Human Impacts on Weather and Climate (Paperback)

by William R. Cotton (Author), Roger A. Pielke (Author) "In Part I we examine human attempts at purposely modifying weather and climate..." (more)
Key Phrases: ship track clouds, natural precipitation processes, upwelling terrestrial radiation, United States, Project Cirrus, Soviet Union (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"Eleven years ago, I reviewed the first edition of this title, labeling it a 'comprehensive, well-written, and highly interesting book.' This second edition deserves the same labels, and furthermore it updates all activities and aspects of human impacts on weather and climate. It has many excellent illustrations, with some in color. I strongly recommend this book to all atmospheric scientists--it will serve as an excellent textbook." - Stanley A. Changnon, Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

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.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 330 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 2 edition (April 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0521600561
• ISBN-13: 978-0521600569
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 6.7 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #864,764 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great review of the issues in evaluating human impact on weather and climate, April 19, 2008

By	J. Walters - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

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!

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A fresh and balanced presentation., August 17, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Human Impacts on Weather and Climate (Paperback)

I find this book an outstanding introduction to issues related to human impact on weather and climate. Authors elected to divide the discussion into three main parts, dictated primarily by the scale of perturbation. The first part deals with some of the most striking examples of controlled human impact on weather: modification of clouds, hail suppression and modification of tropical cyclones. The presentation is clear, with many interesting historical and technical details and is inspirational for people interested in cloud processes. The second part shows that humankind modified already weather and climate at local and regional scale. Such human impacts are: anthropogenic emissions of aerosols and gases, urban induced changes in precipitation and weather, and impacts caused by land use. Authors did a good job is showing that regional scale atmospheric perturbations are by far the most intense and have clear fingerprints in observations as well as in numerical models. Finally, the third part has a broad presentation of human impact on global climate. This is well illustrated with climatic effects of anthropogenic aerosols, possible nuclear winter scenarios, and with the greenhouse theory. I think students as well as a broad spectrum of readers interested in Earth sciences will benefit from reading this book.