ABSTRACT
Ensconced in climate-controlled buildings in the heart of a big city, it is easy to forget the extent to which human society depends on a stable climate. Climate includes averages and extremes of rainfall, snowfall, temperature, winds and storms, and ocean currents. Any human-induced effect on climate is superimposed on the background "noise" of natural variations in climate. Climate changes that occurred on the time scale of tens of thousands of years had profound impacts on the landscape, as well as on human civilization. Ecosystems have adapted to the steady warming that has occurred since the last ice age, but large and rapid climate changes could be disruptive. The array of potential economic, environmental, and social impacts associated with climate change can be minimized by increasing the ability of our society to respond to the kinds of disasters and might intensify if the predictions of climate scientists are correct.
