In a career spanning four decades, Gerald R. North contributed groundbreaking research that continues to shape the modern field of climate science. However, the route he has taken was full of surprising twists and turns that included hate mail, eavesdropping by the KGB, and sometimes acrimonious debate with climate-change deniers. North's significant contributions to the field include his innovative "toy model" analysis of climate change based on ingeniously simplified models and his lead proposal for and successful approval of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. Launched in 1997, the TRMM's purpose was to collect data on the global climate system. The TRMM operated successfully for 17 years before it was deactivated in 2015. In The Rise of Climate Science, North recounts in detail his life in the vanguard of modern climate science. He offers an insider look at the academic research and government initiatives around global warming and what that means for the planet. He includes stories of conversations with top Soviet climate scientists at the height of the Cold War in the late 1970s--complete with clandestine electronic surveillance. He also describes the experience of testifying before Congress and engaging in public exchanges with those who doubted the reality of the phenomenon his research field described. Climatology today has advanced into a mature phase. This book is an important contribution to understanding its development in the twentieth century and adds a distinctly human face and sensibility to the ongoing societal conversation around climate change and its implications for our future.
A comprehensive overview of essential statistical concepts, useful statistical methods, data visualization, and modern computing tools for the climate sciences and many others such as geography and environmental engineering. It is an invaluable reference for students and researchers in climatology and its connected fields who wish to learn data science, statistics, R and Python programming. The examples and exercises in the book empower readers to work on real climate data from station observations, remote sensing and simulated results. For example, students can use R or Python code to read and plot the global warming data and the global precipitation data in netCDF, csv, txt, or JSON; and compute and interpret empirical orthogonal functions. The book's computer code and real-world data allow readers to fully utilize the modern computing technology and updated datasets. Online supplementary resources include R code and Python code, data files, figure files, tutorials, slides and sample syllabi.
A comprehensive overview of essential statistical concepts, useful statistical methods, data visualization, and modern computing tools for the climate sciences and many others such as geography and environmental engineering. It is an invaluable reference for students and researchers in climatology and its connected fields who wish to learn data science, statistics, R and Python programming. The examples and exercises in the book empower readers to work on real climate data from station observations, remote sensing and simulated results. For example, students can use R or Python code to read and plot the global warming data and the global precipitation data in netCDF, csv, txt, or JSON; and compute and interpret empirical orthogonal functions. The book's computer code and real-world data allow readers to fully utilize the modern computing technology and updated datasets. Online supplementary resources include R code and Python code, data files, figure files, tutorials, slides and sample syllabi.
A comprehensive overview of essential statistical concepts, useful statistical methods, data visualization, and modern computing tools for the climate sciences and many others such as geography and environmental engineering. It is an invaluable reference for students and researchers in climatology and its connected fields who wish to learn data science, statistics, R and Python programming. The examples and exercises in the book empower readers to work on real climate data from station observations, remote sensing and simulated results. For example, students can use R or Python code to read and plot the global warming data and the global precipitation data in netCDF, csv, txt, or JSON; and compute and interpret empirical orthogonal functions. The book's computer code and real-world data allow readers to fully utilize the modern computing technology and updated datasets. Online supplementary resources include R code and Python code, data files, figure files, tutorials, slides and sample syllabi.
Energy Balance Climate Models Written by renowned experts in the field, this first book to focus exclusively on energy balance climate models provides a concise overview of the topic. It covers all major aspects, from the simplest zero-dimensional models, proceeding to horizontally and vertically resolved models. The text begins with global average models, which are explored in terms of their elementary forms yielding the global average temperature, right up to the incorporation of feedback mechanisms and some analytical properties of interest. The eff ect of stochastic forcing is then used to introduce natural variability in the models before turning to the concept of stability theory. Other one dimensional or zonally averaged models are subsequently presented, along with various applications, including chapters on paleoclimatology, the inception of continental glaciations, detection of signals in the climate system, and optimal estimation of large scale quantities from point scale data. Throughout the book, the authors work on two mathematical levels: qualitative physical expositions of the subject material plus optional mathematical sections that include derivations and treatments of the equations along with some proofs of stability theorems. A must-have introduction for policy makers, environmental agencies, and NGOs, as well as climatologists, molecular physicists, and meteorologists.
When The Impact of Global Warming on Texas was first published in 1995, it discussed climate change as a likely future phenomenon, predicted by scientific studies. This entirely rewritten second edition presents evidence that early climate change impacts can now be observed and identifies the threats climate change will pose to Texas through the year 2050. It also offers the hopeful message that corrective action, if taken now, can avert unmanageable consequences. The book begins with a discussion of climate science and modeling and the information that can be derived from these sources for Texas. The authors follow this with an analysis of actual climate trends in the various Texas climate regions, including a predicted rise in temperatures of 5.4 degrees F (plus or minus 1.8 F) by the end of the century. This could lead to less rainfall and higher evaporation, especially in regions that are already dry. Other important effects include possible changes in El Niño (climate variability) patterns and hurricane behaviors. Taking into account projected population growth, subsequent chapters explore likely trends with respect to water availability, coastal impacts, and biodiversity. The authors then look at the issues from a policy perspective, focusing on Texas's importance to the national economy as an energy producer, particularly of oil and gas. They recommend that Texas develop its own climate change policy to serve the goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing energy independence, ensuring regional security, and improving management of water, air, land, and wildlife.
Overall, this book is an admirable attempt at a discussion of the effects of global warming, and should stimulate discussions of policy options at the state, and even national, level. . . . This thought-provoking book is suitable for environmental decisionmakers in Texas (or in any state) who are trying to deal with global climate change. The book is ideal for supplementing college classes in environmental management and policy. --Science Books and Films This is the most wide-ranging, integrated analysis of climate change impacts on a region that I have seen. . . . it should be read carefully by anyone attempting to assess what climate change means for their region. --William E. Riebsame, associate professor of geography, University of Colorado, Boulder The presence of uncertainty need not immobilize us like a deer trapped in the headlights of an onrushing truck. There is enough information to craft a sound program for a rational response to climate change in Texas. So concludes this report of the Task Force on Climate Change in Texas, an interdisciplinary group of experts convened to study the possible effects of global warming on Texas and to identify policy options for avoiding or mitigating them. After introductory chapters on global climate change, the changing Texas climate, and greenhouse emissions, individual chapters of this study explore the effects of global warming on Texas water resources, estuaries, biodiversity, agriculture, urban areas, and the economy. These essays reveal a wide range of possible effects, from severe stresses on water and coastal resources to low impact in the agricultural sector and in urban areas. Policy options for reducingemissions and mitigating some of their effects are included. Gerald R. North is a distinguished professor of meteorology and oceanography at Texas A & M University. Jurgen Schmandt is director of the Center for Global Studies of the Houston Advanced Research Center and a professor of public affairs at the University of Texas at Austin. Judith Clarkson is a consultant to the Center for Global Studies.
In a career spanning four decades, Gerald R. North contributed groundbreaking research that continues to shape the modern field of climate science. However, the route he has taken was full of surprising twists and turns that included hate mail, eavesdropping by the KGB, and sometimes acrimonious debate with climate-change deniers. North’s significant contributions to the field include his innovative “toy model” analysis of climate change based on ingeniously simplified models and his lead proposal for and successful approval of the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite. Launched in 1997, the TRMM’s purpose was to collect data on the global climate system. The TRMM operated successfully for 17 years before it was deactivated in 2015. In The Rise of Climate Science, North recounts in detail his life in the vanguard of modern climate science. He offers an insider look at the academic research and government initiatives around global warming and what that means for the planet. He includes stories of conversations with top Soviet climate scientists at the height of the Cold War in the late 1970s—complete with clandestine electronic surveillance. He also describes the experience of testifying before Congress and engaging in public exchanges with those who doubted the reality of the phenomenon his research field described. Climatology today has advanced into a mature phase. This book is an important contribution to understanding its development in the twentieth century and adds a distinctly human face and sensibility to the ongoing societal conversation around climate change and its implications for our future.
Dear students, I want to share a dream with you. I dreamed that a young person of 14 whom I was going to be teaching would become president of the United States during the first half of the twenty-first century. As a teacher, I was struck by this immense responsibility. What should I teach my student about the world as preperation for this awesome task? How could my world history class help this person to mature into an intelligent and humane president and leader of the free world?
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