile and thus transient, while others are inherently more stable. The 14 papers were revised in light of response to them at a symposium of the October 1989 meeting of the Geological Society of America. Includes a summary and recommendations. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.
1 Front Matter; 2 Overview and Recommendations; 3
1. Oxygen and
Proterozoic Evolution: An Update; 4
2. Impact of Late Ordovician
Glaciation-Deglaciation on Marine Life; 5
3. Global Change Leading to
Biodiversity Crisis in a Greenhouse World: The Cenomanian-Turonian
(Cretaceous) Mass Extinction; 6
4. Cretaceous-Tertiary (K/T) Mass Extinction:
Effect of Global Change on Calcareous Microplankton; 7
5. Terminal Paleocene
Mass Extinction in the Deep Sea: Association with Global Warming; 8
6.
Tropical Climate Stability and Implications for the Distribution of Life; 9
7. Neogene Ice Age in the North Atlantic Region: Climatic Changes, Biotic
Effects, and Forcing Factors; 10
8. The Response of Hierarchically Structured
Ecosystems to Long-Term Climate Change: A Case Study Using Tropical Peat
Swamps of Pennsylvanian Age; 11
9. The Late Cretaceous and Cenozoic History
of Vegetation and Climate at Northern and Couthern High Latitudes: A
Comparison; 12
10. The Impact of Climatic Changes on the Development of the
Australian Flora; 13
11. Global Climatic Influence on Cenozoic Land Mammal
Faunas; 14
12. Biotic Responses to Temperature and Salinity Changes During
Last Deglaciation, Gulf of Mexico; 15
13. Pollen Records of Late Quaternary
Vegetation Change: Plant Community Rearrangements and Evolutionary
Implications; 16
14. Climatic Forcing and the Origin of the Human Genus; 17
Index
Panel on Effects of Past Global Change on Life, National Research Council
