Human Impacts on Weather and Climate Review

Average Reviews:

(More customer reviews)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 to me, 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!

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Human Impacts on Weather and Climate is a nonmathematical presentation of the basic physical concepts of how human activity may affect weather and climate. This book assesses the current hypotheses and examines whether the impacts are measurable. It critically evaluates the scientific status of weather modification by cloud seeding, human impacts on regional weather and climate, and human impacts on global climate, including the greenhouse gas hypothesis. Human Impacts on Weather and Climate will be valuable for upper-division undergraduate courses or graduate coursesin meteorology, geophysics, earth and atmospheric science, as well as for policy makers and readers with an interest in how humans are affecting the atmosphere.

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