From deciding the best day for a picnic, to the devastating effects of hurricanes and typhoons, the weather impacts our lives on a daily basis. Although new techniques allow us to forecast the weather with increasing accuracy, most people do not realise the vast global movements and forces which result in their day-to-day weather. In this Very Short Introduction Storm Dunlop explains what weather is and how it differs from climate, discussing what causes weather, and how we measure it. Analysing the basic features and properties of the atmosphere, he shows how these are directly related to the weather experienced on the ground, and to specific weather phenomena and extreme weather events. He describes how the global patterns of temperature and pressure give rise to the overall circulation within the atmosphere, the major wind systems, and the major oceanic currents, and how features such as mountains and the sea affect local weather. He also looks at examples of extreme and dangerous weather, such as of tropical cyclones (otherwise known as hurricanes and typhoons), describing how 'Hurricane Hunters' undertake the dangerous task of flying through them. We measure weather in a number of ways: observations taken on the land and sea; observations within the atmosphere; and measurements from orbiting satellites. Dunlop concludes by looking at how these observations have been used to develop increasingly sophisticated long- and short-range weather forecasting, including ensemble forecasting. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.
Author(s): Storm Dunlop
Series: Very Short Introductions
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2017
Language: English
Pages: 176
City: Oxford
Cover
WEATHER: A Very Short Introduction
Copyright
Contents
Preface
List of illustrations
Chapter 1: The atmosphere
Temperature changes with altitude
The layers in the atmosphere
Atmospheric composition
The greenhouse effect
Chapter 2: The circulation of the atmosphere
Global pressure patterns
The Coriolis effect
Global winds
The westerlies
Airflow around high- and low-pressure regions
Ocean currents
Chapter 3: Global weather systems
Air masses
Fronts
The Polar Fronts
Jet streams
The Polar jets
The Subtropical jets
Other jet streams
Chapter 4: Water in the atmosphere
Humidity and saturation
Lapse rates, stability, and instability
The origins of rain
Clouds
The formation of clouds
Cloud streets
Chapter 5: Weather systems
The development of depressions
The depression sequence
The warm front
The warm sector
The cold front
Occluded fronts
Katabatic fronts
North or south of a depression centre
Isolated fronts
Intensification of depressions
Thermal and polar lows
Atmospheric rivers
High-pressure systems
Chapter 6: Weather in the tropics
The trade winds
The Intertropical Convergence Zone
The monsoons
Dust storms
Chapter 7: Severe and unusual weather events
Showers
Thunderstorms
Larger convective systems
Supercells
Tornadoes
Lesser whirls
Tropical cyclones
Chapter 8: Localized weather
Radiation fog
Advection fog
Haze and smog
Local winds
Sea, land, and lake breezes
Valley and mountain winds
Katabatic winds
Föhn conditions
Lake effect snow
Ice storms and glaze
Chapter 9: Worldwide effects and forecasting
Teleconnections
The North Atlantic Oscillation
The Pacific Decadal Oscillation
The solar influence
Space weather
Weather forecasting
Appendix A: The Beaufort scale of wind speeds
The Beaufort scale (for use at sea)
The Beaufort scale (adapted for use on land)
Appendix B: The major cloud types (genera)
Appendix C: Tornado and hurricane intensity scales
Fujita scale and Enhanced Fujita scale of tornado intensities
The TORRO scale of tornado intensities
Saffir–Simpson hurricane scale
Further reading
General and introductory
Anecdotal and British weather
Worldwide weather
Historical
More specialized works
Journals
Internet links
General information
Meteorological offices, agencies, and organizations
Societies
Index
