An essential primer on atmospheric processes and their important role
in the climate system
The atmosphere is critical to climate change. It can amplify shifts in
the climate system, and also mitigate them. This primer offers a short,
reader-friendly introduction to these atmospheric processes and how they
work, written by a leading expert on the subject.
Giving readers an overview of key atmospheric processes, David Randall
looks at how our climate system receives energy from the sun and sheds
it by emitting infrared radiation back into space. The atmosphere
regulates these radiative energy flows and transports energy through
weather systems such as thunderstorms, monsoons, hurricanes, and winter
storms. Randall explains how these processes work, and also how
precipitation, cloud formation, and other phase changes of water
strongly influence weather and climate. He discusses how atmospheric
feedbacks affect climate change, how the large-scale atmospheric
circulation works, how predicting the weather and the climate are
fundamentally different challenges, and much more. This is the ideal
introduction for students and nonspecialists. No prior experience in
atmospheric science is needed, only basic college physics.
Authoritative and concise, Atmosphere, Clouds, and Climate features a
glossary of terms, suggestions for further reading, and easy-to-follow
explanations of a few key equations. This accessible primer is the
essential introduction to atmospheric processes and the vital role they
play in our climate system.
