B. J. Mason – författare

The causes and consequences of acid rain are subjects of considerable concern, controversy, and confusion. The effects of acid deposition on the chemistry of lakes and streams, and on the survival of fish and other aquatic life, have been greatly clarified by the results of the recent Anglo-Scandinavian research programme. A concise, non-specialist account of the results, their interpretation, and implication is here presented by the Director of the programme.The book includes chapters on emissions, transport, and deposition of acid pollution; hydrochemical studies in catchments; catchment process studies; catchment manipulation experiments; the role of hydrology and soil chemistry; palaeolimnological studies; the toxic effects of acidification on fish and other aquatic life; and catchment modelling studies.The highly interdisciplinary nature of the research will appeal to a wide range of scientists and to policy-makers interested in acid rain and its consequences. It will also be useful for postgraduates and third-year first degree students in the environmental sciences.

This 1991 volume presents the results of a major international and interdisciplinary study of the mechanism and consequences of surface water acidification, which is a growing environmental problem. This detailed, long-term study provides an authoritative overview of the chemical process involved in acidification and of its biological impact on freshwater life. The surface waters acidification programme (SWAP) has drawn together the many facets of this complex phenomenon. The volume includes sections on hydrochemical studies in catchments, catchment process studies, catchment manipulation experiments, chemical processes, palaeolimnological studies, biological effects on freshwater life, and modelling studies. The volume finishes with an assessment of the SWAP and its conclusions. Though the results are presented in a predominantly European context, the findings and conclusions are applicable to all those areas suffering the consequences of acidification.

Cloud physics, which is the scientific study of the formation and constitution of clouds and the development inside them of snow, rain, hail and lightning, has become established as a distinct branch of atmospheric physics only since the Second World War. It comprises the exploration of clouds with aircraft and radar and laboratory studies on the basic physics of the many processes involved. In this 1975 text, Dr Mason has revised and updated his popular account of cloud-related meteorological phenomena. Descriptions of simple experiments, suitable for use either in class or at home, are included to illustrate what happens in the clouds above. The book is illustrated with many beautiful photographs.