Evolution of Earth's Climate

John O. Robertson, PhD, is the owner of Earth Engineering, Inc. and an adjunct professor at ITT Tech in National City, CA.  He has over 50 years of experience in petroleum and environmental engineering and geology and is the author of over 12 textbooks and 75 articles.George V. Chilingar, PhD, is an Emeritus Professor of Engineering at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, CA. He is one of the most well-known petroleum geologists in the world and the founder of several prestigious journals in the oil and gas industry. He has published over 70 books and 500 articles and has received over 100 awards over his career.Oleg G. Sorokhtin is recognized for his work in geophysics, geology and ecology at the institute of Oceanology of the Russian Academy of Sciences.  He passed away in 2010.Nikolai Sorokhtin is a geologist and academician of the Russian Academy of Natural Sciences and has participated in over 20 major geological expeditions and author of more than 100 scientific publications, including six monographs.Wennan Long is a reservoir engineer specialist in Synergy Oil and Gas, LLC in Long Beach, California and an active member of the Russian Academy of Nature Sciences   He has published many engineering articles in the areas of climate change and environmental science.

• Introduction xvAcknowledgments xixPart I: Climatic Paradox 11 Climatic Paradox 3Historic Temperatures of Early Earth 3Concepts by Some of Global Warming 5Earth’s Historic Temperature Charts 6Misuse of Temperature Charts 7Use of Paleoclimatology to Estimate Prehistoric Temperatures 8Use of the Oxygen Isotope Ratio to Estimate Historic Temperatures 9Historic Temperature Charts for the Past 4.6 BY 10Glacial Periods and Interglacial Periods (4.5 to 0.540 BY AGO) 10Historic Temperature Record of the Past 540 MY 11Today’s Temperature Charts 16The Sun—a Primary Source of Energy 17Physical Aspects of the Sun 18Sunspots 18Solar Irradiation Reaching the Earth 20The Sun’s Energy 23Energy Received by the Earth from the Sun 26The Paradox Reviewed 272 Adiabatic Theory 29Troposphere 29How is Heat Transferred in the Troposphere? 31Modeling the Earth’s Troposphere 33Features of the Earth’s Atmosphere 33Development of an Adiabatic Equation 35Development of the Adiabatic Equation 37Earth’s Troposphere Model 41Effect of Precession Angle 42Application of Adiabatic Equation to the Planet Venus 473 The Earth’s Synoptic Activities 51Greenhouse Effect Adiabatic Theory 51Model of Heat Transfer in the Troposphere 52Part II: Development of the Hydrosphere 594 Development of Earth’s Hydrosphere 61Hydrosphere of the Primordial Earth 61Formation of the Hydrosphere 66Part III: Development of the Earth’s Atmosphere 795 Earth’s Historic Atmospheres 81Earth’s Primordial Atmosphere 81Earth’s First Atmosphere (Hadean time—4.56 to 4.0 BY ago) 83Earth’s Second Atmosphere (Archean time, 4.0 to 2.5 BY ago) 85Earth’s Third Atmosphere (Proterozoic to mid-Phanerozoic time – 2.5 to 0.54 BY ago) 86Today’s Atmosphere (Phanerozoic time, 0.542 BY ago to today) 89The Earth’s Future Atmosphere 896 Nitrogen in Earth’s Atmosphere 91Origin of Earth’s Atmospheric Nitrogen 91Estimate of the Earth’s Volume of Organic-Nitrogen Sediments 957 Development of Free Oxygen in Earth’s Atmosphere 99Oxygen 99History of Free Oxygen in Earth’s Atmosphere 1008 Development of Methane in Earth’s Atmosphere 111Methane the Gas 111Historic Levels of Methane in the Earth’s Atmosphere 114Monitoring of Methane Gas Emissions 1269 The Effect of the Greenhouse Gases 129The Greenhouse Gases 129The Classic Greenhouse Effect 130The Greenhouse Gases 131Understanding the Greenhouse Effect 134The Greenhouse Effect 135Effect of the Precession Angle 138Convective Heat Transsphere in Troposphere 140Effect of Water Vapor on Heat Transfer 140Effect of Carbon Dioxide on Temperature Distribution 141The Effect of Carbon Dioxide Anthropogenic Emissions 14310 Development of Carbon Dioxide in Earth’s Atmosphere 147Carbon Dioxide 147Sources of Carbon Dioxide 148The Carbon Cycle 148Mass of Carbon in the Earth’s Crust 151Mass of Carbon in the Earth’s Mantle 151Historic Content of Carbon Dioxide in the Earth’s Atmosphere 155Earth’s Hadean Atmosphere (4.56 to 4.0 BY ago) 155Earth’s Archaean Atmosphere (4.0 to 2.4 BY ago) 156Earth’s Proterozoic and Phanerozoic Atmosphere (2.4 BY ago to today) 159Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere 163Historic Effect of Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide 16811 Ozone in the Earth’s Atmosphere 173Properties of Ozone 173Ozone Layer as the “Earth’s Shield” 174Atmospheric Gases Ability to Absorb Energy 175The Ozone Hole 184Ozone – Methane Reaction 188Concluding Remarks 18912 Evolution of Atmospheric Composition and Pressure 191Partial Pressure of Atmospheric Gases 191Part IV: Various Factors Affecting the Evolution of the Earth’s Climate 19713 Earth’s Orbital Distance from the Sun 199Effect of Gravity on Earth’s Orbital Paths 199Earth’s Orbital Path About the Sun 200Kepler’s Laws Pertaining to Planetary Orbits 202Eccentricity of an Object’s Orbit 205Effect of Other Planets on Earth’s orbit 206The Effect of the Planet Jupiter on Earth’s Orbital Path 21214 Climatalogical Effect of Continental Drift 223Continental Drift’s Effect on the Earth’s Precession Angle 223Latitudinal Temperature Contrast on Earth’s Surface 22815 Earth’s Future Climate 235Conclusions 239References and Bibliography 241Author Index 271Subject Index 275