Weather

There are three interwoven strands which mark the progress of the weather/climate story throughout the past, during the present and into the future. These are: the effect on human life - ordinary, commercial and political; our desire and ability to predict its fluctuations; and our inability to control it at the same time as inadvertently changing it. This book traces these strands through history and offers some ideas concerning where they may go in the next 100 years. Our knowledge of the Earth's atmosphere is very limited. However we need to clarify the difference between "weather" and "climate". We must also clarify the contrast between making small controlled changes to local weather on the one hand and causing accidental and uncontrolled changes to global climate on the other. A last chapter deals with 2100 and beyond, looking at the challenges for our grandchildren and the kind of meteorology and changing climate they will face.