The Global Climate System: Patterns, Processes, And Teleconnections

This page intentionally left blank The Global Climate System Patterns, Processes, and Teleconnections Over the last 20 years, developments in climatology have provided an amazing array of explanations for the pattern of world climates. This textbook examines the Earth’s climate systems in light of this incredible growth in data availability, data retrieval systems, and satellite and computer applications. It considers regional climate anomalies, developments in teleconnections, unusual sequences of recent climate change, and human impacts on the climate system. The physical climate forms the main part of the book, but social and economic aspects of the global climate system are also considered. This textbook has been derived from the authors’ extensive experience of teaching climatology and atmospheric science. Each chapter contains an essay by a specialist in the field to enhance the understanding of selected topics. An extensive bibliography and lists of websites are included for further study. This textbook will be invaluable to advanced students of climatology and atmospheric science. H O W A R D A . B R I D G M A N is currently a Conjoint Professor at the University of Newcastle in Australia, having retired at the Associate Professor level in February 2005. He has held visiting scientist positions at Indiana University, USA, the University of East Anglia, UK, the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, Boulder, Colorado, USA, the Atmospheric Environment Service in Canada, and the Illinois State Water Survey, USA. He has written, edited or contributed to eleven other books on subjects including air pollution, applied climatology and climates of the Southern Hemisphere. He has published many articles in the field’s leading journals. J O