- ISBN: 9780470418123 | 0470418125
- Cover: Loose-leaf
- Copyright: 9/22/2008
Visualizing Weather and Climate Change will capture the reader's interest in weather and climate and then use that interest to engage them in activities that demonstrate the science that serves as the basis of the discipline. Sections such as Eye on the Atmosphere use beautiful imagery to help them see the atmosphere through the eyes of a meteorologist and ask scientific questions that place significant features in atmospheric context. It also includes expanded coverage of global change and recent phenomena. Chapter summaries, self-tests and critical thinking questions help prepare readers for quizzes and tests while the illustrated case studies offer a wide variety of in-depth examinations that address important issues in the field of environmental science.
Bruce T. Anderson is an Associate Chair of the Department of Geography and Environment at Boston University. He is also an Associate Professor in the Department. He serves as a Research Consultant for the Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment (NECIA) project and heads the Experimental Center for Remote Observations of Production (ECROP). He serves on the Membership Committee for the American Meteorological Society. He has been a National Research Council Fellow and a NOAA Visiting Scientist Fellow. He has over 25 peer-reviewed articles published or in press over the last 5 years and has been the invited speaker at both national and international universities, conferences, and workshops. His research interests include regional impacts of climate variability, large-scale and regional atmospheric dynamics and hydrology, coupled ocean-atmosphere variability, and climate/vegetation interactions and feedbacks. He received his Ph.D. from Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1998 and graduated with a B.S. in Physics from University of California, Santa Barbara in 1994.
1 Introducing Weather and Climate 2
Introducing Weather and Climate 4
Weather 7
Climate 7
What a Scientist Sees: Actual Temperatures and Temperature Departures 10
Weather and Climate 13
Visualizing Weather and Climate 15
Graphs 15
Maps 17
Standard Measurements in Weather and Climate 21
2 The Earth’s Atmosphere 28
Composition of the Atmosphere 30
Radiatively and Chemically Inactive Gases 30
Radiatively and Chemically Active Gases 31
Ozone in the Upper Atmosphere 37
Ozone in the Lower Atmosphere 38
Temperature Structure of the Atmosphere 39
What a Scientist Sees: Temperature Changes Along a Mountain Slope 39
Troposphere 40
Stratosphere 41
The Ionosphere 41
Atmospheric Pressure and Density 43
How Air Pressure and Density Change with Altitude 45
The Ideal Gas Law 46
3 The Earth’s Global Energy Balance 50
Electromagnetic Radiation 52
Radiation and Temperature 55
Solar Radiation 56
Longwave Radiation from the Earth 59
The Global Radiation Balance 59
Geographic Variations in Energy Flow 62
Insolation Over the Globe 62
Net Radiation, Latitude, and the Energy Balance 63
Sensible and Latent Heat Transfer 64
The Global Energy System 66
Solar Energy Losses in the Atmosphere 66
Albedo 67
What a Scientist Sees: Surface Characteristics and Albedo 69
Counterradiation and the Greenhouse Effect 70
Global Energy Budgets of the Atmosphere and Surface 71
Climate and Global Change 74
4 Surface Temperature and Its Variation 82
The Earth’s Rotation and Orbit 84
Earth’s Rotation 84
The Earth’s Revolution Around the Sun 86
Solstice and Equinox 87
Variations in Insolation Over the Globe 90
Solar Heating of Land and Water 96
Air Temperature 99
Urban Heat Island 101
What a Scientist Sees: Urban and Rural Surfaces 103
The Daily Cycle of Air Temperature 104
Daily Insolation and Net Radiation 104
Factors that Influence Daily Temperatures 106
The Annual Cycle of Air Temperature 107
Net Radiation and Temperature 107
Land and Water Contrasts 108
World Patterns of Air Temperature 109
Factors Controlling Air Temperature Patterns 109
Measurement of Air Temperature 112
Applications of Temperature Data 113
5 Atmospheric Moisture 120
Atmospheric Moisture and Precipitation 122
Three States of Water 122
The Hydrosphere and the Hydrologic Cycle 122
The Hydrologic Cycle and Global Water Balance 124
Humidity 126
Specific Humidity 126
Saturation Specific
Humidity 127
Relative Humidity 128
The Adiabatic Process 130
Dry Adiabatic Rate 130
Moist Adiabatic Rate 132
Clouds 133
Cloud Forms 135
Fog 136
What a Scientist Sees: Smog 137
Precipitation 138
Precipitation Processes 139
Types of Precipitation 144
Measuring Precipitation 148
6 Winds 154
Winds 156
Measurement of Wind 157
Winds and Pressure Gradients 159
Winds and Pressure Gradients 159
Pressure and Temperature Gradients 160
Local Winds 161
What a Scientist Sees: Winds and Fire 164
The Coriolis Effect and Winds Aloft 166
The Geostrophic Wind 168
Cyclones and Anticyclones in Upper Air 169
Winds at the Surface 172
Cyclones and Anticyclones at the Surface 173
Divergence and Convergence 175
7 Global Atmospheric and Oceanic Circulation 182
Surface Winds 184
Global Wind and Pressure Patterns 188
Winds Aloft 194
Global Circulation at Upper Levels 195
Jet Streams and the Polar Front 197
Disturbances in the Jet Stream 199
Oceanic Circulation 201
Temperature Layers of the Oceans 202
Surface Currents 202
What a Scientist Sees: Three Images of the Gulf Stream 204
Deep Currents and Thermohaline Circulation 206
Heat and Moisture Transport 208
8 Midlatitude Weather Systems 216
Air Masses 218
Cold, Warm, and Occluded Fronts 222
Midlatitude Anticyclones and Cyclones 225
Anticyclones 225
What a Scientist Sees: Surface Winds and Cloud Cover Associated with Midlatitude Cyclones and Anticylcones 225
Cyclones 226
Midlatitude Cyclones 228
Midlatitude Cyclones and Upper-Air Disturbances 231
Vorticity 232
Cyclone Tracks and Cyclone Families 237
Cold Air Outbreaks 238
9 Tropical Weather Systems 244
Tropical Cyclone Structure 246
Easterly Waves 246
Tropical Cyclones 247
What a Scientist Sees: Rainfall within a Tropical Cyclone 249
Development and Movement of Tropical Cyclones 252
Tropical Cyclone Tracks 253
Impacts of Tropical Cyclones 256
Changes in Weather and Sea Level 256
Impacts on Coastal Communities 260
Changes in Tropical Cyclone Activity 263
10 Thunderstorms and Tornadoes 268
Thunderstorms 270
Air-Mass Thunderstorms 271
Mesoscale Convective Systems 276
Thunder and Lightning 280
Charge Separation 281
Thunder 282
Tornadoes 284
Tornado Characteristics 284
Tornado Development 285
Weather Conditions Leading to Tornado Formation 287
Tornado Alley 287
Tornado Destruction 288
What a Scientist Sees: Doppler Radar Images of Tornadoes 289
Tornado Forecasting 292
11 The Global Scope of Climate 298
Factors Controlling Climate 300
Temperature and Precipitation Regimes 302
Temperature Regimes 302
Precipitation Regimes 303
Seasonality of Precipitation 306
What a Scientist Sees: Drought and Vegetation 306
Climate Classification 309
Overview of Climates 310
Dry and Moist Climates 314
Köppen Climate Classification System 314
12 Climates of the World 320
Low-Latitude Climates 322
Wet Equatorial Climate 322
What a Scientist Sees: Rainforests and Agriculture 323
The Trade-Wind Coastal Climate 324
The Wet-Dry Tropical Climate 325
Monsoon Climates 327
The Dry Tropical Climate 327
Midlatitude Climates 330
The Dry Subtropical Climate 330
Moist Subtropical Climate 332
The Mediterranean Climate 334
The Marine West-Coast Climate 336
Dry Midlatitude Climate 338
Moist Continental Climate 339
High-Latitude Climates 342
Boreal Forest Climate 342
Tundra Climate 343
The Ice Sheet Climate 344
13 Climate Variability 352
Annual to Centennial Climate Variations 354
Historical Record 354
What a Scientist Sees: Ice Cores and Temperature Records 356
Volcanoes 356
El Niño and La Niña 358
Pacific Decadal Oscillation 362
North Atlantic Oscillation 363
Atlantic Thermohaline Circulation 366
Millennial Climate Variations 367
Changes in Earth’s Rotation and Revolution 367
Climate Feedbacks 371
Longwave–Temperature Feedback 371
Water Vapor–Temperature Feedback 372
Ice–Albedo Feedback 373
Cloud-Cover Feedback 374
Biological Feedback 375
Ocean Feedback 378
Geological Feedback 378
14 Human Interaction with Weather and Climate 384
Severe Weather 386
Heat Waves 386
Cold Waves 389
Flooding 390
Severe Climate 395
Drought 395
Famine 396
What a Scientist Sees: Drought and Famine in the Sahel 396
Fire 397
Examples of Changes in Severe Weather 398
Shifts in Climate Regimes 400
Human Impact on Weather and Climate 401
Pollution 401
Land-Cover Change 404
15 Weather Forecasting and Numerical Modeling 412
Local and Synoptic Weather Forecasting 414
Local Weather Forecasting 415
Synoptic Weather Forecasting 420
What a Scientist Sees: Using Visual Information 423
Numerical Weather Forecasting 424
Visualization 426
Operational Weather Forecasting 428
Use of Synoptic Charts 428
Use of the Analog Method 429
Use of Numerical Forecasts 430
Use of Local Observations 431
Watches, Warnings, and Advisories 432
Validation 433
16 Human-Induced Climate Change and Climate Forecasting 440
Greenhouse Gases 442
Changing Chemical Composition of the Atmosphere 443
Sources and Sinks of Anthropogenic CO2 446
Residence Time 448
Future Emissions 449
Numerical Modeling 453
Ocean Models 454
Land-Surface Models 455
Modeling “Experiments” 456
Climate-Change Predictions 458
Global and Regional Temperature Forecasts 458
Global and Regional Precipitation Forecasts 460
Sea-Level Rise 460
Changes in Extreme Weather Events 462
Change in the Thermohaline Circulation 463
What a Scientist Sees: Observed and Predicted Changes in Arctic Sea Ice 463
Other Impacts 464
Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies 465
Appendix
A Units of Measurement and Conversion 472
B The U.S. Standard Atmosphere 473
C Weather Station and Map Symbols 474
D Self-Test Answer Key 475
Glossary 476
Credits 489
Index 493
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