Weather: How It Works And Why It Matters

It's all around us, no matter how we try to escape. The turbulent air, carrying storms, cold, and heat, is almost unbearably complex, yet we must understand it if we hope to undo some of the damage we've done to Earth's climate over the past century. Atmospheric scientists Arthur Upgren and Jurgen Stock make the case for this understanding and lay the groundwork for readers' learning with Weather: How It Works and Why It Matters. The writing is elegant and low-key, given the gravity of the situation; the authors take care to base their claims and explanations only on solid evidence.

Exploring the history of atmospheric science, the nature of storms, weather on other planets, paleoclimatology, and the current trend toward global warming, the authors masterfully express the simple principles that give rise to such wonderfully complex systems. From El Niño to Old Man Winter, the complete cast of meteorological characters travels across the stage, each adding a bit of insight before moving on. The closing chapters cover the increasingly urgent greenhouse symptoms we have experienced, and ask for calm as we explore means to turn back the clock a bit. Readers looking for a quiet, rational guide to our planet's climate couldn't ask for better than Weather: How It Works and Why It Matters. --Rob Lightner