Includes bibliographical references and index.

Signs and effects of global warming -- Ecosystems, adaptation, and extinction -- Impacts to forests -- Impacts to rangelands, grasslands, and prairies -- Impacts on polar ecosystems -- Impacts to desert ecosystems -- Impacts to mountain ecosystems -- Impacts to marine ecosystems -- Conclusions: where to go from here.

Take a provocative look at how human activities affect the distribution of species and their critical habitats, increase the occurrence of severe weather and droughts, contribute to rising sea levels, and instigate myriad health and quality-of-life issues.