Recommended Texts

Hartmann, D. L. Global Physical Climate. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1994, p. 408. ISBN: 0123285305.

Three good, optional, books which cover biogeochemical, etc. components are:

Houghton, J. T., et al. Climate Change 1994: Radiative Forcing of Climate Change, (IPCC). Cambridge, England; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 1994, p. 339. ISBN: 0521550556.

Schlesinger, W. T. Biogeochemistry - An Analysis of Global Change. San Diego, CA: Academic Press, 1991, p. 443. ISBN: 0126251568.

Ruddiman, W. L. Earth's Climate Past and Future. New York, NY: W.H. Freeman, 2000. ISBN: 0716737418.

The wider literature is now very large. The so-called IPCC report:

Watson, R. T., and the Core Writing Team, eds. Climate Change 2001: Synthesis Report. Cambridge, England; New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 2001, p. 397. ISBN: 0521807700.
This is a summary discussion, written by a large international group, of the entire climate problem, with a focus on understanding on-going and future changes. Controversial, but very important. Earlier versions have more scientific material in them.

For the basic geological elements of the subject:

Press, F., and R. Siever. Earth. 2nd ed. San Francisco, CA: W.H. Freeman, 1978, p. 649. ISBN: 0716713624.
This is an undergraduate textbook which ranges over much of the earth sciences.

Imbrie, J., and K. P. Imbrie. Ice Ages: Solving the Mystery. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1986, p. 224. ISBN: 0674440757.
This is a basically non-technical, highly readable discussion of the problem of explaining the ice ages, and how the Milankovich hypothesis came to center stage.

A more sweeping account is the Open University book, including elements of human evolution:

Wilson, R. C. L., S. A. Drury, and J. A. Chapman. The Great Ice Age: Climate Change and Life. New York, NY: Routledge, 1999. ISBN: 0415198410.

Crowley, T. J., and G. R. North. Paleoclimatology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, p. 339. ISBN: 0195105338.
This is a textbook ranging over both the physical and geological elements including discussion of radiation balance, modeling, and the evidence.

A technical summary of present-day physical aspects of climate components may be found in:

Peixoto, J. P., and A. H. Oort. Physics of Climate. New York, NY: Amer Inst Phys, 1992, p. 520. ISBN: 0883187116.
But their discussion of the ocean is misleadingly primitive.

A non-technical account of a special problem is:

Grove, J. M. The Little Ice Age. London, UK: Methuen, 1988, p. 498. ISBN: 0416315402.