THE HANDY WEATHER ANSWER BOOK

By JOSHUA CLARK

WEATHER FUNDAMENTALS TERMS TO KNOW … ORGANIZATIONS … MEASUREMENTS … EARLY WEATHER HISTORY … THE SEASONS THE ATMOSPHERE ATMOSPHERE BASICS … AIR AND AIR PRESSURE … LAYERS OF THE ATMOSPHERE … THE OZONE LAYER … WIND … WIND STORMS HEAT AND COLD MEASURING TEMPERATURE … HEAT … COLD CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION CLOUDS … PRECIPITATION … HUMIDITY … FLOODS … ICE, SNOW, HAIL, AND FROST STORMY WEATHER BLIZZARDS AND AVALANCHES … HURRICANES, MONSOONS, AND TROPICAL STORMS … FLOODS … TORNADOES ATMOSPHERIC PHENOMENA LIGHTNING … THUNDER AND THUNDERSTORMS … RAINBOWS AND OTHER COLORFUL PHENOMENA GEOGRAPHY, OCEANOGRAPHY, AND WEATHER PLATE TECTONICS … RAIN, ICE, AND GEOGRAPHY … VOLCANOES … OCEANOGRAPHY AND WEATHER … OCEAN CURRENTS WEATHER IN SPACE THE MOON … THE SUN … SUNSPOTS AND SOLAR ACTIVITY … THE MAGNETIC FIELD … VAN ALLEN BELTS … NEUTRINOS … COSMIC RAYS … METEORS, METEORITES, ASTEROIDS, AND COMETS HUMANITY AND THE WEATHER HUMANITY’S IMPACT … GENERAL POLLUTION FACTS … AIR POLLUTION … WATER POLLUTION … RADIATION CONTENTS CLIMATE CHANGE CLIMATE BASICS … ICE AGES … GLOBAL WARMING TERMS TO KNOW WHAT IS WEATHER? WEATHER IS DEFINED AS THE STATE OF THE ATMOSPHERE AT A GIVEN LOCATION AND OVER A REL- ATIVELY SHORT PERIOD OF TIME WHAT FACTORS AFFECT THE WEATHER? IT HAS BEEN SAID THAT A BUTTERFLY FLAPPING ITS DELICATE WINGS IN CHINA WILL SET OFF A SERIES OF EVENTS THAT WILL EVENTUALLY RESULT IN A HURRICANE IN THE GULF COAST WEATH- ER IS EXTREMELY COMPLEX, SO MUCH SO THAT WEATHER FORECASTING IS A HIGHLY SPECULA- TIVE PROFESSION SOME PEOPLE JOKE THAT BEING A WEATHER BROADCASTER IS THE ONLY JOB YOU CAN FIND WHERE YOU CAN BE WRONG HALF THE TIME AND STILL STAY EMPLOYED WEATH- ER IS AFFECTED BY TEMPERATURE, ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION, LAND FORMATIONS, RADIATION, PLATE TECTONICS, GEOTHERMIC ENERGY, SOLAR WINDS, BIOLOGICAL PROCESSES FROM PLANTS AND ANIMALS, POLLUTION, AND MORE ALL OF THESE FACTORS ARE CONSIDERED IN THIS BOOK WHAT IS METEOROLOGY? METEOROLOGY IS THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF THE WEATHER AND, MORE SPECIFICALLY, HOW CHANGES IN THE WEATHER MAY BE FORECASTED WHAT IS HYDROLOGY? HYDROLOGY IS THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF EARTH’S WATER SUPPLIES, HOW THEY ARE DISTRIBUTED, AND HOW THEY MOVE AND CHANGE HYDROLOGISTS ARE PEOPLE CONCERNED WITH WATER RESOURCES, AND THEIR WORK HAS APPLICATIONS RANGING FROM CIVIL ENGINEERING AND CITY PLANNING TO ENVIRONMENTALISM AND CONSERVATION