In September 2024, Hurricane Helene made landfall in Florida, then roared hundreds of miles inland to the mountains of western North Carolina. Record-breaking winds, rain, and floods damaged or destroyed homes, businesses, roads, and forestland across the region. More than 100 neighbors lost their lives. Power and water were out for weeks. North Carolina's governor called it the worst storm in our state's history.

To start to process the devastation, more than two dozen of the region's finest writers and artists turned to their craft in the first few weeks after the storm. They've distilled emotions and events that are far too big to convey in photos or videos, and have captured the sense of selfless community spirit that has now enveloped our mountain towns.

Includes full-color artwork, essays, and poems.

All book profits benefit local recovery efforts.

Greenland's ice loss is accelerating.

Extreme temperatures are causing more fatalities.

Rapid 'climate action' is essential to avoid a future climate disaster.

You've heard all this presented as fact. But according to science, all of these statements are profoundly misleading.

With the new edition of Unsettled, Steven Koonin draws on decades of experience--including as a top science advisor to the Obama administration--to clear away the fog and explain what science really says (and doesn't say). With a new introduction, this edition now features reflections on an additional three years of eye-opening data, alternatives to unrealistic net zero solutions, global energy inequalities, and the energy crisis arising from the war in Ukraine.

When it comes to climate change, the media, politicians, and other prominent voices have declared that the science is settled. In reality, the climate is changing, but the why and how aren't as clear as you've probably been led to believe.

Koonin takes readers behind the headlines, dispels popular myths, and unveils little-known truths:

This is the ultimate guidebook for anyone who needs to know the details of operational weather analysis

and forecasting, not just theoretical aspects and introductory concepts. It's geared toward meteorology

professionals, students, pilots, flight dispatchers, amateurs, storm chasers, and spotters. Basic physical

concepts are reviewed, and then the book covers thermodynamics, surface analysis, and upper analysis.

The new Second Edition contains a greatly expanded and rewritten modeling section, plus additional

information on radar, satellite, upper air, and much more. With added emphasis on analysis, visualization,

and awareness of model limitations, readers learn to use tools properly and are always a step ahead.

A starry night is one of nature's most magical wonders. Yet in our artificially lit world, three-quarters of Americans' eyes never switch to night vision and most of us no longer experience true darkness. In The End of Night, Paul Bogard restores our awareness of the spectacularly primal, wildly dark night sky and how it has influenced the human experience across everything from science to art.

From Las Vegas' Luxor Beam -- the brightest single spot on this planet -- to nights so starlit the sky looks like snow, Bogard blends personal narrative, natural history, science, and history to shed light on the importance of darkness -- what we've lost, what we still have, and what we might regain -- and the simple ways we can reduce the brightness of our nights tonight.

In the last few years global awareness of climate change has grown very rapidly - through the school strikes led by Greta Thunberg, groups like Extinction Rebellion, the IPCC's recent high impact reports, TV documentaries, and declarations from governments around the world that we are in a climate emergency. This awareness is continuing to grow, as the science shows us that our planet and our species are facing a massive crisis, which we ourselves have caused. Climate change is one of the few scientific theories that make us examine the whole basis of modern society. It is a challenge that has politicians arguing, sets nations against each other, queries individual lifestyle choices, and ultimately asks questions about humanity's relationship with the rest of the planet.

This Very Short Introduction draws on the very latest science from the 2021 IPCC Report, examining the evidence that climate change is already happening, and discussing its potential catastrophic impacts in the future. Mark Maslin also explores the geopolitics of climate change and the win-win solutions we can employ to avoid the very worst effects of climate change. Throughout, he demonstrates how we must develop new modes of thinking for the 21st century at individual, corporate, and government levels to collectively tackle the challenge of climate change.

ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts, analysis, perspective, new ideas, and enthusiasm to make interesting and challenging topics highly readable.

Learn how to understand the skies with this comprehensive pocket guide to cloudspotting.

Clouds have been the object of fascination throughout history, their fleeting magnificence and endless variability providing food for thought for scientists and daydreamers alike.

Clouds may have many individual shapes, but there are a few basic forms. In this definitive guide to the clouds and the skies, Richard Hamblyn introduces you to all the different cloud species. The Pocket Cloud Book will enable you to identify individual clouds, skies and phenomena. You will also be able to track their likely changes over time and predict the implications they have for the weather you may experience.

This brand new pocket-size edition includes the 12 new cloud types only recently officially recognised by the World Meteorological Organization. Many of these previously only had informal names, but their new Latin classification brings them into the fold of officially adopted global meteorological terms. It also includes a new foreword from the Met Office's Chief Meteorologist and an updated section on climate change and the role that clouds might play in shaping future conditions on Earth.

Produced in association with the Met Office - the world's premier weather forecasting bureau - all things to do with the origin and development of a cloud are here. Whether you are looking at a giant cumulonimbus or a tiny shred of stratus factus, an everyday occurrence or a fleeting rarity, your cloudspotting will be expertly informed and much more satisfying with this handy reference guide. This book will enable you to not only identify individual clouds and skies as they might appear at any given moment, but also to track their likely changes over time, and thus predict weather patterns.

Illustrated with stunning images from around the globe, this pocket edition is the perfect size to take with you on walks and have it handy in the garden so that you can enjoy sky-gazing every day. This is the only guide to cloud classification that you will ever need, in handy and practical pocket-friendly size.

An extraordinary book by a modern-day Melville.--Mark Vanhoenacker - Immensely rewarding and entertaining.--Lincoln Paine - Full of history, wisdom, and hilarious stories from life on the open seas.--Daniel Stone

What's in a cloud? Did you know that water vapor is invisible and actually lighter than dry air? What separates a tropical storm from a winter blizzard? And what exactly is El Niño? Elliot Rappaport, a professional captain of traditional sailing ships, has spent three decades at sea, where understanding weather is crucial to the safety of vessels and their crews. In Reading the Glass, he offers a sailor's-eye view of the moving parts of our atmosphere and unveils the larger patterns it holds: global winds, storms, air masses, jet streams, and the longer arc of our climate.

Told through a series of tall ship voyages, Rappaport's narrative takes readers from the icy seas of Greenland to the Roaring Forties, places where one can experience all four seasons in an hour. He navigates the turbulent waters of the Strait of Gibraltar, en route to storied port cities of the Mediterranean. In the vast tropical Pacific he crosses the equator, where heat, moisture, and unsettled winds churn out powerful squalls, and drops anchor in isolated ports of call. He explores wide swathes of ocean to explain how the trade winds have carried ships westward for centuries, and how ancient Polynesian explorers pushed back the other way, leveraging their mastery of waves and weather to achieve what may be humanity's greatest navigational achievement.

Written in stunning prose, brimming with wisdom, curiosity, and humor, Reading the Glass brilliantly blends science and memoir to reveal how weather has shaped our oceans, our history, and ourselves.

Some big steps forward in numerical weather prediction have been made in the past 40 years, thanks to advances in four key areas: the way we observe the Earth, the scientific understanding of the phenomena, advances in high-performance computing (that have allowed the use of increasingly complex models), and improved modelling techniques. Today we are capable of predicting extreme events such as hurricanes and extra-tropical windstorms very accurately up to 7 to 10 days ahead. We can predict the most likely path and intensity of storms before they hit a community, estimate the confidence level of the forecast, and can give very valuable indications of their probable impact. Larger-scale phenomena that affect entire countries, such as heat or cold waves, periods with extremely high or low temperatures lasting for days, can be forecast up to 2-to-3 weeks before the events occur. Phenomena that affect a big portion of the oceans or of a continent and that evolve slowly, such as the warming of the sea-surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean when an El Nino event occurs, can be predicted months ahead, and in some cases even longer.

Weather Prediction: What Everyone Needs to Know(R) discusses some of the key topics linked to weather prediction and explains how we got here. It discusses questions that are often asked, such as: how are weather forecasts generated? How complex are the models used in numerical weather prediction, and how to solve them? Was this event predictable? Why was this forecast wrong? How did you manage to predict this hurricane path 10 days before the event? Will weather forecast continue to improve, or is there a predictability limit?

The definitive local weather guide for newcomers and longtime residents alike

Powerful Pacific storms strike the region. Otherworldly lenticular clouds often cap Mount Rainier. Rain shadows create sunny skies while torrential rain falls a few miles away. The Pineapple Express brings tropical moisture and warmth during Northwest winters. The Pacific Northwest produces some of the most distinctive and variable weather in North America, which is described with colorful and evocative language in this book.

Atmospheric scientist and blogger Cliff Mass, known for his ability to make complex science readily accessible to all, shares eyewitness accounts, historical episodes, and the latest meteorological knowledge. This updated, extensively illustrated, and expanded new edition features:

- A new chapter on the history of wildfires and their impact on air quality

- Analysis of recent floods and storms, including the Oso landslide of 2014, the 2016 Ides of October windstorm, and the tornado that damaged 250 homes in Port Orchard on the Kitsap Peninsula in 2018

- Fresh insight on local weather phenomena such as The Blob

- Updates on the latest technological advances used in forecasting

- A new chapter on the meteorology of British Columbia

Highly readable and packed with useful scientific information, this indispensable guide is a go-to resource for outdoor enthusiasts, boaters, gardeners, and anyone who wants to understand and appreciate the complex and fascinating meteorology of the region.

Stainforth goes to the heart of the climate change problem to answer this question. He describes the fundamental characteristics of climate change and shows how they undermine the application of traditional research methods, demanding new approaches to both scientific and societal questions. He argues for a rethinking of how we go about the study of climate change in the physical sciences, the social sciences, economics, and policy. The subject requires nothing less than a restructuring of academic research to enable integration of expertise across diverse disciplines and perspectives.

An effective global response to climate change relies on us agreeing about the underlying, foundational, scientific knowledge. Our universities and research institutes fail to provide the necessary clarity - they fail to separate the robust from the questionable - because they do not acknowledge the peculiar and unique challenges of climate prediction. Furthermore, the widespread availability of computer simulations often leads to research becoming divorced from understanding, something that risks undermining the relevance of research conclusions.

This book takes the reader on a journey through the maths of complexity, the physics of climate, philosophical questions regarding the origins and robustness of knowledge, and the use of natural science in the economics and policy of climate change.

Quite possibly the best popular science book I've ever read (Popular Science) shows how the tools that enabled us to overcome the uncertainty of the weather will enable us to find new answers to modern science's most pressing questions

Why does your weather app say There's a 10% chance of rain instead of It will be sunny tomorrow? In large part this is due to the insight of Tim Palmer, who made uncertainty essential to the study of weather and climate. Now he wants to apply it to how we study everything else.

In The Primacy of Doubt, Palmer argues that embracing the mathematics of uncertainty is vital to understanding ourselves and the universe around us. Whether we want to predict climate change or market crashes, understand how the brain is able to outpace supercomputers, or find a theory that links quantum and cosmological physics, Palmer shows how his vision of mathematical uncertainty provides new insights into some of the deepest problems in science. The result is a revolution--one that shows that power begins by embracing what we don't know.

This book is designed for students and professionals who want to understand and apply basic meteorological concepts, but who don't need to derive equations.

To make this book accessible to more people, equations have been converted into algebra. With algebraic approximations to the atmosphere, you can see the physical meaning of each term and you can plug in numbers to get usable answers.

No previous knowledge of meteorology is needed -- the author starts from the basics. Your background should include algebra, trig, and classical physics. This book could serve the fields of Atmospheric Science, Meteorology, Environmental Science, Engineering, Air Quality, Climatology, and Geography.

This book is designed to be both a textbook and a reference. As a textbook, the end of each chapter includes extensive homework exercises in categories inspired by Bloom's taxonomy of learning actions: Broaden Knowledge & Comprehension; Apply; Evaluate & Analyze; and Synthesize.

Although a hand calculator can be used for some of the homework exercises, other exercises are best solved on a computer spreadsheet such as Excel or using a mathematical program such as MATLAB, R, Mathematica, or Maple. I used Excel for my Sample Applications and most of my graphs.

The Tri-State Tornado reconstructs the tragedy, using vivid eyewitness accounts of fourteen survivors who lived along the tornado's path from the Missouri Ozarks to southwestern Indiana. The clarity with which they recall that day in their lives over sixty years earlier will give readers the unsettling feeling that the tornado struck days, not decades, ago.

Wind is everywhere and nowhere. Wind is the circulatory system of the earth, and its nervous system, too. Energy and information flow through it. It brings warmth and water, enriches and strips away the soil, aerates the globe. Wind shapes the lives of animals, humans among them. Trade follows the path of the wind, as empire also does. Wind made the difference in wars between the Greeks and Persians, the Mongols and the Japanese. Wind helped to destroy the Spanish Armada. And wind is no less determining of our inner lives: the föhn, mistral, sirocco, Santa Ana, and other ill winds of the world are correlated with disease, suicide, and even murder.

Heaven's Breath is an encyclopedic and enchanting book that opens dazzling new perspectives on history, nature, and humanity.