Gerald R. North – författare

Encyclopedia of Atmospheric Sciences, Second Edition, Six Volume Set is an authoritative resource covering all aspects of atmospheric sciences, including both theory and applications. With more than 320 articles and 1,600 figures and photographs, this revised version of the award-winning first edition offers comprehensive coverage of this important field. The six volumes in this set contain broad-ranging articles on topics such as atmospheric chemistry, biogeochemical cycles, boundary layers, clouds, general circulation, global change, mesoscale meteorology, ozone, radar, satellite remote sensing, and weather prediction. The Encyclopedia is an ideal resource for academia, government, and industry in the fields of atmospheric, ocean, and environmental sciences. It is written at a level that allows undergraduate students to understand the material, while providing active researchers with the latest information in the field.

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.

This textbook presents a uniquely integrated approach in linking both physics and chemistry to the study of atmospheric thermodynamics. The book explains the classical laws of thermodynamics, focuses on various fluid systems, and, recognising the increasing importance of chemistry in the meteorological and climate sciences, devotes a chapter to chemical thermodynamics which includes an overview of photochemistry. Although students are expected to have some background knowledge of calculus, general chemistry and classical physics, the book provides set-aside refresher boxes as useful reminders. It contains over 100 diagrams and graphs to supplement the discussions, and a similar number of worked examples and exercises, with solutions included at the end of the book. It is ideal for a single-semester advanced course on atmospheric thermodynamics, and will prepare students for higher-level synoptic and dynamics courses.

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.

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.