Book review: The Story of Earth’s Climate in 25 Discoveries: How Scientists Found the Connections Between Climate and Life, by Donald R Prothero

Jon Trevelyan (UK)

In recent years, geology has evolved from being primarily concerned with rocks, minerals and the Earth’s physical structure, to integrating fields, such as climatology, meteorology, biology and more. This interdisciplinary approach has become essential for understanding complex Earth systems and this book is part of that trend – a discussion of Earth’s climate and the evolution of life, in the context of geology.

So, for example, in the study of palaeoclimatology, geologists study ancient climates by analysing ice cores, sediment layers, and fossil records to reconstruct past temperature and atmospheric conditions. And the geological record provides crucial evidence of historical climate shifts, helping scientists predict future climate trends; while meteorological processes, such as rainfall and wind patterns, have been shown to play a role in shaping landscapes and influencing geological formations.

This interdisciplinary shift has allowed geologists to address some of the biggest challenges facing humanity, from climate change to resource sustainability and planetary exploration. And, in this context, this book explores Earth’s 4.5-billion-year climate history and its impact on life, by examining significant climate shifts from extreme greenhouse conditions to global ice ages (and the Snowball Earth scenarios) and discusses their roles in events such as mass extinctions and the emergence of various life forms, including dinosaurs and mammals.

It also addresses the influence of climate on human history and emphasises the immense challenges posed by contemporary human-induced climate change, still denied by many on the other side of the Pond. The point is that living things and the climate have always influenced, been connected and even shaped each other, and they have left their mark in the geological record.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It provides a comprehensive and accessible examination of the intricate relationship between Earth’s climate and life, giving fascinating insights into past climate changes and their relevance to current environmental challenges. And the author, Donald Prothero, is well known for his engaging and easy writing style and, while there is no doubt that the book is very US centred (Prothero is professor of geological sciences at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona), this is not really an issue, given its general appeal to anyone interested in things like the role of phytoplankton in producing breathable air, what climate was necessary for the rise of major groups of animals such as dinosaurs and mammals, how climate change caused mass extinctions, and ice ages and the role of climate in human history (to name but a few of the topics covered by this book).

Donald R Prothero is a palaeontology and geology researcher, teacher, and author. He is adjunct professor of geological sciences at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, and research associate in vertebrate palaeontology at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

I really recommend this book, for geologist and non-geologists alike for its breadth of coverage and the ease with which Donald Prothero explains his ideas.

The Story of Earth’s Climate in 25 Discoveries: How Scientists Found the Connections Between Climate and Life Hardcover, by Donald R Prothero, Columbia University Press (New York), March 2024, Hardcover ‏(480 pages), ISBN:‎ 978-0231203586