The Handy Weather Answer Book

Kevin Hile

Description

Hurricanes and Tornadoes. Climate Change. Global Warming. Droughts and so much more. Answers 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
• Meteorology
• Climatology
• St. Elmo's fire
• Sciences et techniques
• Earth Sciences

Informations

• Publié par: Visible Ink Press
• Date de parution: 01 août 2009
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781578592524
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 27 Mo

Extrait

handy weather FM 4/2/09 9:39 AM Page i
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
sciencerelated 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.handy weather FM 4/2/09 9:39 AM Page ii
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The Handy Science Answer Book™
Centennial EditionThe Handy Geology Answer Book
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VISIT US AT WWW.VISIBLEINK.COMhandy weather FM 4/2/09 9:40 AM Page iii
THE
HANDY
WEATHER
ANSWER
BOOK
SECON D E DI T ION
KEVIN HILE
Detroithandy weather FM 4/2/09 9:40 AM Page iv
®Copyright © 2009 by Visible Ink PressTHE
This publication is a creative work fully protected by all applicable copyright
laws, as well as by misappropriation, trade secret, unfair competition, and otherHANDY applicable laws.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form without permission in writ-WEATHER
ing 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, orANSWER web site.
All rights to this publication will be vigorously defended.BOOK
®Visible Ink Press
43311 Joy Rd., #414
Canton, MI 48187-2075
Visible Ink Press is a registered trademark of Visible Ink Press LLC.
Most Visible Ink Press books are available at special quantity discounts when
purchased in bulk by corporations, organizations, or groups. Customized
printings, special imprints, messages, and excerpts can be produced to meet your
needs. For more information, contact Special Markets Director, Visible Ink
Press, www.visibleink.com, or 734-667-3211.
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
10987654321handy weather FM 4/2/09 9:40 AM Page v
Contents
INTRODUCTION vii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS x
INDEX 309
WEATHER ATMOSPHERIC
FUNDAMENTALS 1 PHENOMENA 159
Terms to Know … Organizations … Lightning … Thunder and Thunderstorms
Measurements … Early Weather History … … Rainbows and Other Colorful
The Seasons Phenomena
THE ATMOSPHERE 25 GEOGRAPHY,
OCEANOGRAPHY,Atmosphere Basics … Air and Air Pressure
… Layers of the Atmosphere … The Ozone AND WEATHER 185
Layer … Wind … Wind Storms Plate Tectonics … Rain, Ice, and Geography
… Volcanoes … Oceanography and
Weather … Ocean Currents
HEAT AND COLD 59
Measuring Temperature … Heat … Cold
WEATHER IN SPACE 205
The Moon … The Sun … Sunspots and
CLOUDS AND Solar Activity … The Magnetic Field … Van
PRECIPITATION 83 Allen Belts … Neutrinos … Cosmic Rays …
Meteors, Meteorites, Asteroids, and CometsClouds … Precipitation … Humidity …
Floods … Ice, Snow, Hail, and Frost
HUMANITY AND
STORMY WEATHER 117 THE WEATHER 235
Blizzards and Avalanches … Hurricanes, Humanity’s Impact … General Pollution
Monsoons, and Tropical Storms … Floods Facts … Air Pollution … Water Pollution
v… Tornadoes … Radiationhandy weather FM 4/2/09 9:40 AM Page vi
CLIMATE CHANGE 257 MODERN
METEOROLOGY 283Climate Basics … Ice Ages … Global
Warming Forecasting … Radar … Satellites …
Careers in Meteorology
vihandy weather FM 4/2/09 9:40 AM Page vii
Introduction
It 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
viithe Industrial Revolution, science, with the aid of more sophisticated instrumentshandy weather FM 4/2/09 9:40 AM Page viii
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 alrea