The Handy Weather Answer Book

Kevin Hile

Description

Hurricanes and Tornadoes. Climate Change. Global Warming. Droughts and so much more. Answers to over 1,000 questions about the basic elements of weather, the latest advances in meteorology, the science of forecasting, and all types of weather phenomena.

Weather. We all talk about it – some more expertly than others. With The Handy Weather Answer Book, anyone can master this compelling conversation starter, whether it’s weather basics, climate change, the science of meteorology, or the history of weather forecasting. You will come to understand hurricanes, tornadoes, global warming, and such fascinating weather-related phenomena as the northern lights and El Niño.

This comprehensive reference addresses all aspects of weather in an accessible question-and-answer format. Relationships between weather and oceanography, geology, and space science are expertly covered, including answers to such questions as …

What’s the difference between “partly sunny” and “partly cloudy”?

Can a rainbow appear during the night?

Could our oceans have originated in space?

How does Central America affect the climate in England?

What the heck is bioclimatology?

Are humans really responsible for climate change?

Has a hurricane ever struck southern California?

Climate change and weather affect us all, and The Handy Weather Answer Book, with its hard science facts, fascinating trivia, and accessible Q&A dialog, ensures that readers will understand the complexities of our planet’s dynamic atmosphere a lot better. This resource is an ideal reference for everyone from students to teachers to amateur meteorologists. With more than 100 color photos and illustrations, this tome is richly illustrated, and its helpful bibliography and extensive index add to its usefulness.

Sujets

• Sciences de la nature
• Sciences de la terre
• Science de la Terre
• Science
• Référence
• General
• Meteorology
• Weather
• Climatology
• General officer
• St. Elmo's fire
• Reference
• Earth science
• Sciences et techniques
• Earth Sciences

Informations

• Publié par: Visible Ink Press
• Date de parution: 01 août 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781578593323
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 4 Mo

Extrait

About the Author

Kevin Hile is a Michigan-based author and editor who has written books on a wide range of subjects. His authored titles include Animal Rights, The Trial of Juveniles as Adults, Dams and Levees, Cesar Chavez, Centaurs, Ghost Ships, ESP , and Little Zoo by the Red Cedar: The Story of Potter Park Zoo . As an editor, he has worked with Visible Ink on a variety of science-related books, including The Handy Math Answer Book, The Handy Geology Answer Book, The Handy Anatomy Answer Book , and The Handy Anatomy Answer Book . He lives in Mason, Michigan.
A LSO FROM V ISIBLE I NK P RESS
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The Handy Biology Answer Book by James Bobick, Naomi Balaban, Sandra Bobick, and Laurel Roberts ISBN: 978-1-57859-150-3
The Handy Dinosaur Answer Book, 2nd edition by Patricia Barnes-Svarney and Thomas E Svarney ISBN: 978-1-57859-218-0
The Handy Geography Answer Book, 2nd edition by Paul A. Tucci and Matthew T. Rosenberg ISBN: 978-1-57859-215-9
The Handy Geology Answer Book by Patricia Barnes-Svarney and Thomas E. Svarney ISBN: 978-1-57859-156-5
The Handy History Answer Book, 2nd edition by Rebecca Nelson Ferguson ISBN: 978-1-57859-170-1
The Handy Math Answer Book by Patricia Barnes-Svarney and Thomas E Svarney ISBN: 978-1-57859-171-8
The Handy Ocean Answer Book by Patricia Barnes-Svarney and Thomas E Svarney ISBN: 978-1-57859-063-6
The Handy Philosophy Answer Book by Naomi Zack ISBN: 978-1-57859-226-5
The Handy Physics Answer Book by P. Erik Gundersen ISBN: 978-1-57859-058-2
The Handy Politics Answer Book by Gina Misiroglu ISBN: 978-1-57859-139-8
The Handy Religion Answer Book by John Renard ISBN: 978-1-57859-125-1
The Handy Science Answer Book™ Centennial Edition by The Science and Technology Department Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh ISBN: 978-1-57859-140-4
The Handy Supreme Court Answer Book by David L Hudson, Jr. ISBN: 978-1-57859-196-1
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Copyright © 2009 by Visible Ink Press ®
This publication is a creative work fully protected by all applicable copyright laws, as well as by misappropriation, trade secret, unfair competition, and other applicable laws.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who wishes to quote brief passages in connection with a review written for inclusion in a magazine, newspaper, or web site.
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Managing Editor: Kevin S. Hile Art Director: Mary Claire Krzewinski Typesetting: Marco Di Vita Proofreaders: Amy Marcaccio Keyser
ISBN 978-1-57859-221-0
Cover images: iStock.com
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hile, Kevin.    The handy weather answer book / Kevin Hile.-2nd ed.       p. cm.    Includes bibliographical references and index.    ISBN-13: 978-1-57859-221-0    ISBN-10:1-57859-221-6       1. Meteorology-Miscellanea. 2. Weather–Miscellanea.    3. Climatology–Miscellanea. I. Title.    QC870H55 2009    551.6–dc22
2009012140
Printed in the United States of America
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
I NTRODUCTION
A CKNOWLEDGMENTS
I NDEX
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
CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate Basics
Ice Ages
Global Warming
MODERN METEOROLOGY
Forecasting
Radar
Satellites
Careers in Meteorology
Introduction
I t is no exaggeration to say that weather affects everything we do in our lives. Weather influences how we dress, changes our plans for outdoor activities, cancels sporting events, closes airports, changes the course of wars, erodes mountains, destroys entire towns and cities, and has even been blamed for the death of U.S. President William Henry Harrison and the fiery 1986 crash of the Space Shuttle Challenger.
While inclement weather might cause us discomfort or even death, our very lives depend on it to sustain agriculture and to keep our bodies healthy. Without weather, the Earth’s atmosphere would remain stagnant, rivers and lakes would dry up, and it would be hard to imagine any life thriving on our planet’s continents and islands. On the lighter side, weather provides us with a lot of fun: because of weather, we can fly a kite, go skiing, have a snowball fight, or experience the simple joy of splashing in a fresh puddle of rain water.
Because of its power and potential for both harm and good, the weather has been a subject of intense interest and scrutiny by human beings since ancient times. The American humorist Mark Twain once said, “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it.” That’s not entirely true. People have tried to predict it, even manipulate and change it, for thousands of years, but usually to know great effect. Native American shamans, for example, were known for performing “rain dances” in the hope of causing rain to fall; rain dances have been a cultural part of many other civilizations, too, ranging from ancient Egypt to modern-day life in the Balkans. The ancient Greeks considered weather so important that control of rain and lightning was accredited to Zeus, the king of the gods. The Greeks would therefore pray to Zeus on matters regarding the weather. Of course, with the establishment of the monotheistic religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, control of the weather was regarded as something only God could command.
Philosophers and scientists have long struggled to comprehend the complexities of the weather. Early Greeks, such as Aristotle and Theophrastus of Eresus, mixed in a good deal of conventional wisdom and traditional beliefs with their own efforts to explain and predict weather. With the Renaissance, the Age of Reason, and the Industrial Revolution, science, with the aid of more sophisticated instruments ranging from thermometers and barometers to satellites and Doppler radar, began to measure and analyze the weather more precisely and come up with better theories about cloud formation, temperature, air pressure, and so on.
Despite steadily improving modern technology, predicting the weather is still, in many ways, a haphazard occupation. Some people joke that meteorologists are the only professionals who can keep their jobs and still be wrong half the time. This is really an unfair criticism, though, because modern meteorology has made notable improvements in the critical discipline of predicting severe weather, including hurricanes and tornadoes. Because of efforts by such organizations as the National Weather Service, many lives have been saved in recent decades.
Yet it seems unlikely that we will ever get to the point of being able to predict the weather with 100 percent accuracy. Indeed, according to chaos theory, this is an impossible goal. If, as has been said, a butterfly flapping its wings in China can eventually give birth to a tornado in Oklahoma, what chance do we have of predicting the weather? Because this task seems so hopeless, some people have tried to change the weather directly. For example, scientists have studied cloud seeding with the goal of making it rain in places experiencing prolonged droughts.
Humanity has, indeed, changed the weather. But, as most environmentalists assert, we have done so mostly by accident, and not necessarily for the better. Climate change, ozone holes, and global warming have become catch phrases that inspire great concern among scientists, politicians, and people in general. The pollution of our modern civilization, including carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, methane, CFCs, and other chemical compounds resulting from industry, agriculture, automobiles, and other sources have been blamed. Many worry that if we don’t do something immediately, sea levels will rise, droughts and violent storms will plague humanity, and mass population migrations will result in wars over land, food, and other resources. Still others believe that we are already past the point of no return and climate change is already here today.
Without a firm grasp of meteorology, climatology, hydrology, and other related fields, it is easy to feel ignorant and overwhelmed about what is going on in the current debates on our changing weather. The Handy Weather Answer Book is designed to answer your questions in an easy-to-understand format. T