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.

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."

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 provides a critical update of the most recent and innovative developments of avalanche science. It aims at re-founding avalanche science on clear scientific bases, from field observations and experiments up to mathematical and physical analysis and modeling. In this respect, it stands in a still unoccupied but fundamental niche amidst the abundant avalanche literature. In the current context of a accelerated climate warming, the book also discusses possible evolutions of snow cover extent and stability. It also shows how the present analysis can be extended, in mountainous areas, to other gravitationally induced phenomena that are likely to take over from avalanches under specific circumstances. The text is supported by online links to field experiments and lectures on triggering mechanisms, risk management, and decision making.

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.

It's the hottest day of the year, the perfect day for a boy and his grandad to set off on an adventure - and the perfect day to share a picnic with pirates!

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.

Global change due to natural processes and anthropogenic activity as well as the natural variability of the climate system will impact all areas of the globe. However, the impact will not be uniform and different impacts of differing magnitude and nature will be felt in various regions of the globe. The Mediterranean region, like other regions of the world, will face some unique and different impacts. The uniqueness and difference in the Mediterranean are to be expected given some special dynamical, chemical, biological, and land characteristics of the region. The Mediterranean region is often exposed to multiple stresses, such as a simultaneous water shortage and air pollution. This is a consequence of its unique location and emissions. One of the common stresses in North Africa is water shortage and distribution amongst the seasons. Air pollution can often add to the water stress. Air pollution occurs due to emissions in the region as well as from those transported from other areas and can occur when there is low water availability. Multiple stresses are likely to grow in the future when human induced stress is likely to increase due to the rapid industrialization of the region. This NATO workshop was set up to discuss these issues in general, and the influence of chemical emissions and transformation in particular. This workshop was special because it involved a very large number of scientists (>75%) from the region, either from North Africa or the Mediterranean Europe. Many key issues, some of which are specific to this region, were identified. Details of the findings and suggestions are presented in the articles in this volume. The workshop was held in Marrakech, Morocco, from 23rd to 26th November 2006.

This book presents decade-long advances in atmospheric research in the Mackenzie River Basin in northern Canada, which encompasses environments representative of most cold areas on Earth. Collaborative efforts have yielded knowledge entirely transferable to other high latitude regions in America, Europe and Asia. This book complements the first volume coming from the GEWEX project, dealing with the region's atmospheric dynamics.

Terrestrial carbon balance is uncertain at the regional and global scale. A significant source of variability in mid-latitude ecosystems is related to the timing and duration of phenological phases. Spring phenology, in particular, has disproportionate effects on the annual carbon balance. However, the traditional phenological indices that are based on leaf-out and flowering times of select indicator species are not universally amenable for predicting the temporal dynamics of ecosystem carbon and water exchange.

Phenology of Ecosystem Processes evaluates current applications of traditional phenology in carbon and H2O cycle research, as well as the potential to identify phenological signals in ecosystem processes themselves. The book summarizes recent progress in the understanding of the seasonal dynamics of ecosystem carbon and H2O fluxes, the novel use of various methods (stable isotopes, time-series, forward and inverse modeling), and the implications for remote sensing and global carbon cycle modeling.

Each chapter includes a literature review, in order to present the state-of-the-science in the field and enhance the book's usability as an educational aid, as well as a case study to exemplify the use and applicability of various methods. Chapters that apply a specific methodology summarize the successes and challenges of particular methods for quantifying the seasonal changes in ecosystem carbon, water and energy fluxes. The book will benefit global change researchers, modelers, and advanced students.

Get your umbrella, your sun hat and your snowshoes ready for this thrill-packed journey through the world of weather. Find out about different climates and weather patterns; discover the processes that drive them; learn the secrets of forecasting the weather and read about record-breaking weather and weird weather events, such as 'animal rain', 'ice bombs', 'ball lightning' and much more. This title also looks at the hot topics of pollution and climate change - how human activity can affect the weather, the impact of global warming and, most importantly, what we can all do to help. It's packed with fascinating facts and stories that will bring the extraordinary world of weather to life, making it perfect for budding meteorologists, young and old! Contents includes: Daily Weather Seasons and Climate Extreme and Amazing Weather Using the Weather The Weather is Changing About Lonely Planet Kids: Lonely Planet Kids - an imprint of the world's leading travel authority Lonely Planet - published its first book in 2011. Over the past 45 years, Lonely Planet has grown a dedicated global community of travellers, many of whom are now sharing a passion for exploration with their children. Lonely Planet Kids educates and encourages young readers at home and in school to learn about the world with engaging books on culture, sociology, geography, nature, history, space and more. We want to inspire the next generation of global citizens and help kids and their parents to approach life in a way that makes every day an adventure. Come explore!