Weather: A Visual Guide (Visual Guides) - Hardcover

Buckley, Bruce; Hopkins, Edward; Whitaker, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1552979571 ISBN 13: 9781552979570

Publisher: Firefly Books, 2004

Synopsis

An introductory guide to understanding weather and its effect on our lives.

It is human nature to try to understand, predict and control the weather that affects crops, wildlife...even one's mood. The world's favorite topic of conversation is also the subject of increasing scientific study.

Weather explores how weather works and its effect at a local and global level, revealing the importance of climate in determining landscape, flora and fauna, and the overall quality of our lives.

Using dramatic never-before-published aerial and satellite photography, this book provides up-to-the-minute information about a fascinating spectrum of natural phenomena:

• Extreme weather such as tornadoes and hurricanes
• Natural events that affect the weather
• Forecasting and predicting weather
• How weather affects life on Earth
• Climate change.

Colorful diagrams provide at-a-glance understanding about complex issues with explanations for interpreting weather signs and charts. Weather simplifies the many aspects of climate with easy-to-understand text and lively illustrations.

About this title

About the Author

Bruce Buckley is a senior meteorologist who has worked in the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and as chief meteorologist on television for Australia's Weather Channel.

Edward J. Hopkins is a lecturer in the Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences at the University of Wisconsin, and is a weather education consultant with the American Meteorological Society.

Richard Whitaker is a meteorological consultant who provides services to businesses, governments and educational organizations. He is a former manager of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology's commercial unit in New South Wales.

Reviews

Adult/High School–A comprehensive academic resource with information and glorious color photographs on virtually every aspect of weather. Although written by three different meteorologists, the text flows seamlessly from one topic to another. Grouped in broad subject areas, spreads cover what makes weather, weather extremes, watching the weather, and current and changing global climate. The thoroughly labeled photos show seemingly every type of weather on every continent and the Earth from outer space. Clear, colorful graphics clarify concepts that cannot be shown in photographs, such as the energy cycle or types of lightning. Approximately three-fourths of this volume is devoted to these outstanding images. The print is small, providing more information than one might expect. The content goes beyond simple weather to include a discussion of climate and its effect on the flora and fauna of a region. An excellent resource. –Claudia Moore, W. T. Woodson High School, Fairfax, VA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

The meteorologist authors of Weather set the local and seasonal conditions that every person experiences within the context of the global forces that generate weather. Each force, such as giant atmospheric convection cells, is illustrated with a combination of a diagram, satellite photographs, ground-level photographs (often depicting the destruction wrought by violent storms), and info-laden captions. The immediate manifestations of these cells, all torqued by the earth's rotation, are the moving cold and warm fronts that produce winds, clouds, and precipitation. The book's imagery depicts these phenomena in detail and establishes for readers a factual and even aesthetic foundation for further exploration. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

As Mark Twain said, "The weather is always doing something." It is, indeed, a phenomenon of universal interest and fascination, as well as research and scholarship. The beauty of an unusual cloud, the symmetry of a rainbow, the awesome power of a thunderstorm and the devastation of a hurricane -- all suggest a mighty power with influence over human affairs. Not surprisingly, early humans explained changes in weather as the actions of sky-gods who could reward or punish at will. Only in the last two centuries or so have scientific reasoning and experiment been used to explain the nature and causes of weather and to forecast its behavior. As this process developed, it was realized that because weather is a global phenomenon, international endeavor is required to understand and predict it. Unprecedented cooperation today provides one of the finest examples of international synergy united in a common cause.

But this book begins well before that. It traces long-term climate change over Earth's 4600 million-year history; explains the complex atmospheric forces that influence weather; examines the complex atmospheric forces the influence weather; examines the diversity of climate throughout the world and how plants, animals and people have adapted to it; analyzes the factors that interact to create violent weather extremes; and review the latest research into current climate change. This weather odyssey is one of the more remarkable chapters in the story of humanity -- one that the reader will enjoy sharing.

Edition details

• Publisher: Firefly Books
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1552979571
• ISBN 13: 9781552979570
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304