CONTENTS INTRODUCTION CHAPTER 1 THE NATURE OF WEATHER 10 CHAPTER 2 AIR MASSES 16 CHAPTER WEATHER ELEMENTS CHAPTER 4 PRECIPITATION AND STORMS 33 CHAPTER 5 MEASURING AND COLLECTING WEATHER DATA 46 CHAPTER 6 WEATHER FORECASTING 60 CHAPTER 1 WEATHER MoDIFICATION 12 80 CONCLUSION GoSSARY FOR MORE INFORMATION BIBLIOGRAPHY 83 86 INDEX 87
NTRODUCTION hances are the weather affects you every day It affects whether you wear shorts or a winter coat whether you can enjoy a picnic or ski trip and sometimes if you can even get to school You may try to insulate yourself from it with air conditioning and heaters but ultimately there is no escaping it Sometimes weather affects not just the quality of life but also life itself Flash floods lightning hurricanes and blizzards can all cause danger and even death Prolonged heat waves or cold snaps can also be fatal to people and the crops they rely on It's no wonder that since ancient times sailors farmers and others have been eager to understand the weather Weather is a snapshot of what the atmosphere the air that surrounds Earth is doing in a given place at a given time Look out the window Is it sunny Cloudy Snowing That s weather It is short term as opposed to the long term atmospheric conditions known as climate To understand what weather is imagine the atmosphere as a vast invisible ocean full of currents and swirling eddies These constant movements of air create the weather The most important factor driving atmospheric movements is radiation from the Sun The Sun heats the atmosphere unevenly A IIIIIIIIIIIIII
INTRODUCTION A satellite image taken on Sept 2 2008 shows storm systems left to right Gustav Hanna Ike and Josephine Getty Images Pet S
