A straightforward and fact-based exploration of how weather happens, how it relates to climate, and how science answers major questions about Earth as a system   Climate change is one of the most hotly contested environmental topics of our day. To answer criticisms and synthesize available information, scientists have been driven to devise increasingly complex models of the climate system. This book conveys that the basics of climate and climate change have been known for decades, and that relatively simple descriptions can capture the major features of the climate system and help the general public understand what controls climate and weather, and how both might be changing.   Renowned environmental scientist and educator John D. Aber distills what he has learned from a long fascination with weather and climate, the process of science, and the telling of the story of science. This is not a book about policies and politics. Instead, it explores how weather happens, how it relates to climate, and how science has been used to answer major questions about the Earth as a system and inform policies that have reversed environmental degradation. By providing a guided tour of the science of weather, this thoughtful survey will contribute clarity and rationality to the public understanding of climate change.

Now in its second edition,Climatology continues to provide an up-to-date stimulating and comprehensive guide to the nature of the earth's climate. It presents a synthesis of contemporary scientific ideas about atmospheric circulation. Topics covered include: -Energy systems-The hydrological cycle-General circulation, local and regional climate-Application of climate information-Use of satellite observations

Aristotle's "Meterology Book 4" provides an account of the formation of minerals, metals and other homogeneous stuffs. In doing so, this text argues, it offers us fresh and important insights into Aristotle's conception of matter. The 15,000 pages of the ancient Greek commentators on Aristotle, written mainly between 200 and 600 AD, constitute the largest corpus of extant Greek philosophical writing not translated into English or other European languages. This is a new series of translations, planned in 60 volumes which fills an important gap in the history of European thought.

This book presents an overview of copula theory and its application in hydrology, and provides valuable insights, useful methods and practical applications for multivariate hydrological analysis using copulas. In addition, it extends the traditional bivariate model to trivariate or multivariate models. The specific applications covered include the study of flood frequency analysis, drought frequency analysis, dependence analysis, flood coincidence risk analysis and statistical simulation using copulas. The book offers a valuable guide for researchers, scientists and engineers working in hydrology and water resources, and will also benefit graduate or doctoral students with a basic grasp of copula functions who want to learn about the latest research developments in the field.

Climate, Change and Risk presents an overview of 'extreme' weather related events and our ability to cope with them. It focuses on society's responses, insurance matters and methodologies for the analysis of climatic hazards. Drawing on worldwide research from the leading names in the field this volume explores the changes in weather hazards that might be expected as the global climate changes.

Charting innovative directions in the environmental humanities, this book examines the cultural history of climate change under three broad headings: history, writing and politics. Climate change compels us to rethink many of our traditional means of historical understanding, and demands new ways of relating human knowledge, action and representations to the dimensions of geological and evolutionary time. To address these challenges, this book positions our present moment of climatic knowledge within much longer histories of climatic experience. Only in light of these histories, it argues, can we properly understand what climate means today across an array of discursive domains, from politics, literature and law to neighbourly conversation. Its chapters identify turning-points and experiments in the construction of climates and of atmospheres of sensation. They examine how contemporary ecological thought has repoliticised the representation of nature and detail vital aspects of the history and prehistory of our climatic modernity. This ground-breaking text will be of great interest to researchers and postgraduate students in environmental history, environmental governance, history of ideas and science, literature and eco-criticism, political theory, cultural theory, as well as all general readers interested in climate change.

This is a comprehensive introduction to our present understanding of the electrical nature of thunderstorms for graduate level students of physics and/or meteorology, as well as research scientists. The text systematically discusses the electrical measurements of storms, examines lightning mapping studies in detail, presents many electrical observations in the context of storm structure and evolution, explains modern numerical cloud models of storm electrification, and examines electrical properties of several types of storms and storm systems. The book details the advances made possible by new technologies in a form that is suitable both for students and for professionals in the field.

Mountains, Climate and Biodiversity A comprehensive and up-to-date synthesis for students and researchers Mountains are topographically complex formations that play a fundamental role in regional and continental-scale climates. They are also cradles to all major river systems and home to unique, and often highly biodiverse and threatened, ecosystems. But how do all these processes tie together to form the patterns of diversity we see today? Written by leading researchers in the fields of geology, biology, climate, and geography, this book explores the relationship between mountain building and climate change, and how these processes shape biodiversity through time and space. In the first two sections, you will learn about the processes, theory, and methods connecting mountain building and biodiversity In the third section, you will read compelling examples from around the world exploring the links between mountains, climate and biodiversity Throughout the 31 peer-reviewed chapters, a non-technical style and synthetic illustrations make this book accessible to a wide audience A comprehensive glossary summarises the main concepts and terminology Readership: Mountains, Climate and Biodiversity is intended for students and researchers in geosciences, biology and geography. It is specifically compiled for those who are interested in historical biogeography, biodiversity and conservation.

Global Warming: The Hard Science presents a comprehensive, qualitatively rigorous, and critical discussion of the science underlying the global warming issue. The major processes in the climate system needed to understand projected human-induced climatic change are presented in detail. Observational systems used to monitor changes in the climate system and the ways in which the raw data are analyzed in order to produce estimates of current trends are also critically reviewed. The author discusses the hierarchy of computer models used to project changes in the carbon cycle, in climate, and in sea level and examines the physical principles underlying the greenhouse effect and projected warming. The text also presents a detailed discussion of the carbon cycle, of climate sensitivity, and of projected patterns of climatic change through time. Sea level rise and issues of risk and potential surprises are also critically assessed. Emphasis is placed throughout on developing an intuitive understanding of those results that do not depend on the details of any one computer simulation model. A series of boxes illustrate the key points through step-by-step calculations.

Human activities are significantly modifying the natural global carbon (C) cycles, and concomitantly influence climate, ecosystems, and state and function of the Earth system. Ever increasing amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2) are added to the atmosphere by fossil fuel combustion but the biosphere is a potential C sink. Thus, a comprehensive understanding of C cycling in the biosphere is crucial for identifying and managing biospheric C sinks. Ecosystems with large C stocks which must be protected and sustainably managed are wetlands, peatlands, tropical rainforests, tropical savannas, grasslands, degraded/desertified lands, agricultural lands, and urban lands. However, land-based sinks require long-term management and a protection strategy because C stocks grow with a progressive improvement in ecosystem health.

In 1992, Resources for the Future conducted a workshop concerning the issues of global climate change. This title, originally published in 1993, is a collection of the revised versions of the papers commissioned for the workshop with an added introduction and overview. Each paper emphasises the potential nonlinearities or surprises in physical effects caused by humans loading the atmosphere with greenhouse gases and examines how shifts in the natural environment from climate change may affect human well-being. This collection is a valuable resource for any student interested in environmental studies and climate change issues.

Methane is a powerful greenhouse gas and is estimated to be responsible for approximately one-fifth of man-made global warming. Per kilogram, it is twenty-five times more powerful than carbon dioxide over a 100-year time horizon - and global warming is likely to enhance methane release from a number of sources. Current natural and man-made sources include many where methane-producing micro-organisms can thrive in anaerobic conditions, particularly ruminant livestock, rice cultivation, landfill, wastewater, wetlands and marine sediments. This timely and authoritative book provides the only comprehensive and balanced overview of our current knowledge of sources of methane and how these might be controlled to limit future climate change. It describes how methane is derived from the anaerobic metabolism of micro-organisms, whether in wetlands or rice fields, manure, landfill or wastewater, or the digestive systems of cattle and other ruminant animals. It highlights how sources of methane might themselves be affected by climate change. It is shown how numerous point sources of methane have the potential to be more easily addressed than sources of carbon dioxide and therefore contribute significantly to climate change mitigation in the 21st century.

Providing a comprehensive review of our understanding of the small, high latitude weather systems known as polar lows, Erik Rasmussen and John Turner describe the climatological distribution of these depressions. They cover observational investigations into their structure, the operational forecasting of polar lows and the theoretical research into why they develop. They also discuss the experiments that reveal that some polar lows can be predicted. This book is of value to researchers and professional weather forecasters concerned with polar regions.

This book explores how social, economic and political factors set the stage for Hurricane Andrew by influencing who was prepared, who was hit the hardest, and who was most likely to recover. Employing unique research data the authors analyze the consequences of conflict and competition on disaster preparation, response and recovery, especially where associated with race, ethnicity and gender.

Mountains are water towers of our world, but their role in global water resources may be altered due to changing climate. This book provides an integrated assessment of the spatial and temporal variability of both recent and future climate change impacts in the Yellow River source region (YRSR) with specific focus on extremes. The book is structured across four different topics from detecting contemporary hydro-climatic changes, comparing three different statistical downscaling methods, assessing elevation dependency of expected changes in temperature, and projecting future climate-induced hydrologic changes in the YRSR. The detection of historical hydro-climatic changes in recent decades indicates that climate change may already be happening and may pose a serious threat to water availability in this region. However, an ensemble of climate change projections for the periods 2046-2065 and 2081-2100 based on two GCMs and three emission scenarios demonstrates that the future water availability of this region would increase due to climate change. This discrepancy suggests that contemporary hydro-climatic experience based on past records alone may not always provide a reliable guide to the future. This study makes an important contribution toward an improved understanding of climate change impacts in the YRSR. The knowledge generated has major implications for water resources management in the Yellow River and will be instructive for climate change impacts studies in other mountain areas.

For over 50 years Heavy Weather Sailing has been regarded as the ultimate international authority on surviving storms at sea aboard sailing and motor vessels. In this book, former Commodore of the Ocean Cruising Club Martin Thomas brings together a wealth of expert advice from many of the great sailors of the present, including fresh accounts of yachts overtaken by extreme weather, from Ewan Southby-Tailyour, Alex Whitworth and Dag Pike to Larry and Lin Pardey, Matt Sheahan and Andrew Claughton. The expert advice section has been updated in line with current thinking, with major new additions tackling preventing or coping with lightning strikes, navigating in heavy weather with both paper and electronic charts, the choice and use of tenders in severe weather, and special problems faced by the new generation of foiled cruising boats. For the first time the book also covers the unique challenges presented by weather in high latitudes, with more yachts crossing the Drake Passage and attempting the North West Passage. These revisions ensure that Heavy Weather Sailing is as relevant, useful and instructive for today's sailor venturing offshore as it ever was. This is the definitive book for crews of any size contemplating voyages out of sight of land anywhere in the world, whether racing or cruising. It gives a clear message regarding the preparations required, and the tactics to consider when it comes on to blow.

Forecast Verification: A Practioner's Guide in Atmospheric Science, 2nd Edition provides an indispensible guide to this area of active research by combining depth of information with a range of topics to appeal both to professional practitioners and researchers and postgraduates. The editors have succeeded in presenting chapters by a variety of the leading experts in the field while still retaining a cohesive and highly accessible style. The book balances explanations of concepts with clear and useful discussion of the main application areas.

Reviews of first edition:

"This book will provide a good reference, and I recommend it especially for developers and evaluators of statistical forecast systems." ("Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society"; April 2004)

..".a good mixture of theory and practical applications...well organized and clearly written..." ("Royal Statistical Society," Vol.168, No.1, January 2005)

NEW to the second edition: Completely updated chapter on the Verification of Spatial Forecasts taking account of the wealth of new research in the area New separate chapters on Probability Forecasts and Ensemble Forecasts Includes new chapter on Forecasts of Extreme Events and Warnings Includes new chapter on Seasonal and Climate Forecasts Includes new Appendix on Verification Software

Cover image credit: The triangle of barplots shows a novel use of colour for visualizing probability forecasts of ternary categories - see Fig 6b of Jupp et al. 2011, "On the visualisation, verification and recalibration of ternary probabilistic forecasts," Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. (in press).

This new edition of Andrew Stott s "Comedy" builds on themes presented in the first edition such as focusing on the significance of comic 'events' through study of various theoretical methodologies, including deconstruction, psychoanalysis and gender theory, and provides case studies of a number of themes, ranging from the drag act to the simplicity of slipping on a banana skin. This new edition features:

• updates to reflect new research the field
• new chapters on Women in Comedy and Race and Ethnicity
• a broader range of literary and cultural examples.

Written in a clear and accessible style, this book is ideal introduction to comedy for students studying literature and culture. "

History and Climate Change is a balanced and comprehensive overview of the links between climate and man's advance from early to modern times. It draws upon demographic, economic, urban, religious and military perspectives. It is a synthesis of the many historical and scientific theories, which have arisen regarding man's progress through the ages.
Central to the book is the question of whether climate variation is a fundamental trigger mechanism from which other historical sequences develop, or one amongst a number of other factors, decisive only when a regime/society is poised for change. Evidence for prolonged climate change is not that extensive. But it is clear that climatic variation has regularly played a part in historical development. Paricular attention is here paid to Europe since AD 211.
Cold and warmth, wetness and aridity can create contrary reactions within societies, which can be interpreted in vary different ways by scholars from differenct disciplines. Does climate change exacerbate famine and epidemics? Did climate fluctuation play a part in pivotal historical events such as the mass exodus of Hsuing-nu from China, the pressure of the Huns on the Romans and the genesis of the Crusades? Did the bitter Finnish winter of 1939-40 ensure the ultimate defeat of Hitler? These episodes, and many others are discussed throughout the book in the authors distinctive style, with maps and photographs to illustrate the examples given.

This research volume outlines the scientific foundations that are central to our current understanding of light scattering, absorption and polarization processes involving ice crystals. It also demonstrates how data from satellite remote sensing of cirrus clouds can be combined with radiation parameterizations in climate models to estimate the role of these clouds in temperature and precipitation responses to climate change. Providing a balanced treatment of the fundamentals and applications, this book synthesizes the authors' own work, as well as that of other leading researchers in this area. Numerous illustrations are included, including three-dimensional schematics, to provide a concise discussion of the subject and enable easy visualization of the key concepts. This book is intended for active researchers and advanced graduate students in atmospheric science, climatology, and remote sensing, as well as scholars in related fields such as ice microphysics, electromagnetic wave propagation, geometric optics, radiative transfer and cloud-climate interactions.

Can, and should, liberalism make itself hospitable to a politics which does justice to climate change? To what extent are the values, methods, and assumptions of liberalism adaptable to the challenges raised? Liberal thinking - broadly construed - may dominate the Academy and the political landscape. Are the environmental priorities that are thrown into relief by climate change a threat to it, or are they an opportunity for it to show its worth? This book explores fresh arguments by leading scholars, both of whom are sceptical of liberalism's capacity to meet these challenges, and sympathetic to the project of developing liberal values so as to create a liberal approach that can deliver climate change justice. The chapters appeal to new insights and considerations reveal the complexity of the issues at stake in the real world of climate change politics. They make the political theory of climate change justice available to decision-makers whose practice will determine whether we achieve it. This book was previously published as a special issue of Critical Review of International Social and Political Economy.

A gripping history of the polar continent, from the great discoveries of the nineteenth century to modern scientific breakthroughs Antarctica, the ice kingdom hosting the South Pole, looms large in the human imagination. The secrets of this vast frozen desert have long tempted explorers, but its brutal climate and glacial shores notoriously resist human intrusion. Land of Wondrous Cold tells a gripping story of the pioneering nineteenth-century voyages, when British, French, and American commanders raced to penetrate Antarctica's glacial rim for unknown lands beyond. These intrepid Victorian explorers-James Ross, Dumont D'Urville, and Charles Wilkes-laid the foundation for our current understanding of Terra Australis Incognita. Today, the white continent poses new challenges, as scientists race to uncover Earth's climate history, which is recorded in the south polar ice and ocean floor, and to monitor the increasing instability of the Antarctic ice cap, which threatens to inundate coastal cities worldwide. Interweaving the breakthrough research of the modern Ocean Drilling Program with the dramatic discovery tales of its Victorian forerunners, Gillen D'Arcy Wood describes Antarctica's role in a planetary drama of plate tectonics, climate change, and species evolution stretching back more than thirty million years. An original, multifaceted portrait of the polar continent emerges, illuminating our profound connection to Antarctica in its past, present, and future incarnations. A deep-time history of monumental scale, Land of Wondrous Cold brings the remotest of worlds within close reach-an Antarctica vital to both planetary history and human fortunes.

This book provides essential information on Mexico's Holocene and Anthropocene climate and vegetation history. Considering the geography of Mexico - which is home to a variety of climatic and environmental conditions, from desert and tropical to high mountain climates - this book focuses on its postglacial paleoecology and paleoclimatology. Further, it analyses human intervention since the middle Holocene as a major agent of environmental change. Offering a valuable tool for understanding past climate change and its relationship with present climate change, the book is a must-read for botanists, ecologists, palaeontologists and graduate students in related fields.

This is a timely book in light of increasing concern over global warming and environmental pollution. It describes a simulation system based on sets of computer algorithms for comprehensive analysis of data from global and regional monitoring systems. Chapters in the theoretical part of the book contain descriptions of rigorous algorithms and global environmental models. The applied part considers specific problems of environmental dynamics in areas such as the Arctic and the Caspian-Aral Seas. The purpose of this book is to develop a universal information technology to estimate the state of environmental subsystems functioning under various climatic and anthropogenic conditions. Applied mathematicians, hydrologists, geophysicists, socio-economists and other researchers of global change will find a wealth of information in this book.

INTRODUCTION TO AEROSOL MODELLING Introduction to Aerosol Modelling: From Theory to Code An aerosol particle is defined as a solid or liquid particle suspended in a carrier gas. Whilst we often treat scientific challenges in a siloed way, aerosol particles are of interest across many disciplines. For example, atmospheric aerosol particles are key determinants of air quality and climate change. Knowledge of aerosol physics and generation mechanisms is key to efficient fuel delivery and drug delivery to the lungs. Likewise, various manufacturing processes require optimal generation, delivery and removal of aerosol particles in a range of conditions. There is a natural tendency for the aerosol scientist to therefore work at the interface of the traditional academic subjects of physics, chemistry, biology, mathematics and computing. The impacts that aerosol particles have are linked to their evolving chemical and physical characteristics. Likewise, the chemical and physical characteristic of aerosol particles reflect their sources and subsequent processes they have been subject to. Computational models are not only essential for constructing evidence-based understanding of important aerosol processes, but also to predict change and impact. Whilst existing textbooks provide an overview of theoretical frameworks on which aerosol models are based, there is a significant gap in reference material that provide training in translating theory into code. The purpose of this book is to provide readers with exactly that. In following the content provided in this book, you will be able to reproduce models of key processes that can either be used in isolation or brought together to construct a demonstrator 0D box-model of a coupled gaseous-particulate system. You may be reading this book as an undergraduate, postgraduate, seasoned researcher in the private/public sector or as someone who wishes to better understand the pathways to aerosol model development. Wherever you position yourself, it is hoped that the tools you will learn through this book will provide you with the basis to develop your own platforms and to ensure the next generation of aerosol modellers are equipped with foundational skills to address future challenges in aerosol science.