Weather For Dummies

What in the world is going on up there?  Look up! It’s a bird; it’s a plane; it’s a Polar mesospheric cloud! When you look to the sky, do you wonder why the Sun is so bright or why the clouds are white or why the sky is blue? Then, Weather For Dummies is your resource to fuel your curiosity about the weather. It takes you on an exciting journey through the Earth's atmosphere and the ways it behaves. You’ll get an overview of rain, Sun, clouds, storms and other phenomena.   With helpful photographs and illustrations, you can easily visualize different weather types and relate them into the world around you. The scientific words and phrases are explained in detail (what is barometric pressure?), your curious questions are answered (why do we have seasons?), and the roots of weather myths, proverbs, and sayings are revealed (“early thunder, early spring”).   Discover how weather forecasts are made, and what constitutes a weather emergency  Find out what causes change in weather, such as how air pressure drives winds  Learn how climate change is affecting today’s weather  Discover how light plays tricks on our eyes to create effects like rainbows, sun dogs, and halos  Have fun with at-home weather experiments, including setting up your own weather station  Perfect for any weather amateur, you can have your head in the clouds while your feet are on the ground. Next time you’re outside, take Weather For Dummies along with you, look at the sky, and discover something new about the environment you live in.

Introduction 1 Part 1: What’s Going On Up There? 5 Chapter 1: What in the World Is Weather? 7 Chapter 2: Forecasts and Forecasting 13 Chapter 3: Behind the Air Wars 35 Chapter 4: Land, Sea, and Precipitation: Is This Any Way to Run a Planet? 59 Part 2: Braving the Elements 77 Chapter 5: Blowing in the Winds 79 Chapter 6: Getting Cirrus 101 Chapter 7: The Greatest Storms on Earth 123 Part 3: Some Seasonable Explanations 145 Chapter 8: The Ways of Winter 147 Chapter 9: Twists and Turns of Spring 177 Chapter 10: Extremely Summer 209 Chapter 11: Falling for Autumn 231 Part 4: The Long Run 239 Chapter 12: Climate Is What You Expect; Weather Is What You Get 241 Chapter 13: Weathering Our Changing Atmosphere 265 Chapter 14: Taking Care of the Air 277 Part 5: The Special Effects 293 Chapter 15: Up in the Sky! Look! 295 Chapter 16: Tools of the Trade 311 Chapter 17: Try This at Home 327 Part 6: The Part of Tens 337 Chapter 18: Ten (or So) Most Deadly World Weather Disasters 339 Chapter 19: Ten Weatherwise Critters 345 Chapter 20: Ten Grand Old Weather Proverbs 351 Appendix: Internet Resource Directory 357 Index 365