Product Description
METEOROLOGY TODAY has for many years been one of the most widely used and authoritative texts for the introductory meteorology course. This eighth edition sees improvements in flexibility for instructors and strengthened learning solutions for students.Author C. Donald Ahrens has been widely praised for his ability to explain relatively complicated ideas so that even under-prepared students can understand them. The text's clear and inviting narrative is supplemented by numerous pedagogical features that help augment students' understanding. Introductory stories found at the beginning of each chapter draw students naturally into the discussion. In-chapter reviews help students master concepts while they study, and four types of end-of-chapter exercises provide opportunities for everything from further review to in-class discussion questions.In addition to these in-text learning aids, the eighth edition sees a complete integration with CengageNOW, the first assessment-driven and student-centered online learning solution created specifically for this course. CengageNOW uses a series of chapter-specific diagnostic tests to build a personalized learning plan for each student, allowing students to focus their study time on specific areas of weaknesses. Each personalized learning plan directs students to specific chapter sections and concept-driven multimedia tutorials designed to augment their understanding.The new edition is available in its original nineteen chapter "classic" version, or as a "core" version, which features only the most popular sixteen chapters. The "core" version sacrifices none of the detail that the course needs, but eliminates chapters that may not be directly covered in class. Looking for more flexibility? With the Cengage Learning TextChoice custom solution program, instructors can select and reorganize chapters to perfectly match their syllabus, thereby creating the ideal text solution for the course. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Awesome textbook
I am a weather enthusiast, and really want to learn more about weather. Even if you aren't in college, this is a great book to have for review and reading.
Glossy pages brings exquisite class to the book.
Excellent information.
Images are good at describing what you are reading.

Overall rating out of 10 stars
1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 / 9 / (10)

Terrific
Exceeded expectations.since it was a gift, I may want a second copy for myself. ... Read more

Product Description
A humorous and practical guide to the history and science of understanding the weather—plus, how to build your own barometer!

For as long as man has walked upon this earth, he has been forced to survive under the cruel tyranny of weather. Let’s face it: there is no escape. Now, in Man vs. Weather, humorist Dennis DiClaudio offers up the knowledge to beat weather at its own game. Rooting through conventional wisdom, discovered gadgetry, and the advances of science, this book presents the geothermal mechanisms behind weather-related phenomena, the history of humanity’s relationship with the climate, as well as the truth surrounding atmospheric aphorisms. Have no fear: By the time you make your way through this book, you will be able to read, understand, and defend yourself against the elements!

• Is “Red sky at night, sailor’s delight” a helpful saying or just the ramblings of idiotic drunkards who like to rhyme?

• What are these Santa Ana winds that blow out warmly from the desert, and who is this hussy for which they are named?

• What is this Gulf Stream that flows out from Mexico before crossing the Atlantic toward Africa and Europe, and how can a stream cut through the ocean anyway? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Fun series of books
DeClaudio has written several "Guide Books" that are excellent to leave laying around for guests to pick up, turn to any page and get a smile.He has basically taken a subject and then bull dog through the topics that are most apt to make the reader squirm (and laugh out loud).Lots of fun.I'm using the same review of all books in the series.No matter which ones you choose you'll enjoy equally.....bg

An Informal View of Weather
This type of composition may not suit everyone, but I find the very informal presentation, almost smart-alecky in places, humorous and rather refreshing.The author manages to combine hard facts with a youthfully casual candor.I wonder that the editor and publisher let him do it.This is a different way of learning global weather basics and is suitable for both the young and the young at heart.

Excellent conversation starter.
Anyone who knows me personally can tell you that I am a bit of a weather enthusiast. I have been known to sit and watch the weather channel for hours on end. Yes I do realize that that is only acceptable behavior after the age of 80, but what can I say? My name is Holly, and I am a weather addict.

Let me start out by saying that this book is quite funny. It approaches the mundane topic of weather from a really entertaining angle. At the same time it manages to teach about even complex topics in weather. I never cared about the jet stream until I read this book. Now I know exactly how it works and why. I have tried explaining my new found knowledge to others, yet fail miserably, as I cannot serve up the info with such finesse as the author does.

The book is broken up in to chapters, each building upon the last. The first chapter dissects the atmosphere. After reading about the tropopause you will know what you are looking down at every time you get on a plane and look out the window wondering why the clouds seem to be hitting their heads on an invisible ceiling. Feel free to blurt out "Wow! What a great view of the tropopause!" People will wonder if a genius is among them. Then in the end it covers our dysfunctional relationship with weather. Including, but not limited to, the weathers insatiable appetite for human destruction. Smart, funny, well-written and informative, this book is a must. Weather enthusiast or not.

Dennis DiClaudio = funniness
Dennis knows where to put the commas and where to put the words. It also helps that he writes the way god intended us to write -- funny. clear. informative. but most importantly, funny.

I suggest you buy this book. It makes a great gift. ... Read more

Product Description

Our planet exists within a space environment affected by constantly changing solar atmosphere producing cosmic particles and electromagnetic waves. This "space weather" profoundly influences the performance of our technology because we primarily use two means for transmitting information and energy; namely, electromagnetic waves and electricity. On an everyday basis, we have developed methods to cope with the normal conditions. However, the sun remains a fiery star whose 'angry' outbursts can potentially destroy spacecrafts, kill astronauts, melt electricity transformers, stop trains, and generally wreak havoc with human activities. Space Weather is the developing field within astronomy that aims at predicting the sun’s violent activity and minimizing the impacts on our daily lives. Space Weather, Environment, and Societies explains why our technological societies are so dependent on solar activity and how the Sun disturbs the transmission of information and energy. Footnotes expand specific points and the appendices facilitate a more thorough command of the physics involved.

Product Description
Describes the connections between pollution and weather, the destruction of the ozone layer, global warming, efforts at pollution control, and alternative energy forms. ... Read more

Product Description
In the 60s, Silent Spring forced us to pay attention to the problem with pesticides. The 70s galvanized the nation to conserve. In the 90s our communities came together to "reduce, reuse, and recycle." And now, the first decade of the new millennium will focus our attention on our most urgent environmental challenge yet: global warming and the potential for irreversible climate change.

Stormy Weather is the first and only book to put simple, effective solutions to global warming in the hands of ordinary citizens, communities, businesses, power utilities, state governments, and national leaders.

In a clear and understandable style, Stormy Weather explains why we and the planet have reached this over-heated situation and how scientists predict "runaway" climate change will affect the Earth and our lives. The solutions to global warming revolve around 12 core methods of reducing our use of fossil fuels and filling our energy needs with solar, wind, tidal, and bio fuels. Each user-friendly solution is organized on two facing pages with a description, illustrations, quotations, resources, and a detailed "how-to" section. Solutions are grouped by social sector-Individuals; Citizen Groups; Towns and Cities; State Government; Power Utilities; Businesses; Oil, Coal & Gas Corporations; Automobile Corporations; National Governments; and Developing Nations-breaking-up these vital planet-saving tasks into manageable activities for both idividuals and larger organizations.

From riding your bike to the office to developing sustainable transportation infrastructures, and from launching a tree-planting initiative in your community to negotiating a global forests protection treaty, this critical book will help anyone and everyone-on a small or grand scale-to participate in cooling our planet's troubled atmosphere. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

The Good Book
Guy Dauncey and Patrick Mazza's book is THE best I have ever seen in non-fiction.I'm still amazed that I don't get overwhelmed by the amount of information but it's so user-friendly that I just can't.

It's a great honour to have it on my bookshelf.Every time I go by it I think about the time and effort it took to create a masterpiece like that one.

A Cure for the Environmentally Depressed!
Tired of hearing all the bad news about our environment?
Feeling hopeless about your ability to change anything?
Wondering how so many people can ignore such big problems for so long?

So was I.Until I got my hands on Guy Dauncey's book.It's a solution-oriented cure for the Global Warming blues. It's written in short, clear, visually appealing sections, so it's easy to find the information you need. The 101 solutions aren't just a long rambling list, they are organized according to their level of application - from individual and local through national and global.I found the many concrete examples of people and communities that are making a real difference very heartening.So wether you're in the market for an environmentally friendy car, or you're an elected official trying to formulate a policy on fuel additives, or you're in a general state of despair like I was, this book is for you!

deserves a peace prize
This book is a gem! It takes the most urgent of environmental issues, global climate change, and translates the science and the complexity into simple language that is understandable and interesting.

But it really excels when it moves beyond the problem, which can be paralyzing, to solutions that work. The book is chock full of simple and profound actions that can be taken to reduce our impact on the earth's atmosphere, in ways that save money and would be politically popular.

If you want to find out more about wind power, it's in here. If you're wondering what your city or town could do to become more climate friendly, there are websites and contacts galore within. If you want to take personal action, look no further.

The global climate crisis is real, impending, and scary. But a time of crisis is also a time of opportunity. This book shows what the opportunities are. It should be on the desks of every policy maker and politician.

And it deserves a peace prize for illuminating the way out of the climate mess we have created.

Stormy Weather positivepractical and informative
When I read this book my first reaction was to feel great relief.
Most predictions about the long term effects of global warming
are to say the least disheartening.

Yet this book is filled to overflowing withpractical solutions for dealing with the global climate challenge positively.

Most infomed scientists would agree that the consequences of the
terrorists attack on the World Trade Center, whilst horrific, are
minuscule in comparison to thelong termeffects ofgobal warming.

Hunger; massive food, fuel, water and energy shortageswill likely reap a terrible humantoll, but rather than take up room in this insightful book by attributing blame or bybeingoverwhelmed, Dauncey's entire focus is onfinding practical solutions, --in the most part byutilizing technologies which already exist.
Dauncey is no Pollyanna,he is a pragmatist and a realist.

I am indebted to him for providing concrete solutions which can if we will only take note rescue us from the abyss.
This contribution provides clear guidance on climate solutions delivering a road map which can help move us forward.

I am spellbound by the breadth and depth of research required to produce this remarkable volume.

This book has succeeded in addressing and tailoring its message to non scientists, business people and governments.
I highly recommend this book
Roger Colwill, ... Read more

Product Description

With their images practically ubiquitious in the daily media, weather radar systems provide data not only for understanding weather systems and improving forecasts (especially critical for severe weather), but also for hydrological applications, flood warnings and climate research in which ground verification is needed for global precipitation measurements by satellites. This book offers an accessible overview of advanced methods, applications and modern research from the European perspective. An extensive introductory chapter summarizes the principles of weather radars and discusses the potential of modern radar systems, including Doppler and polarisation techniques, data processing, and error-correction methods. Addressing both specialist researchers and nonspecialists from related areas, this book will also be useful for graduate students planning to specialize in this field

Product Description
If the groundhog sees its shadow, there will be six more weeks of winter. Moss grows only on the north side of a tree. No two snowflakes are alike. You may have heard these common sayings or beliefs before. But are they really true? Can they be proven using science? Let's investigate seventeen statements about Earth, weather, and the environment and find out which ones are right, which ones are wrong, and which ones still stump scientists! Find out whether all deserts are hot! Discover whether it's true that a ring around the Moon means rain or snow is on the way! See if you can tell the difference between fact and fiction with Is That a Fact? ... Read more

Product Description
Mountains and high plateau areas account for 20% of the Earth's land surface. They give rise to a wide range of meteorological phenomena and distinctive climatic characteristics of consequence for ecology, forestry, glaciology and hydrology. "Mountain Weather and Climate" remains the only comprehensive text describing and explaining mountain weather and climate processes. It presents the results of a broad range of meteorological and climatological studies drawn from across the world. Following an introductory survey of the historical aspects of mountain meteorology, three chapters deal with the latitudinal, altitudinal and topographic controls of meteorological elements in mountains, circulation systems related to orography and the climatic characteristics of mountains. The author supplies regional case studies of selected mountain climates from New Guinea to the Yukon, a chapter on bioclimatology that examines human bioclimatology, weather hazards and air pollution and a concluding chapter on the evidence for and the significance of changes in mountain climates.Since the first edition of this book appeared a decade ago there has been a number of important field programs This book should be of interest to students and lecturers in geography and environmental sciences. ... Read more

Product Description
Ahren's METEOROLOGY TODAY is the # 1 text in the market! This text presents the fundamental concepts of meteorology in the context of everyday weather observations.This is a perfect blend of theory and application in meteorology. The book features a traditional yet flexible organization, moving from atmospheric elements to air movement to severe weather, then finally global and climate change.Ahren's successfully excites the student reader by teaching them to actively observe the weather.The organization contains enough detail to provide a higher level student with the detail he/she needs, as well as an accessible writing style for the weaker student. This text contains extensive new features that significantly address the market needs of accuracy, currency, earlier presentation of mapping and forecasting, with a greatly enhanced technology package. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Instructor's Edition?
I received the teacher's book and was confused. There wasn't anything to let me know that it wasn't a regular copy. It's not very different from the regular book but that's beside the point.

Wonderfully entertaining
I'm not a meteorologist, but I find this book wonderfully written and beautifully illustrated.
It's the book I'm picking up when I want to spend time reading something else than my computer programming manuals.
This book has very little mathematics inside, it builds up a lot of intuitive pictures in your mind.
When you want to get more quantitative you should buy Meteorology for Scientists and Engineers, but this book could be given as a nice christmas present to anyone with an inquisitive mind.
In fact I'm going to give it to a teenager I know who wants to become a meteorologist. I hope he doesnt read my review before Christmas.

It is a easy learning book !
This is a really good book. It presents all the idea so clear with many graphs and figures. That make you feel comfortable to keep on reading.Also the contents are not so hard. It is a really good book for the beginner who want to know more about meteorology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Meteorology Today
I am so unsatisfied with my purchase. I paid 100$ for a used book, when I recieved it I noticed it's an International Student Edition, the one that you can't sale back in the United States. It doesn't tell you on the item description when you want to purchase it,so I didn't konw that's what I'm buying, whereas I know the price for used International Edition of Meteorology Today is around 10$ everywhere. This is not right and I should have not pay that much money for an International Edition version.

Good Introductory Text
This is a nice introduction to meteorology.I got this book as a way to learn about the subject without taking a class.Too often, textbooks are overly lofty and formal in their treatment of subjects, but this isn't the case with this book.The language is understandable and the descriptions are clear, but it still offers enough detail to be suitable for an introductory class on the subject.

Good refrence and information resource
I bought this book to help with my home hobby tracking the weather. Every thing has been nothing but helpfull. I love the photos and info on historical events even information on almanic data. Great for anyone intrested in taking up meterology. I love to read it.

Great Intro text book
One of the best introduction to metrology I have read.Great for any anyone that is interested in the weather.Gives more information then average books that are found at local book stores.Also the on line tests help you know what you have learned.

Great Book
This is a great book. It was expensive (aren't all college textbooks?), but worth it.

As a beginning weather hobbyist with a new weather station, I have been looking at many weather books over the past couple months. I have been disappointed. Most seem geared to elementary school levels. A couple handfuls are for the general population, a few intermediate, and a couple handfuls are for more advanced hobbyists or professionals.

This book was one of the very few that I would strongly recommend. The information is great and presented very well. It is colorful and slick (yes, substance is more important than slickness, but this book has both).

I found the CD less than useful, so I tried it and removed it. You won't be missing anything, really. The book has it all. Just a great book. ... Read more

Product Description
Although climate change is a global problem, there is a growing recognition of the need to look at its regional manifestations and management. This book takes such a regional approach to the Alpine region. The result of the ongoing Swiss research program Climate and Environment in the Alpine Region (CLEAR), it incorporates the work of an independent network of approximately fifty researchers from a variety of disciplines.The Alpine region is the perfect focus for such a study because of the wealth of historical and contemporary data. The contributors avoid impractical "absolute" solutions to the problem of climate change. They explicitly recognize that climate policy involves not just environmental policy but also economic, agricultural, social, and urban policy. The science required for climate policy need not provide a single definitive answer to the problem of climate change. Rather, it can contribute a variety of insights, explanations, scenarios, and open questions to the public debate. The authors aim at a science for policy that helps to develop realistic options in an ongoing debate involving scientists as well as policymakers and ordinary citizens.Topics covered include past and current climate dynamics, scenarios for future climate development, the sensitivity of plant and soil ecosystems to climate change, scenarios for future ecosytem development, and creative policy responses to mobilize regional action for industrial innovation. The topics are addressed in the spirit of Integrated Assessment (IA), a method that combines scientific and social expertise to explore political and technical strategies for dealing with environmental problems such as climate change. ... Read more

Product Description
Put on your hat and sunglasses, cover yourself with sunbloc and swelter in the heat of the day. Topics in this book include how the heat of the sun brings life, death and the weather to our planet. It also explains how to survive in the world's driest and hottest spots, and why it gets hotter. ... Read more

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Long before the 'germ theory' of disease was described, late in the nineteenth century, humans knew that climatic conditions influence the appearance and spread of epidemic diseases. Ancient notions about the effects of weather and climate on disease remain embedded in our collective consciousness - through expressions such as 'cold' for rhinovirus infections; 'malaria', derived from the Latin for 'bad air'; and the common complaint of feeling 'under the weather'. Today, evidence is mounting that earth's climate is changing at a faster rate than previously appreciated, leading researchers to view the longstanding relationships between climate and disease with new urgency and from a global perspective.On December 4 and 5, 2007, the Forum on Microbial Threats hosted a public workshop, summarized in this book, to consider the possible infectious disease impacts of global climate change and extreme weather events on human, animal, and plant health, as well as their expected implications for global and national security. ... Read more

Product Description
This new edition of Human Impacts on Weather and Climate examines the scientific and political debates surrounding anthropogenic impacts on the Earth's climate and presents the most recent theories, data and modeling studies. The book discusses the concepts behind deliberate human attempts to modify the weather through cloud seeding, as well as inadvertent modification of weather and climate on the regional scale. The natural variability of weather and climate greatly complicates our ability to determine a clear cause-and-effect relationship to human activity. The authors describe the basic theories and critique them in simple and accessible terms. This fully revised edition will be a valuable resource for undergraduate and graduate courses in atmospheric and environmental science, and will also appeal to policy makers and general readers interested in how humans are affecting the global climate. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great review of the issues in evaluating human impact on weather and climate
This was a great review of the issues involved in evaluating the impact humans have on weather and climate.It is a complex topic; but it is explained clearly (for me - a non-specialist with an engineering background).

The major issue boils down to the normal variability of weather and climate over a wide range of time scales.This makes it very difficult to demonstrate statistical significance in deliberate or inadvertent human weather or climate modification.

Claims that are not backed by actual fundamental understanding and statistical data may lead to a lack of trust in the scientific method by the public, with resulting poor policy decisions and large funding swings that harm the development of the core science.

Also, I had not understood how significant land use is in it's impact on local weather and the global climate.This book opened my eyes to the extent we have modified the ground cover.E.g., human herding has potentially had an impact on temperature because of the modification of ground cover we imposed to maintain herds over the last 6,ooo years or so.

Overall the book seems very even handed tome, and the fact that it has real references lets one check out areas of interest.And to verify some of the authors statements.

Great introduction to the subject!

A fresh and balanced presentation.
I find this book an outstanding introduction to issues related to human impact on weather and climate. Authors elected to divide the discussioninto three main parts, dictated primarily bythe scale ofperturbation.The first part deals with some of the most striking examples of controlledhuman impact on weather: modification of clouds, hail suppression andmodification of tropical cyclones. The presentation is clear, with manyinteresting historical and technical details and is inspirational forpeople interested in cloud processes.The second part shows that humankindmodified already weather and climate at local and regional scale.Suchhuman impacts are: anthropogenic emissions of aerosols and gases, urbaninduced changes in precipitation and weather, and impacts caused by landuse.Authors did a good job is showing that regional scale atmosphericperturbations are by far the most intense and have clear fingerprints inobservations as well as in numerical models. Finally, the third part has abroad presentation of human impact on global climate. This is wellillustrated with climatic effects of anthropogenic aerosols, possiblenuclear winter scenarios, and with the greenhouse theory. I think studentsas well as a broad spectrum of readers interested in Earth sciences willbenefit fromreading this book. ... Read more

Product Description
In recent years, Earth systems science has advanced rapidly, helping to transform climate change and other planetary risks into major political issues. Changing the Atmosphere strengthens our understanding of this important link between expert knowledge and environmental governance. In so doing, it illustrates how the emerging field of science and technology studies can inform our understanding of the human dimensions of global environmental change.Incorporating historical, sociological, and philosophical approaches, Changing the Atmosphere presents detailed empirical studies of climate science and its uptake into public policy. Topics include the scientific, political, and social processes involved in the creation of scientific knowledge about climate change; the historical and contemporary role of expert knowledge in creating and perpetuating policy concern about climate change; and the place of science in institutions of global environmental governance such as the World Meteorological Organization, the Framework Convention on Climate Change, and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Together, the essays demonstrate fundamental connections between the science and politics of planet Earth. In the struggle to create sustainable forms of environmental governance, they indicate, a necessary first step is to understand how communities achieve credible, authoritative representations of nature.ContributorsPaul N. Edwards, Dale Jamieson, Sheila Jasanoff, Chunglin Kwa, Clark Miller, Stephen D. Norton, Stephen H. Schneider, Simon Shackley, Frederick Suppe. ... Read more

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The area of climate research as a whole is now so large, and the sources of data so diverse, that many researchers are unaware of significant developments across the field. This collection answers this need, providing a balanced selection of published papers that make easily available the existing breadth and depth of information. Taken together, these volumes provide access to (a) a greater awareness of the evidence for natural variability of climate; (b) a clear perspective on the role of various forcing factors in climate change; (c) a selection of papers that argue both for, and against, the "solar" and "anthropogenic" hypotheses as explanations for recent and current climate change; (d) a sense of what future climate will be like, and what remains to be discovered or achieved. ... Read more

Product Description
You might know that a herd of cows lying down can indicate rain, but what can goats, rabbits and even fish tell you about the weather? And while a red sky at night is a shepherd's delight, what might a rainbow in the evening mean to a cricketer? This delightful little book is peppered with amusing asides and explains how to forecast weather by observing natural barometers like animal behaviour, plant growth and the wind, clouds, stars and moon. Robin Page demonstrates that, by applying common sense to country lore, you'll find it far easier to decide whether to head out for a 10-mile hike or stay tucked up by the fire with a cocoa! ... Read more

Product Description
This title provides opportunities for in-depth analysis of key topics with case studies, decision making exercises and suggestions for further work. Insets and summaries provide extra topic support and reinforcement, especially for students experiencing difficulty at advanced level. Suggestions are provided for personal investigative study to help students develop extended writing and geographical skills and techniques. It contains wide-ranging new material from a variety of developed and developing countries to motivate and stimulate students. It also contains extensive reference sections, a glossary, and details of relevant Internet sites for further research and study. ... Read more