
Making sense of weather and climate : the science behind the forecasts
Title:
Making sense of weather and climate : the science behind the forecasts
Author:
Denny, Mark, 1953- author.
ISBN:
9780231174923
9780231542869
Personal Author:
Physical Description:
x, 292 pages : illustrations, maps ; 24 cm
Contents:
Feeling the heat -- Local astronomy -- The blue-green planet -- Blackbody radiation -- Heat transfer -- Under the heavens and the seas -- Surface irradiance and surface features -- Long-term orbital effects -- Water cycle -- Oceanic circulations: heat pumps -- El Nino-Southern Oscillation -- The air we breathe -- Compostion and structure -- Absorption and emisssions -- Tropospheric circulations-- Dynamic planet -- Greenhouses and other worlds -- Energy-balanced model for planet Earth -- Snowball Earth -- All change -- General circulation models -- Past and future climate change -- The future -- Oceans of data -- Development of data collection -- Land surface data -- Ocean surface data -- Atmospheric data -- Data from space -- Data storage and transfer -- Statistically speaking -- Statistics are everywhere -- probably -- Measurement error -- Starting conditions and chaos -- Prediction, amid randomness and chaos -- A condensed account of clouds, rain, and snow -- Clouds are crucial -- Clouding the issue -- Fog -- Precipitation -- Thunderstorms -- Weather mechanisms -- The story so far -- A stampede of forces -- Re: lapses -- There's nothing stable in the world -- Uproar's your only music -- Enter the vortex -- Front and center -- Weather extremes, the new normal -- Feeling the heat -- Drought -- In from the cold -- Water, water everywhere -- Storms -- Winds of (mis)fortune -- Climate attribution -- The world of weather forecasting -- Prediciton: forecasts improving rapidly -- The weather industry -- The face of weather forecasting -- Climate for change -- And that wraps up your weather for today.
Abstract:
"How do meteorologists design forecasts for the next day's, the next week's, or the next month's weather? Are some forecasts more likely to be accurate than others, and why? Making Sense of Weather and Climate takes readers through key topics in atmospheric physics and presents a cogent view of how weather relates to climate, particularly climate-change science. It is the perfect book for amateur meteorologists and weather enthusiasts, and for anyone whose livelihood depends on navigating the weather's twists and turns. Making Sense of Weather and Climate begins by explaining the essential mechanics and characteristics of this fascinating science. The noted physics author Mark Denny also defines the crucial differences between weather and climate, and then develops from this basic knowledge a sophisticated yet clear portrait of their relation. Throughout, Denny elaborates on the role of weather forecasting in guiding politics and other aspects of human civilization. He also follows forecasting's effect on the economy. Denny's exploration of the science and history of a phenomenon we have long tried to master makes this book a unique companion for anyone who wants a complete picture of the environment's individual, societal, and planetary impact."--Publisher's description.
Electronic Access:
Rutgers restricted Full text available from JSTOR