Climate change is now upon us. While mitigation is essential to reduce the future severity of climate change, it will take time and some effects will inevitably continue for centuries. Consequently, more attention is now being directed to adaptation as a means of reducing losses. As the importance of adaptation becomes more apparent, there is need for wider appreciation and understanding of the concept and its potential, as well as the obstacles to its effective deployment. This reader, the first of its kind, gathers some of the most significant writings on adaptation to climate change from the past two decades. Following an introduction tracing the evolution of adaptation from a biological concept into a policy objective, the book is divided into five parts: * Adaptation Theory * Adaptation, Vulnerability and Resilience * Adaptation and Disaster Risk * Adaptation and Development * Adaptation and Climate Change Policy This is the ideal collection for students, policymakers, researchers, activists and NGOs, and all people who need a solid grounding in all aspects of climate change adaptation.

This book presents innovative work in Climate Informatics, a new field that reflects the application of data mining methods to climate science, and shows where this new and fast growing field is headed. Given its interdisciplinary nature, Climate Informatics offers insights, tools and methods that are increasingly needed in order to understand the climate system, an aspect which in turn has become crucial because of the threat of climate change. There has been a veritable explosion in the amount of data produced by satellites, environmental sensors and climate models that monitor, measure and forecast the earth system. In order to meaningfully pursue knowledge discovery on the basis of such voluminous and diverse datasets, it is necessary to apply machine learning methods, and Climate Informatics lies at the intersection of machine learning and climate science. This book grew out of the fourth workshop on Climate Informatics held in Boulder, Colorado in Sep. 2014.

For the very first time, this book provides updated, integrated and organized, theoretical and methodological information on regional climate change and the associated environmental and socio-economic impacts on a regional scale. The most recent findings in the field of long-term climate change, which improve our understanding of the global climate puzzle, will be presented. Readers are introduced to state-of-the-art research in downscaling and GCMs, which involve the construction of reliable regional climate scenarios and the solution to key problems regarding the assessment of the impacts of climate change in the most important geographical areas of the world, from the Arctic to Antarctic regions, with special emphasis on the Northern Hemisphere.

Climatologists with an eye on the past have any number of sources for their work, from personal diaries to weather station reports. Piecing together the trajectory of a weather event can thus be a painstaking process taking years and involving real detective work. Missing pieces of a climate puzzle can come from very far afield, often in unlikely places. In this book, a series of case studies examine specific regions across North America, using instrumental and documentary data from the 17th to the 19th centuries. Extreme weather events such as the Sitka hurricane of 1880 are recounted in detail, while the chapters also cover more widespread phenomena such as the collapse of the Low Country rice culture. The book also looks at the role of weather station histories in complementing the instrumental record, and sets out the methods that involve early instrumental and documentary climate data. Finally, the book 's focus on North America reflects the fact that the historical climate community there has only grown relatively recently. Up to now, most such studies have focused on Europe and Asia.

The four sections begin with regional case studies, and move on to reconstruct extreme events and parameters. This is followed by the role of station history and, lastly, methodologies and other analyses. The editors aim has been to produce a volume that would be instrumental in molding the next generation of historical climatologists. They designed this book for use by general researchers as well as in upper-level undergraduate or graduate level courses.

At the intersection of environmental science and human biology this book deals with dry ecosystems - aridity, droughts, wind and its influence on soils and regulation - the societies affected by these ecosystems, and the inventiveness of those living under these conditions. These environments are the basis of nomad existence, of irrigated agriculture and of the first civilisations dependent on streams. Changes in the modern epoch, the ever-increasing technology and demographic development show that environmental degradation and the socio-economic situation cannot be explained by just one factor. This book tries to answer the question whether long-lasting development is possible in dry environments.

General circulation models state that the central United States (and other mid-latitude continental regions) will become warmer and drier as the result of greenhouse warming. On this premise the dustbowl period of the 1930s was selected as an analogue of climate change and its weather records imposed on the Missouri--Iowa--Kansas region to assess how current agriculture, forestry, water resources and energy and the entire regional economy would be affected. The same climate was also imposed on a MINK region forty years into the future, by which time climate change may actually be felt, to assess whether technological and societal change would alter the region's vulnerability to climate change. Another premise of the study was that people would not suffer the impacts of climate change passively, but would use availabe tools to ease the stress. The rising atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide, expected to be the major cause of greenhouse warming, also works to improve plant growth and reduce plant water use. So the effects of this Co2 fertilization' were also considered in the analysis. The results, some of them surprising, of this first, fully-integrated analysis of climate change impacts and responses are reported in this book.

The increasing production of industrial goods, heat, and energy, as well as traffic, has led to the release of considerable amounts of toxic trace metals to the atmosphere. The result is elevated concentrations of toxic metals in local populations and eco systems. Recently the problem of atmospheric long-range transport of trace metals has also been recognized. Significant amounts of these pollutants are disposed and deposited both on regional and global scales. In the atmosphere they may influence the chemical reactions. Of particular interest is their catalytic effect on the oxidation prosesses taking place in water droplets or on the surface of wet particles (e. g. the oxidation of sulphur dioxide to sulphate), however, the main environmental impact starts when the atmospheric trace metals are deposited on ground and vegetation and subsequently brought into the water circulation. During the later years significant progress has been made in the development of equipment to reduce and control the atmospheric emissions of toxic trace metals. This particularly applies to electrostatic precipitators and wet scrubbers for the collection of fine particles. The main objective of the workshop was to survey present knowledge concerning the sources, atmospheric fluxes, sinks and chemical impact of the atmospheric trace metals, and to review the developments of emission control equipment and the perspectives to reduce the potential risks from toxic metals. During the first two days of the meeting, 15 invited review papers were presented."

The book covers topics confined to dynamical coupling processes in the Earth's lower and middle atmosphere in order to examine progress in a relatively focused area. Nevertheless, the results span spatial scales from molecular to global, and temporal scales from seconds to decades. The unifying theme in all areas is the strong interactions occurring between various scales of motion. The articles represent contributions to a NATO Advanced Research Workshop held in Norway in May 1992. They are written by some of the leading experts in the field and are of interest to specialists in the field of atmospheric dynamics as well as to students at graduate and doctorate levels.

A significant advance in climatological scholarship, Tectonic Uplift and Climate Change is a multidisciplinary effort to summarize the current status of a new theory steadily gaining acceptance in geoscience circles: that long-term cooling and glaciation are controlled by plateau and mountain uplift. Researchers in many diverse fields, from geology to paleobotany, present data that substantiate this hypothesis. The volume covers most of the key, dramatic transformations of the Earth's surface.

Telegraph Best Books of 2021 'A wonderfully enthusiastic guide to how we can all learn how to understand the weather simply by looking and feeling, smelling and touching... scientifically rigorous and accessible' Observer 'Gooley marshals a riveting compendium of weather-reading skills . . . he has plenty of facts at his fingertips with which to excite' The Times The weather changes as we walk around a tree or turn down a street. There is a secret world of weather - one that we all live in, but very few see. Each day we pass dozens of small weather signs that reveal what the weather is doing all around us - and what is about to happen. The clues are easy to spot when you know how, but remain invisible to most people. In The Secret World of Weather you'll discover the simple rules that explain the weather signs. And you'll learn rare skills that enhance every minute you spend outdoors, whether you are in a town, on a beach or in a wilder spot. As the author of the international bestsellers The Walker's Guide and How to Read Water, Tristan Gooley knows how to de-code the phenomena and signs to look for. As he says, 'I want you to get to know these signs as I have, as characters. By studying their habits and behaviours, the signs come to life and the meaning reveals itself. From this flows an ability to read what is happening and what is about to happen.' This is the ultimate guide to exploring an undiscovered world, one that hides in front of our eyes. 'A sensitive study that combines theoretical physics with beautiful nature writing' Telegraph 'This breezy new book reveals how to read nature's very own weather forecast . . . full of fascinating trivia' Daily Mail

Meteorology can seem like a black art with the meteorologist producing forecasts that seem to contradict what you are reading from the charts. "The Sailor's Book of the Weather" takes the confusion out of the forecasts and helps you answer, 'Why is that happening?'

"The Sailor's Book of the Weather" introduces key principles that influence the weather and gives the sailor the tools to forecast from observations and make the most of the available information. Wind, clouds and knowledge of weather patterns and local conditions all contain ample hints to allow the informed mariner to accurately predict the weather.

Illustrated with charts and over 100 beautiful photographs, this book is a must for anyone who ventures onto the water, whatever your vessel or experience. It should be carried aboard every boat and is essential reading whether you are on the water, in land, on the coast or venturing further afield.

This book is intended to give an introduction into the meteorological boundary conditions for power generation from the wind, onshore and offshore. It is to provide reliable meteorological information for the planning and running of this important kind of renewable energy. This includes the derivation of wind laws and wind profile descriptions, especially those above the logarithmic surface layer. Winds over complex terrain and nocturnal low-level jets are considered as well. A special chapter is devoted to the efficiency of large wind parks and their wakes.

Mesometeorology was defined by Ligda in 1951 to include phe- nomena which are too large to be observed by in situ sensors at a single station but too small to be defined adequately by conven- tional station networks. The scientific, economic, and social im- portance of weather events on the scales of 10-1000 km is not a new discovery, but only recently have the weather services, research laboratories, and academic scientists of the world begun to concen- trate attention on these phenomena. An Advanced Study Institute was organized by the present editors to provide a focus and forum for review and dissemination of the current state of basic and ap- plied research across the broad and somewhat indefinite span (see Emanuel's first paper for one version) of this subject. We believe this objective was largely fulfilled, although not all relevant subjects were given attention equal to their perceived significance. The smaller and more intense mesoscale phenomena, especially con- vective clouds and storms, were excellently treated from a variety of viewpoints, while the important area of regional scale simula- tion and prediction received less emphasis. A fascinating discus- sion and mathematical treatment of a seemingly obscure cloud phe- nomena in Australia, the "morning glory", suggests that it may have much more generality and importance than is first apparent. New insights are obtained on the long-puzzling problem of the true nature and significance of turbulent entrainment into cumulus clouds.

Research input constitutes a key component in the development of international environmental regime formation. Science-policy interaction is, however, complex and difficult, particularly because it is an encounter between two distinct systems of behaviour: the scientific ideal of impartiality and disinterestedness and the political reality of interest realisation and strategic behaviour. This study analyses the extent to which and how the institutional framework within which the science-policy dialogue takes place - through conscious design - can be utilised as an instrument to handle obstacles and barriers immanent of science-policy interaction and thereby serve as an instrument to enhance the effectiveness of the dialogue. Also, the impact of actor behaviour, particularly behaviour taking the form of leadership performance, is investigated. This book provides a detailed and in-depth empirical study of science-policy interaction in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) from its establishment in 1988, to the provision of the Second IPCC Assessment Report in 1995. The main focus of the empirical investigation is on Working Group I of the IPCC.

The background This volume contains the proceedings of the first International symposium on "Non-C0 Greenhouse Gases: Why and How to 2 Control?" held in Maastricht, The Netherlands from 13-15 Decem ber 1993. Of the known greenhouse gases, political attention to date has been primarily focused on carbon dioxide (C0 ) and the 2 CFCs - the latter because of their interaction with stratospheric ozone. The other greenhouse gases, notably methane (CH ), nitrous 4 oxide (N 0), HCFCs, HFCs and tropospheric ozone and its precur 2 sors nitrogen oxides (NO), carbon monoxide (CO) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), may appear collectively to be of equal importance for global warming but have attracted less attention. Nevertheless, a comprehensive approach to climate change respon se, taking into account all sources and sinks of all greenhouse gases, is explicitly allowed in the Framework Convention on Clima te Change. The Netherlands' policy on climate already addresses all greenhouse gases. In order to stimulate the development of international climate policy on this subject, the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment supported the initative of organizing an international symposium on the science and policy of the non-C0 greenhouse gases. An important rationale behind 2 this initative was recognizing that for the non-C0 greenhouse 2 gases, abatement options are available that do not only address other environmental problems but that also do not require the major structural changes in society that an effective CO policy 2 may."

Climate Change and Extreme Events uses a multidisciplinary approach to discuss the relationship between climate change-related weather extremes and their impact on human lives. Topics discussed are grouped into four major sections: weather parameters, hydrological responses, mitigation and adaptation, and governance and policies, with each addressed with regard to past, present and future perspectives. Sections give an overview of weather parameters and hydrological responses, presenting current knowledge and a future outlook on air and stream temperatures, precipitation, storms and hurricanes, flooding, and ecosystem responses to these extremes. Other sections cover extreme weather events and discuss the role of the state in policymaking. This book provides a valuable interdisciplinary resource to climate scientists and meteorologists, environmental researchers, and social scientists interested in extreme weather.

This book is the third volume of the proceedings of the 4th GeoShanghai International Conference that was held on May 27 - 30, 2018. This volume, entitled "Rock Mechanics and Rock Engineering" , covers the recent advances and technologies in rock mechanics and rock engineering. These papers are grouped in three categories: (1) Theoretical and numerical study of rock behaviours, (2) Experimental study of rock behaviours, and (3) Applications of rock mechanics and case studies. This volume presents the state-of-the-art theories, methodologies and findings in the related areas. The book may benefit researchers and scientists from the academic fields of rock mechanics and rock engineering, geotechnical engineering, geoenvironmental engineering, transportation engineering, geology, mining and energy, as well as practical engineers from the industry. Each of the papers included in this book received at least two positive peer reviews. The editors would like to express their sincerest appreciation to all of the anonymous reviewers all over the world, for their diligent work.

The book highlights and analyses the distress to buildings caused by sulphate-induced heave, with particular reference to the recent problems in the Dublin area of Ireland. It describes the formation of pyrite, the processes involved in its oxidation and the various ways in which consequential expansion takes place. For the first time in the literature it discusses the way that buildings can be raised above their supporting foundation walls by the expansion of pyritiferous fill which has been used beneath ground-bearing floor slabs in Ireland. The significance of fractures through the iron sulphide microcrystals for the rate and extent of oxidation is discussed. Photographs and profiles of sulphate ingress into concrete/concrete blocks are presented. Case histories from the UK, North America and Ireland are discussed.

This book contains the most recent progress in data assimilation in meteorology, oceanography and hydrology including land surface. It spans both theoretical and applicative aspects with various methodologies such as variational, Kalman filter, ensemble, Monte Carlo and artificial intelligence methods. Besides data assimilation, other important topics are also covered including targeting observation, sensitivity analysis, and parameter estimation. The book will be useful to individual researchers as well as graduate students for a reference in the field of data assimilation.

During the 1980's a wealth of information was reported from field and laboratory experiments in order to validate andlor modify various aspects of the surface layer Monin-Obukhov (M-O) similarity theory for use over the sea, and to introduce and test new concepts related to high resolution flux magnitudes and variabilities. For example, data from various field experiments conducted on the North Sea, Lake Ontario, and the Atlantic experiments, among others, yielded information on the dependence of the flux coefficients on wave state. In all field projects, the usual criteria for satisfying M-O similarity were applied. The assumptions of stationarity and homogeneity was assumed to be relevant over both small and large scales. In addition, the properties of the outer layer were assumed to be "correlated" with properties of the surface layer. These assumptions generally required that data were averaged for spatial footprints representing scales greater than 25 km (or typically 30 minutes or longer for typical windspeeds). While more and more data became available over the years, and the technology applied was more reliable, robust, and durable, the flux coefficients and other turbulent parameters still exhibited significant unexplained scatter. Since the scatter did not show sufficient reduction over the years to meet customer needs, in spite of improved technology and heavy financial investments, one could only conclude that perhaps the use of similarity theory contained too many simplifications when applied to environments which were more complicated than previously thought.

After World War II, Professor S.K. Mitra wrote a comprehensive book called The Upper Atmosphere, which dealt with information available from ground-based and balloon-borne experiments. As a result, topics such as day airglow were investigated and further ground-based experiments using incoherent back-scattering were carried out. These activities resulted in new information on the ozonosphere.

The dramatic discovery of ozone holes forms a new and exciting chapter in the discovery of atmospheric processes. While dealing with the limits of the atmosphere, reference may be made to interstellar molecules whose discovery has raised considerable scientific curiosity. Knowledge of the solar-terrestrial relationship advanced a great deal when more information on solar radiation became available by measuring higher energy photons in the UV, EUV, and even X-ray regimes.

All this information is incorporated in this volume and presented under the title The Neutral Upper Atmosphere.

One challenge in atmospheric chemistry is understanding the intercontinental transport and transformation of gases and aerosols. This book describes observational and modeling techniques used to understand atmospheric composition from satellites, aircraft and ground based platforms. Common ideas presented throughout are the role of each component in an observing system for atmospheric composition, and advances necessary to improve understanding of atmospheric composition.