Global Catastrophes: A Very Short Introduction

Life on earth will come to an end. It's just a matter of when. In this Very Short Introduction, Bill McGuire explores the many potential catastrophes facing our planet and our species in the future, and looks at both the probability of these events happening and our chances of survival.From the likely consequences of global warming to the inevitable destruction of the earth in the far future, McGuire considers a range of 'end of the world scenarios', including the New Ice Age, asteroid and comet impact, supervolcanoes, and mega-tsunami.Updated with a number of recent case studies from around the world, this new edition brings our understanding of global disasters and risk research up to date.ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Preface; 1 Planet Earth: in a nutshell; 2 Global warming: a lot of hot air?; 3 The Ice Age cometh; 4 The enemy within - super-eruptions, giant tsunamis, and the coming great quake; 5 The threat from space - asteroid and comet impacts; Epilogue; Further reading; Index