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The Two-Mile Time Machine: Ice Cores, Abrupt Climate Change, and Our Future Paperback – July 21, 2002

by Richard B. Alley (Author)
4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 56 ratings
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Richard Alley, one of the world's leading climate researchers, tells the fascinating history of global climate changes as revealed by reading the annual rings of ice from cores drilled in Greenland. In the 1990s he and his colleagues made headlines with the discovery that the last ice age came to an abrupt end over a period of only three years. Here Alley offers the first popular account of the wildly fluctuating climate that characterized most of prehistory--long deep freezes alternating briefly with mild conditions--and explains that we humans have experienced an unusually temperate climate. But, he warns, our comfortable environment could come to an end in a matter of years.

The Two-Mile Time Machine begins with the story behind the extensive research in Greenland in the early 1990s, when scientists were beginning to discover ancient ice as an archive of critical information about the climate. Drilling down two miles into the ice, they found atmospheric chemicals and dust that enabled them to construct a record of such phenomena as wind patterns and precipitation over the past 110,000 years. The record suggests that "switches" as well as "dials" control the earth's climate, affecting, for example, hot ocean currents that today enable roses to grow in Europe farther north than polar bears grow in Canada. Throughout most of history, these currents switched on and off repeatedly (due partly to collapsing ice sheets), throwing much of the world from hot to icy and back again in as little as a few years.

Alley explains the discovery process in terms the general reader can understand, while laying out the issues that require further study: What are the mechanisms that turn these dials and flip these switches? Is the earth due for another drastic change, one that will reconfigure coastlines or send certain regions into severe drought? Will global warming combine with natural variations in Earth's orbit to flip the North Atlantic switch again? Predicting the long-term climate is one of the greatest challenges facing scientists in the twenty-first century, and Alley tells us what we need to know in order to understand and perhaps overcome climate changes in the future.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    240 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Princeton University Press
  4. Publication date
    July 21, 2002
  5. Dimensions
    6 x 0.5 x 8.75 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    0691102961
  7. ISBN-13
    978-0691102962
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"Winner of the 2001 Book Award in Science, Phi Beta Kappa"

"One of Choices Outstanding Academic Titles for 2001"

"Although not all scientists will agree with Alley's conclusions, [this] engaging book--a brilliant combination of scientific thriller, memoir and environmental science--provides instructive glimpses into our climatic past and global future . . ." ― Publisher's Weekly

"Alley's . . . striking finding is that the earth's climate has always been wildly variable and subject to dramatic swings--except during the past 10,000 years. So the period during which humankind has established itself across the globe and made the transition from grubby bands of hunter-gatherers to the dubious majesty of global capitalism corresponds exactly to a freakishly stable period in the earth's climate."---Angus Clarke, The Times of London

"With a highly readable style designed to capture and stimulate the imagination of his students, Alley explains some of the complexities of Earth system science with a minimum of jargon. This book is not just for students: it will be readily accessible to a wide audience that should be aware of its contents."---David Peel, New Scientist

"[A] provocative little book . . . a compelling tale of climate sleuthing . . .[Alley] is authoritative without being dogmatic, concerned without being alarmist."---Robert C. Cowen, Christian Science Monitor

"A fascinating journey into the geologic past and the history of the Earth's climate . . . Alley ends his entertaining book by polishing his crystal ball, envisioning what the future climate will be, and what we might do about it."---J.A. Rial, American Scientist

"A superlative account of a complex topic . . . It is refreshingly straightforward to read, often humorous, yet still deadly serious, complete with anecdotes and understandable explanations of complex processes." ― Choice

"Books in which scientists write about their professional experience and describe in lay terms the stuff that makes them excited about science rarely disappoint. Richard Alley's The Two Mile Time Machine is no exception. It describes a fascinating journey into the geologic past and the history of the Earth's climate. . . . Alley ends his entertaining book by polishing his crystal ball, envisioning what the future climate will be, and what we might do about it."---J.A. Rial, American Scientist

"[A] superb book. . . . Alley demonstrates that the scientific understanding of climate is both a lot more complex, and a lot simpler, than public perceptions might indicate. . . .The Two-Mile Time Machine restores some of the joy of discovery that has always been present in scientific work, but is often lost amidst today's furious research pace and compressed news cycles."---Cathering H. Crouch, Books and Culture

"A fascinating first-hand story. . . . [A]n engaging narrative about the processes of obtaining, analyzing, and interpreting the ice cores. . . . Scientists, students, and the general public all need to know the present state of our incomplete understanding of the global climate system. This book provides an excellent foundation"---Al Bartlett, American Journal of Physics

"It is . . . refreshing to read a book that tells us in easy words, but with sufficient depth, how scientists have obtained the information about past climate change that is the basis for worries about the future. Richard Alley is a world authority in the science of ice cores and climate, and his book fills the large gap between technical and scholarly words for students of climate science and the short articles about these topics that are often found in the popular science magazines. The book addresses the interested layperson; following the story does not require special scientific knowledge. [It] is an excellent messenger of scientific endeavor and the enrichment this brings to society."---Thomas Stocker, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

Review

"The Two-Mile Time Machine takes a story that has been much discussed in the press and revitalizes it with the author's infectious enthusiasm and with background information on the history of ice core drilling. It provides an excellent survey for the general reader and those interested in the history of scientific exploration and issues related to science and society."―Thomas J. Crowley, Texas A & M University

"Richard Alley takes the reader from the rationale for the study of ice sheets to the story of how ice cores are recovered and how we read the climate and environment of the past recorded therein. He does a good job putting his message on the human time scale and makes his information accessible to the general reader."―Lonnie G. Thompson, The Ohio State University

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Princeton University Press; Reprint edition (July 21, 2002)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 240 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0691102961
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0691102962
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.5 x 8.75 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.4 4.4 out of 5 stars 56 ratings

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Richard B. Alley

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
56 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Chaxelle
5.0 out of 5 stars A balanced view of climate change
Reviewed in the United States on March 10, 2009
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No one can dispute Alley's credentials in climatology. He is one of the most experienced in glaciology which is where most of what we know about the history of climate comes from. Here in plain language he describes how climate works and how drilling into ice tells us about climate's past. That past reveals larger and faster changes than civilized man has ever seen. The causes are many and complex. But we are far from knowing all of those causes and how they react with each other. We can be certain, however that significant climate change is not the result of a simplistic phenomenon.

Alley writes as a scientist, not as a politician or advocate. He welcomes dissent and like all good scientists realizes that it is the road to progress. Try this. "What are the odds that natural or human activities will trigger an abrupt climate change big enough, fast enough, and soon enough to matter in economic discussions? The simple answer again is that we do not know." .... "Much knowledge is needed before we can begin to predict the known light switch, and it remains possible, though unproven, that "chaos" in the system will render such predictions difficult or impossible". "Nature certainly can start the climate jumping again. But can humans? The answer is 'maybe".

I have read dozens of books on climate change and have studied it for nineteen years. If you want the best general book on this subject, one that tries to make a complex science understandable, that even uses real humor, then read this. It is a book that is clear on its science. That is so because it is not dirtied up with politics, social advocacy or secular religion. After reading it, think for yourself. Then you will realize that scientific forecasts for the future of climate are merely the opinions of some scientists and those opinions are all over the place.

Opinions are not science. Clear, falsifiable conclusions based on real evidence are. Such does not exist for the future of our climate. One should not confuse the elevation of some scientific opinion to authority with science itself. Science arose in opposition to authority. If you are truly interested in the real nature and status of the science of climate, read this.
4 people found this helpful
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Stany
4.0 out of 5 stars The Two-Mile Time Machine
Reviewed in the United States on August 4, 2011
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This is fascinating stuff and is very readable for the non-professional earth scientist, but written by one of the foremost scientists in the field. The Two-Mile Time Machine is a two-mile ice core from Greenland, and what scientists can conclude from it. Any amateur with a good interest in earth science and climate change over the past 400,000 years will find this a very readable account of how ice cores can be deciphered to read past climates over that time-span. Unfortunately, this book is a bit out-of-date with regard to the current state of the global warming debate. Atmospheric CO2 has risen since this book was published, thus the reader will not read that CO2 levels are now well above the peaks of the past 400,000 years. When this book was published the level was no higher than past peaks, and as these past peaks always presaged an on-coming ice-age, the author proffers the speculative prediction that we could quite suddenly descend into a new ice-age. This prediction is based on the remarkable observation which came from these ice cores that the onset of past ice ages are timed perfectly with the wobbles and eccentricities in the Earth's orbit, as argued by Milutin Milankovitch, a Serbian mathematician, in the 1920s. My one negative is the graphs are at too small a scale ro read any fine detail, and in particular the important details of the past millenium. Otherwise, this is a 'must read' for anybody who is interested in past climates, climate change and ice-ages.
2 people found this helpful
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Glenn Gallagher
5.0 out of 5 stars Takes You Way Back
Reviewed in the United States on February 29, 2008
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The Two-Mile Time Machine is a fascinating look into one of the most important scientific endeavors in recent history, the extraction of a two-mile ice core in Greenland that gives us clues to the past earth climate, with some startling revelations on how climate has changed abruptly in the past, and could do so in the near future. Very well-written first-hand account that's easy to read, steering clear of dense technical jargon that has hampered similar books.

If you are interested in learning more about global warming and climate change, this book is valuable background information on some of the science behind why scientists have made the recent global warming predictions that give concern about abrupt climate change, tipping points, and positive feedback cycles. This book, however, steers clear of making any bold predictions. It's a very even, balanced look at the results of the Greenland ice core analysis.
3 people found this helpful
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WL Hughes-Games
5.0 out of 5 stars The real volatility of the climate
Reviewed in the United States on December 16, 2013
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This book is another step in our growing realization that the climate is prone to very sudden changes. Our present Holocene period from the end of the last glacial, 11000 years ago has been remarkably stable, albeit with some small changes which had large effects on our societies. Changes in the past have been much more extreme. We are also much more vulnerable to such changes than we were when the little ones of the Holocene occurred. The only thing I find missing in this book is a detailed time line as expressed in the ice cores. Along with the sediment cores from El'gygytgyn, we are getting to the point where a pretty detailed time line of past climate change is possible
One person found this helpful
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Walter S Allensworth
5.0 out of 5 stars Very readable and just enough detailed science to keep you ...
Reviewed in the United States on September 8, 2014
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Very readable and just enough detailed science to keep you interested.
More importantly, Alley addresses science in this book, and stays away from the politics of Climate Change.
This is very refreshing.
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John J Jr
4.0 out of 5 stars Compelling story
Reviewed in the United States on April 22, 2021
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Alley has written a very approachable story about cutting edge science, and done so in a way that provides us with insight into relatively recent Earth history - which also then informs us about what the future may hold, how our climate has, and can change remarkably quickly, and for reasons that are still not clear. A good and important read.
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Karen Lochhead, Geographer and Science librarian
5.0 out of 5 stars Fundamentals of why Earth's climate changes.
Reviewed in Canada on May 17, 2019
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A thorough explanation of why the earth goes through ice age cycles. I have given this book to several people who are interested but everyone should understand the concepts laid out in this book.
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Philip M
5.0 out of 5 stars Highly refreshing and informative look at climate change for non-scientists.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 26, 2019
Verified Purchase
Alley, the author of this informative, entertaining and thought-provoking book, is one of the world’s leading climate research scientists.

Yes, informative, because it describes in great clarity the major mechanisms of constantly changing climate over hundreds of thousands of years. And yes, entertaining, through Alley’s description of the daily hardships, challenges and excitement of drilling into the ice-sheet in sub-zero temperatures in central Greenland, and then carefully analysing a two-mile long, 5-inch diameter ice-core. And thought-provoking too, through his carefully detailed analyses of the possible effects of future climate change – and whether human activities have a significant impact on the changes.

Whilst tackling a complex, scientific subject, The Two-Mile Mile Machine is not written for scientists, instead Alley aims to inform the non-scientific reader of one the most incredibly important issues of today by using his practical experience in the Arctic and Antarctic.

Alley’s handling of these complex issues of constant climate change is so refreshing. His descriptions of the analyses of the layers in the ice-core, and of the ocean conveyers, especially the North Atlantic and the impact of ice-melts from the Hudson Bay and Canada, are particularly helpful to understanding the history and probable causes of climate change in the northern hemisphere – especially northern Europe. Highly recommended – whether you are a climate change sceptic or fully convinced of anthropogenic global warming.

The author leaves you with his best assessment, based on current understanding, of whether or not anthropogenic activities are likely to affect our climate. Credit to Alley, he leaves the reader’s final decision to you! Oh, and even though this book was written back in 2000, the results of Alley's ice-core research are still relevant to today's climate change debate.
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obaq
4.0 out of 5 stars 具体的で平易な解説
Reviewed in Japan on September 18, 2004
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～グリーンランドの氷床コア研究についての話が半分、その後気候変動の話、気候変動の社会へのインパクトで半分、と言った内容です。気候変動の話は、グリーンランドとの繋がりから察せられるように、ブロッカーのベルトコンベアモデルに則った北部大西洋の海洋と関連した話が中心です。気候変動の社会の影響については、謙虚に過ぎるぐらいの筆致ですが、それ～～が現実（判らないことだらけ）と言うものでしょう。日本語訳が出版されていますが、英語も平易で地球科学・環境科学に興味のある学生、院生に広く勧められる本だと思います。値段も易いしね。～
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Anon
5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, will definitely be good for climate change ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 28, 2015
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Great book, will definitely be good for climate change skeptics. Easy to read with some basic scientific knowledge though can still read comfortably without in-depth knowledge of physics etc. I studied this for a university essay, very good. My lecturers recommend this book so that says it all.
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