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Books > Earth & environment > Earth sciences > Meteorology
Shall we take an umbrella... or evacuate the city? The Weather Machine is about a miraculous-but-overlooked invention that helps us through our daily lives - and sometimes saves them - by allowing us to see into the future.
When Superstorm Sandy hit North America, weather scientists had predicted its arrival a full eight days beforehand, saving countless lives and astonishing us with their capability. Their skill is unprecedented in human history and draws on nearly every major invention of the last two centuries: Newtonian physics, telecommunications, spaceflight and super-computing.
In this gripping investigation, Andrew Blum takes us on a global journey to explain this awe-inspiring feat - from satellites circling the Earth, to weather stations far out in the ocean, through some of the most ingenious minds and advanced algorithms at work today. Our destination: the simulated models they have constructed of our planet, which spin faster than time, turning chaos into prediction, offering glimpses of our future with eery precision.
This collaborative invention spans the Earth and relies on continuous co-operation between all nations - a triumph of human ingenuity and diplomacy we too often shrug off as a tool for choosing the right footwear each morning. But in this new era of extreme weather, we may come to rely on its maintenance and survival for our own.
In Resilience: The Science of Adaptation to Climate Change leading
experts analyze and question ongoing adaptation interventions.
Contributions span different disciplinary perspectives, from law to
engineering, and cover different regions from Africa to the
Pacific. Chapters assess the need for adaptation, highlighting
climate change impacts such as sea level rise, increases in
temperature, changing hydrological variability, and threats to food
security. The book then discusses the state of global legislation
and means of tracking progress. It reviews ways to build resilience
in a range of contexts- from the Arctic, to small island states, to
urban areas, across food and energy systems. Critical tools for
adaptation planning are highlighted - from social capital and
ethics, to decision support systems, to innovative finance and risk
transfer mechanisms. Controversies related to geoengineering and
migration are also discussed. This book is an indispensable
resource for scientists, practitioners, and policy makers working
in climate change adaptation, sustainable development, ecosystem
management, and urban planning.
Energy and Climate Change: An Introduction to Geological Controls,
Interventions and Mitigations examines the Earth system science
context of the formation and use of fossil fuel resources, and the
implications for climate change. It also examines the historical
and economic trends of fossil fuel usage and the ways in which
these have begun to affect the natural system (i.e., the start of
the Anthropocene). Finally, the book examines the effects we might
expect in the future looking at evidence from the "deep time" past,
and looks at ways to mitigate climate change by using negative
emissions technology (e.g. bioenergy and carbon capture and
storage, BECCS), but also by adapting to perhaps a higher than "two
degree world," particularly in the most vulnerable, developing
countries. Energy and Climate Change is an essential resource for
geoscientists, climate scientists, environmental scientists, and
students; as well as policy makers, energy professionals, energy
statisticians, energy historians and economists.
Climate change is a major challenge facing modern society. The
chemistry of air and its influence on the climate system forms the
main focus of this book. Vol. 2 of Chemistry of the Climate System
takes a problem-based approach to presenting global atmospheric
processes, evaluating the effects of changing air compositions as
well as possibilities for interference with these processes through
the use of chemistry.
The Indian Ocean and its Role in the Global Climate System provides
an overview of our contemporary understanding of the Indian Ocean
(geology, atmosphere, ocean, hydrology, biogeochemistry) and its
role in the climate system. It describes the monsoon systems,
Indian Ocean circulation and connections with other ocean basins.
Climatic phenomena in the Indian Ocean are detailed across a range
of timescales (seasonal, interannual to multi-decadal).
Biogeochemical and ecosystem variability is also described. The
book will provide a summary of different tools (e.g., observations,
modeling, paleoclimate records) that are used for understanding
Indian Ocean variability and trends. Recent trends and future
projections of the Indian Ocean, including warming, extreme events,
ocean acidification and deoxygenation will be detailed. The Indian
Ocean is unique and different from other tropical ocean basins due
to its geography. It is traditionally under-observed and
understudied, yet plays a fundamental role for regional and global
climate. The vagaries of the Asian monsoon affect over a billion
people and a third of the global population live in the vicinity of
the Indian Ocean. It is also particularly vulnerable to climate
change, with robust warming and trends in heat and freshwater
observed in recent decades. Advances have recently been made in our
understanding of the Indian Ocean’s circulation, interactions
with adjacent ocean basins, and its role in regional and global
climate. Nonetheless, significant gaps remain in understanding,
observing, modeling, and predicting Indian Ocean variability and
change across a range of timescales. As such, this book is the
perfect compendium to any researcher, student, teacher/lecturer in
the fields of oceanography, atmospheric science, paleoclimate,
environmental science, meteorology and geology, as well as policy
managers and water resource managers.
As our planet changes and human population grows, students will see
new examples every year of the devastating impact that geologic and
atmospheric disasters have on communities. Through vibrant and
detailed visuals, engaging writing and extended case studies,
Natural Disasters helps explain the science behind these
catastrophes and the societal factors that shape our responses.
Step-by-step art makes key concepts accessible to all students. And
two case studies in every chapter-covering one North American and
one global example and reinforced through online Guided Learning
Explorations-get students examining the societal factors that help
shape how communities deal with these disasters.
Weather forecasting and climate behavioral analysis have
traditionally been done using complicated physics models and
accompanying atmospheric variables. However, the traditional
approaches lack common tools, which can lead to incomplete
information about the weather and climate conditions, in turn
affecting the prediction accuracy rate. To address these problems,
the advanced technological aspects through the spectrum of
artificial intelligence of things (AIoT) models serve as a budding
solution. Further study on artificial intelligence of things and
how it can be utilized to improve weather forecasting and climatic
behavioral analysis is crucial to appropriately employ the
technology. Artificial Intelligence of Things for Weather
Forecasting and Climatic Behavioral Analysis discusses practical
applications of artificial intelligence of things for
interpretation of weather patterns and how weather information can
be used to make critical decisions about harvesting, aviation, etc.
This book also considers artificial intelligence of things issues
such as managing natural disasters that impact the lives of
millions. Covering topics such as deep learning, remote sensing,
and meteorological applications, this reference work is ideal for
data scientists, industry professionals, researchers, academicians,
scholars, practitioners, instructors, and students.
Climatology in Cold Regions A groundbreaking interdisciplinary
study of cold-region weather systems and their vital role in
predicting climate change across the globe Climatology in Cold
Regions explores the complexities of land-atmospheric interaction
across the Earth's cryosphere, systematically placing soil thawing,
snow melting, surface diabatic heating, and other processes within
the context of broader climatological models. Drawing from a wealth
of new data, leading atmospheric scientist Chenghai Wang
illustrates how cold-region weather systems can be parameterized to
improve seasonal climate prediction and provide crucial insights
into projected changes in climate over the next 50-100 years. The
book opens with an introduction to the characteristics and
classification of cold-region climatology, followed by a detailed
description of the primary weather systems and land surface
processes in cold regions. The core of the book presents a new
approach for seasonal climate prediction using signals obtained
from cryospheric processes, supported by a discussion of climate
disasters and the impact of climate change on the ecology of cold
regions. Introduces a new way of modeling climate in cold regions
Offers novel approaches for assessing climate signals from cold
regions in seasonal and sub-seasonal predictions Presents new data
on the role of cold-region climatology in forecasting and driving
global temperature changes Discusses the role of cold regions as
the main source of global freshwater supply A significant
contribution to climate research and beyond, Climatology in Cold
Regions is essential reading for students, scientists, and
researchers in the atmospheric sciences, meteorology, ecology,
hydrology, and Earth sciences.
Climate Change and Crop Stress: Molecules to Ecosystems expounds on
the transitional period where science has progressed to
'post-genomics' and the gene editing era, putting field performance
of crops to the forefront and challenging the production of
practical applicability vs. theoretical possibility. Researchers
have concentrated efforts on the effects of environmental stress
conditions such as drought, heat, salinity, cold, or pathogen
infection which can have a devastating impact on plant growth and
yield. Designed to deliver information to combat stress both in
isolation and through simultaneous crop stresses, this edited
compilation provides a comprehensive view on the challenges and
impacts of simultaneous stresses.
Precipitation Science: Measurement, Remote Sensing, Microphysics
and Modeling addresses the latest key concerns for researchers in
precipitation science, mainly observing, measuring, modeling and
forecasting. Using case studies and global examples, the book
demonstrates how researchers are addressing these issues using
state-of-the-art methods and models to improve accuracy and output
across the field. In the process, it covers such topics as
discrepancies between models and observations, precipitation
estimations, error assessment, droplet size distributions, and
using data in forecasting and simulations. Other sections cover
improved standard approaches, novel approaches, and coverage of a
variety of topics such as climatology, data records, and more. By
providing comprehensive coverage of the most up-to-date approaches
to understanding, modeling, and predicting precipitation, this book
offers researchers in atmospheric science, hydrology and
meteorology with a comprehensive resource for improving outcomes
and advancing knowledge.
Antarctic Climate Evolution, Second Edition, enhances our
understanding of the history of the world's largest ice sheet, and
how it responded to and influenced climate change during the
Cenozoic. It includes terrestrial and marine geology,
sedimentology, glacier geophysics and ship-borne geophysics,
coupled with results from numerical ice sheet and climate modeling.
The book's content largely mirrors the structure of the Past
Antarctic Ice Sheets (PAIS) program (www.scar.org/science/pais),
formed to investigate past changes in Antarctica by supporting
multidisciplinary global research. This new edition reflects recent
advances and is updated with several new chapters, including those
covering marine and terrestrial life changes, ice shelves, advances
in numerical modeling, and increasing coverage of rates of change.
The approach of the PAIS program has led to substantial improvement
in our knowledge base of past Antarctic change and our
understanding of the factors that have guided its evolution.
The Joint Arctic Weather Stations were five meteorological and
scientific monitoring stations constructed at Resolute, Eureka,
Mould Bay, Isachsen, and Alert with the cooperation of the Canadian
Department of Transport's meteorological branch and the United
States Weather Bureau. From 1947 to the early 1970s as few as four
Canadians and four Americans worked and lived at each of the four
satellite stations, observing and collecting scientific data.This
is the first systematic account of the Joint Arctic Weather
Stations, a project that profoundly shaped state activates and
scientific inquiry in the Arctic Archipelago. Drawing on extensive
archival evidence, unpublished personal memoirs, and interviews
with former employees, The Joint Arctic Weather Stations analyzes
the diplomatic, scientific, social, military, and environmental
dimensions of the program alongside each station as a nexus of
state planning and personal agency. Contrary to previous
scholarship, The Joint Arctic Weather Stations reveals that
Canadian officials sought-and achieved-a firm policy that afforded
effective control of Canada's Arctic while enjoying the advantages
of American contribution to the joint meteorological program. It
explores the changing ways science was conducted over time and how
the details of everyday life at remote stations, from the climate
to leisure activities to debates over alcohol, hunting, and
leadership, shaped the program's effectiveness. An exploration of
the full duration of the Joint Arctic Weather Stations from
high-level planning and diplomacy to personal interactions in the
stations makes this book an essential exploration of collaborative
polar science in the North American Arctic.
Precipitation: Earth Surface Responses and Processes provides
readers with a general and indispensable overview of processing
rainfall processes through radar techniques, numerical models,
geostatistical tools, photogrammetric methods, plots, indexes of
connectivity or rainfall simulations. The handbook follows a clear
and consistent format, and is structured as follows: Introduction
(State-of-the-Art); Part 1. Rainfall and climate/atmosphere; Part
2. Models and applications; Part 3. Rainfall as a key actor playing
the main role affecting different ecosystems. Part 3: Rainfall
affecting the earth surface from different scales and landforms;
Part 4: Rainfall and stormwater quality management in urban and
rural areas. Precipitation is a key factor needed for understanding
landscape evolution and ecosystem services. Knowing the main
precipitation composition, mechanisms and processes allows for
efficient land management plans and ecosystem restoration
activities. However, precipitation shows different responses under
specific environments depending on the climate (from the arid to
the polar areas), parent material, scale (from the raindrops to
catchment scale), intensity, landscape morphologies (soil sealing,
rills, gullies or rivers) or human activities (agriculture or urban
areas). Precipitation: Earth Surface Responses and Processes bring
this information together and provides indispensable material in a
holistic manner for students, scientists and lecturers from
different environmental disciplines such as climatology,
meteorology, geomorphology, hydrology, soil science, geography,
engineering, or ecology.
Observe how weather can drastically change how a single street
looks with this science reader. With images that are easy to
identify and clear, simple sentence structures, this science reader
simplifies scientific concepts for young students as they improve
their reading skills. A fun and easy science experiment and Your
Turn! activity provide more in-depth opportunities for additional
learning. Nonfiction text features include a glossary and an index.
Engage students in learning with this dynamic text!
Urban Heat Island Modeling for Tropical Climates takes into account
the different urban physics in tropical environments, presenting a
way of UHI scaling for tropical cities. Topics include measuring,
modeling and proper mitigation strategies, which account for the
surface energy balance of tropics. Tropical cities are more
susceptible to the effects of projected global warming because of
conditions in tropical climates and the rapid growth of so many
cities in this zone. The need for research on measuring, modeling
and mitigation of UHI effects in tropical cities is of growing
importance. This book walks through the basics of Urban Heat
Islands, including causes, measurement and analysis then expands
upon issues as well as the novel techniques that can be used to
address issues specific to the region.
From ice storms to fire rainbows, this is an A to Z guide to the
earth's spectacular weather phenomena. Each entry has been crafted
by experts at The Royal Meteorological Society, and many are
illustrated with dramatic imagery from their annual Weather
Photographer of the Year competition. As well as providing precise
scientific and geographic detail, the entries often reveal the
folklore that surrounds certain weather events and how they have
affected human culture.
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