Weather: How It Works And Why It MattersScientists have delved deep into the smallest particles of matter and have extended their view to the far reaches of the universe, but still seem unable to predict the temperature five days hence. In this intriguing book, two scientists examine recent progress in the fields of meteorology and climatology. Amid colorful anecdotes of the Galapagos, Siberia, and places closer to home, they describe the earth's atmosphere, its origin and structure, and the forces that have shaped and continue to affect it. They explore temperature, pressure, and other properties of air and weather, including warm and cold fronts, highs and lows, clouds, trade winds, prevailing westerlies, and sky phenomena such as rainbows, halos, coronae, and sun dogs. The authors end with a discussion of the major threats to earth's atmosphere brought on by human activity, including global warming and ozone depletion, and argue that pure science -- not politics -- should dictate our policy responses. |
From inside the book
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Page x
... Global Warming : The Everyman Misconception Appendix I : Mass and Weight Appendix II : Air Pressure and Density Appendix III : Absorption and Condensation Appendix IV : The Coriolis Effect and the Prevailing Westerlies Appendix V ...
... Global Warming : The Everyman Misconception Appendix I : Mass and Weight Appendix II : Air Pressure and Density Appendix III : Absorption and Condensation Appendix IV : The Coriolis Effect and the Prevailing Westerlies Appendix V ...
Page xi
... Global air circulation on a nonrotating Earth . This is the well - known Hadley cell model . 53 6.2 Rotational speed as a function of latitude on the Earth's surface . 54 6.3 The sizes of Earth and Venus to scale , XI.
... Global air circulation on a nonrotating Earth . This is the well - known Hadley cell model . 53 6.2 Rotational speed as a function of latitude on the Earth's surface . 54 6.3 The sizes of Earth and Venus to scale , XI.
Page xiii
... global warming in the 1980s by country ( percent ) . 168 16.1 Population increase from A.D. 1 to 1992 and projected to 2032. The population explosion of the twentieth century is obvious . 182 18.1 Home energy use showing the very large ...
... global warming in the 1980s by country ( percent ) . 168 16.1 Population increase from A.D. 1 to 1992 and projected to 2032. The population explosion of the twentieth century is obvious . 182 18.1 Home energy use showing the very large ...
Page 3
... globally in- tertwined economies , people were not always well prepared to survive during extreme weather conditions . The state of our preparedness is the key to our future . Evidence for im- minent major changes in the global climate ...
... globally in- tertwined economies , people were not always well prepared to survive during extreme weather conditions . The state of our preparedness is the key to our future . Evidence for im- minent major changes in the global climate ...
Page 5
... global warming and the de- gree to which we should prepare for its continuation . Have we made the case beyond a reasonable doubt for worldwide concern and if so , to what extent should governments plan seriously for alternatives to our ...
... global warming and the de- gree to which we should prepare for its continuation . Have we made the case beyond a reasonable doubt for worldwide concern and if so , to what extent should governments plan seriously for alternatives to our ...
Contents
15 | |
The Four Seasons | 31 |
Weather Wisdom and Lore | 55 |
Stormy Weather | 71 |
Here Come the Glaciers | 92 |
The Majority Rules | 146 |
From Hoax to Menace | 154 |
Two Worlds | 166 |
The World in a Future Climate | 183 |
Mass and Weight | 200 |
Instances of Global Warming | 213 |
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Common terms and phrases
abundance acid air masses altitude amount Atlantic atmos atmosphere atomic average carbon dioxide cause century clouds cold colder comet cool Coriolis Effect density dew point difference Earth Earth's atmosphere El Niño energy ENSO equator eruption Europe event feet Figure forests fossil fuels glaciers global temperature global warming greenhouse effect greenhouse gases Greenland ground Gulf Stream heat Holocene humidity hurricanes increase isotope kilometers known land latitude layers Little Ice Age major measure mechanism meters midlatitudes miles molecules Moon Niño North America Northern Hemisphere occur ocean currents orbit oxygen ozone particles percent period phere planets plankton polar poles precipitation predict present produce rain reached records regions rise satellites scale sea level seasons snow snowfall solar radiation storms stratosphere summer surface tion trees trend Tropics troposphere ture variations vegetation Venus volcanic warmer water vapor weather weather lore wind winter Zone
Popular passages
Page 55 - He answered and said unto them, "When it is evening ye say, 'It will be fair weather; for the sky is red.
Page 92 - Nor shapes of men nor beasts we ken — The ice was all between. The ice was here, the ice was there, The ice was all around: It cracked and growled, and roared and howled, Like noises in a swound!
Page 63 - When the wind is in the east, It's good for neither man nor beast. When the wind is in the north, The old folk should not venture forth, When the wind is in the south, It blows the bait in the fishes
Page 50 - The moon and the weather May change together; But change of the moon Does not change the weather. If we'd no moon at all, And that may seem strange, We still should have weather That's subject to change.
Page 70 - Blow, winds, and crack your cheeks! rage! blow! You cataracts and hurricanes, spout Till you have drench'd our steeples, drown'd the cocks! You sulphurous and thought-executing fires, Vaunt-couriers to oak-cleaving thunderbolts, Singe my white head! And thou, all-shaking thunder, Smite flat the thick rotundity o
Page 42 - The first day or so we all pointed to our countries. The third or fourth day we were pointing to our continents. By the fifth day we were aware of only one Earth.
Page 58 - When the dew is on the grass, Rain will never come to pass. When the grass is dry at night, Look for rain before the light. When grass is dry at morning light, Look for rain before the night.
Page 196 - I'd buried Maman, and like then, my forehead especially was hurting me, all the veins in it throbbing under the skin. It was this burning, which I couldn't stand anymore, that made me move forward. I knew that it was stupid, that I wouldn't get the sun off me by stepping forward. But I took a step, one step, forward.