Weather, Climate and Climate Change:Human PerspectivesDescription |
A timely and accessible analysis of one of the most contentious issues facing the world today - the processes and consequences of natural and human induced changes in both the structure and function of the climate system. Integrating the latest scientific developments throughout, the text centres on climate change control, addressing how weather and climate impact on environment and society.  |
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Features |
- An introductory examination of the major components of the climate system including: the impact of mass energy on wind motion, atmosphere/ocean interactions, synoptic weather systems, local and urban climates, air pollution episodes, ice cores and ice ages, global warming and climate extremes including drought, storm and flood.
- Detailed analysis of how future weather and climates can be modelled.
- Investigates climate and climate change within a regional framework and through the examination of the climate of high, middle and low latitudes.
- Case studies illustrate and synthesise the main themes within the text.
- A chapter on climate-human adjustment draws on case studies from both the developed and developing world to explore critical issues such as the varying adaptive capacity, vulnerability and risk of regions and societies to extreme weather events.
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Table of Contents |
1. Introduction
2. Mass Components of the Climate System
3. Energy in the Climate System
4. Motions of the Climate System
5. Ocean-Atmosphere Interactions
6. Changes in the Climate System
7. Modelling the Climate System
8. Weather, Climate and Climate Change of the High Latitudes
9. Weather, Climate and Climate Change of the Mid Latitude Oceanic Margins
10. Weather, Climate and Climate Change of the Mid Latitude Continental Interiors
11. Weather, Climate and Climate Change of the Low Latitudes
12. Human Adjustment to Climate Change
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Back Cover |
Weather, Climate and Climate Change: Human Perspectives provides an up-to-date and accessible analysis of one of the most crucial and contentious issues facing the world today - the processes and consequences of natural and human-induced changes in the structure and function of the climate system. The theory of, and evidence for, climate change forms a central role in the text along with how weather and climate impacts on environment and society. Examining the issues as a continuum, the authors present an argument that is both highly topical and contextualised for students and academics alike. Features include: - An introductory examination of the major components of the climate system including coverage of the impact of mass and energy on wind motion, atmosphere/ocean interactions, synoptic weather systems, local and urban climates, air pollution episodes, ice cores and ice ages, global warming and climate extremes including drought, storm and flood.
- A detailed analysis of how future weather and climates can be modelled.
- An investigation of climate and climate change within a regional framework and through the examination of the climate of high, middle and low latitudes.
- Case studies which illustrate and synthesise the main themes within the text.
- A chapter on 'Climate-human adjustment' which draws on case studies from both the developed and the developing world to explore critical issues such as the varying adaptive capacity, vulnerability and risk of regions and societies to extreme weather events.
- Latest scientific developments which are integrated in context throughout the text.
Weather, Climate and Climate Change will be essential reading to students, academics and professionals in the fields of climate, meteorology and global climate change and of broader interest to those in physical geography and environmental studies/science in general. Greg O'Hare is Professor of Geography at the University of Derby. John Sweeney is Senior Lecturer in Geography at National University of Ireland, Maynooth, Ireland. Rob Wilby is the Climate Change Science Manager at the Environment Agency, having taken leave of absence from the Department of Geography, King's College London. |
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Reader Review(s) |
This is a very good text. It has two main aspects strongly in its favour. firstly, the production and layout are inviting. There are numerous diagrams and illustrations (and two excellent full-colour plate sections), text boxes going into more detail on topics and providing case studies, sets of key ideas to provide an overview and the usual references, questions and web section at the end. Secondly, the topics have been re-arranged in such a way as to better prepare the novice which added considerably to the book's readability. Experts might want to look at quite restricted areas but beginners tend to think in broad terms and simple questions. By having the first portion look at broad concepts and the second to look at regional and local detail, the authors have been able to separate and clarify matters that other texts have, in the past, failed to do. For these reasons this should be seen as an excellent introduction to the topic and deserves a wide readership. Dr Paul S Ganderton, the Teaching Ecology Group's Book Review Editor. "This new perspective by Greg O'Hare and his colleagues is far from tedious and will be valuable for undergraduates seeking a comprehensive, modern, well presented and interesting treatment of atmospheric science in a form that displays human relevance. "The virtue of this book is that it provides in one package a good background on atmospheric processes, regional climates, climate change and human implications." "This attractive volume provides a fine entree to modern climatology, and it should stimulate students to delve further into this increasingly vibrant area." Andrew Goudie - Master of St Cross College, Oxford Times Higher Education Supplement May 27 2005 p. XXII |
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