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| Preface | |
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| Introduction to the Atmosphere | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Weather and Climate | |
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| The Earth's Major Surface Features | |
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| Making an Atmosphere: Gases and Gravity | |
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| Atmospheric Evolution and Composition | |
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| Moist Air Is Lighter Than Dry Air | |
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| Trace Gases and Aerosols | |
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| Carbon Dioxide Cycle | |
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| Hydrologic Cycle | |
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| Methane | |
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| Chlorofluorocarbons | |
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| Aerosols | |
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| Atmospheric Pressure and Density | |
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| Basic Concepts | |
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| The Ideal Gas Law | |
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| Pressure and Altitude | |
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| Why Do Your Ears Pop? | |
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| Dividing Up the Atmosphere | |
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| An Introduction to Weather Maps | |
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| Basic Concepts | |
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| The Station Model | |
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| Time Zones | |
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| Weather Watches, Warnings, and Advisories | |
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| Putting It All Together | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Review Questions | |
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| Observation Activities | |
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| The Energy Cycle | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Force, Work, and Heat | |
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| Transferring Energy in the Atmosphere | |
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| Conduction: Requires Touching | |
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| Convection: Hot Air Rises | |
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| Temperature Advection: Horizontal Movement | |
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| Latent Heating: Changing the Phase of Water | |
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| Radiative Heat Transfer: Exchanging Energy with Space | |
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| Ozone | |
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| The Sun and the Seasons | |
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| Radiative Properties of the Atmosphere | |
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| The Greenhouse Effect | |
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| Greenhouse Warming: The Basics | |
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| Satellite Images | |
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| The Global Average Energy Budget: Energy Is Transferred from the Surface to the Atmosphere | |
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| Putting It All Together | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Review Questions | |
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| Observation Activities | |
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| Temperature | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Surface Temperature | |
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| Surface Energy Budget | |
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| Temperature Cycles | |
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| Annual Temperature Cycle | |
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| Interannual Temperature Variations | |
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| Volcanoes and Temperature | |
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| Diurnal Temperature Cycle | |
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| Temperature Variation with Height: Lapse Rates and Static Stability | |
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| Record Cold and Record Heat Across the United States | |
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| Adiabatic Cooling and Warming | |
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| The Environmental Lapse Rate and Static Stability | |
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| Temperature Inversions | |
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| Wind-Chill Temperature | |
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| Temperature and Agriculture | |
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| Temperature and Your Health | |
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| Putting It All Together | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Review Questions | |
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| Observation Activities | |
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| Water in the Atmosphere | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Evaporation: The Source of Atmospheric Water | |
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| Measuring Water Vapor in the Air | |
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| Mixing Ratio | |
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| Vapor Pressure | |
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| Relative Humidity | |
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| Atmospheric Moisture and Your Health | |
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| Dew Point/Frost Point | |
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| Condensation and Deposition: Cloud Formation | |
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| Solute and Curvature Effects | |
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| Nucleation | |
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| Cloud Particle Growth by Condensation and Deposition | |
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| Fog Formation | |
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| Lifting Mechanisms That Form Clouds | |
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| Static Stability and Cloud Development | |
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| The Saturated Adiabatic Lapse Rate | |
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| Conditionally Unstable Environments | |
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| Cloud Classification | |
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| Low Clouds | |
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| Precipitating Clouds | |
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| Middle Clouds | |
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| High Clouds | |
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| Clouds and the Greenhouse Effect | |
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| Cloud Composition | |
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| Precipitation | |
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| Precipitation Growth in Warm Clouds | |
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| Controlling the Weather | |
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| Collision-Coalescence | |
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| Precipitation Growth in Cold Clouds | |
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| Precipitation Types | |
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| Clouds, Lapse Rates, and Precipitation Near Mountains | |
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| Putting It All Together | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Review Questions | |
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| Observation Activities | |
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| Observing the Atmosphere | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Meteorological Observations | |
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| Direct Measurements of Surface Conditions | |
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| The Meteogram | |
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| Temperature | |
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| Humidity | |
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| Pressure | |
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| GPS and Water Vapor | |
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| Wind | |
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| Precipitation | |
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| Direct Measurements of Upper-Air Weather Observations | |
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| Indirect Methods of Observing Weather | |
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| Laws of Reflection and Refraction | |
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| Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star | |
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| Scattering | |
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| Multiple Scattering and Climate Change | |
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| ASOS Indirect Sensors | |
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| Meteorological Satellite Observations | |
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| Interpreting Satellite Images | |
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| Radar Observations | |
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| Atmospheric Optics | |
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| Mirages | |
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| Halos | |
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| Dispersion of Light | |
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| Green Flash | |
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| Sundogs | |
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| Sun Pillar | |
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| Rainbows | |
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| Coronas, Glories, and the Brocken Bow | |
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| Putting It All Together | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Review Questions | |
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| Observation Activities | |
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| Atmospheric Forces and Wind | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Wind Basics | |
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| Physics Basics | |
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| Newton's Second Law of Motion | |
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| Forces That Move the Air | |
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| Gravitational Force | |
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| Pressure Gradient Force | |
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| Planes and Pressure Differences | |
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| Coriolis Force | |
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| Centrifugal Force/Centripetal Acceleration | |
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| Frictional Force | |
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| Going Down the Drain with the Rossby Number-Clockwise or Counterclockwise? | |
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| Putting Forces Together: Atmospheric Force-Balances | |
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| Hydrostatic Balance | |
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| Geostrophic Balance, the Geostrophic Wind, and Buys Ballot's Law | |
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| Gradient Balance and the Gradient Wind | |
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| Adjustment to Balance | |
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| Guldberg-Mohn Balance and Buys Ballot's Law Revisited | |
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| Wind and Waves | |
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| Observations of Upper-Level and Surface Wind | |
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| Putting Force-Balances Together: The Thermal Wind | |
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| Putting Horizontal and Vertical Winds Together | |
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| Sea Breezes | |
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| Scales of Motion | |
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| Putting It All Together | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Review Questions | |
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| Observation Activities | |
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| Global-Scale Winds | |
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| Introduction | |
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| What Are Conceptual Models? | |
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| Observations Our Model Should Explain | |
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| A Simple Conceptual Model of Global Circulation Patterns | |
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| Marine Stratocumulus Cloud Regions | |
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| Upper-Air Mid-Latitude Westerlies | |
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| The Poleward Transport of Energy | |
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| Seasonal Variations | |
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| Precipitation Patterns and Topography | |
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| Monsoons | |
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| Putting It All Together | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Review Questions | |
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| Observation Activities | |
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| Atmosphere-Ocean Interactions: El Nino and Tropical Cyclones | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Oceanography | |
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| Ocean Temperature | |
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| Ocean Currents | |
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| El Nino | |
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| La Nina | |
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| Other Oscillations | |
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| Tropical Cyclones: Hurricanes and Typhoons | |
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| What Are They? | |
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| What Do They Look Like? | |
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| How and Where Do They Form? | |
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| How Are They Structured? | |
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| The "Hurricane Hunters" | |
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| What Are the Different Stages of Their "Lives"? | |
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| Naming Hurricanes | |
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| What Does a Year's Worth of Tropical Cyclones Look Like? The Record Year of 2005 | |
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| How Do They Cause Destruction? | |
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| Bryan Norcross, TV Meteorologist and Hero | |
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| How Do We Observe and Forecast Tropical Cyclones? | |
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| Galveston, 1900 and New Orleans, 2005: A Tale of Two Cities and Two Deadly Hurricanes | |
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| Long-Range Tropical Cyclone Forecasting | |
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| Putting It All Together | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Review Questions | |
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| Observation Activities | |
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| Air Masses and Fronts | |
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| Introduction | |
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| What Is an Air Mass? | |
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| Observations | |
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| Deadly Heat Waves | |
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| Air Mass Types | |
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| Air Mass Source Regions | |
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| Atmospheric Stability Revisited | |
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| Air Masses Affecting North America | |
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| Maritime Polar Air Masses | |
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| Continental Polar Air Masses | |
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| Arctic Air Masses | |
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| Continental Tropical Air Masses | |
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| Maritime Tropical Air Masses | |
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| Air Mass Modification | |
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| Lake-Effect Snows | |
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| Fronts | |
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| Cold Fronts | |
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| Warm Fronts | |
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| Stationary Fronts | |
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| Occluded Fronts | |
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| Drylines | |
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| Putting It All Together | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Review Questions | |
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| Observation Activities | |
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| Extratropical Cyclones and Anticyclones | |
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| Introduction | |
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| A Time and Place of Tragedy | |
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| A Life Cycle of Growth and Death | |
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| Day One: Birth of an Extratropical Cyclone | |
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| Typical Extratropical Cyclone Paths | |
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| Making Cyclones and Waves | |
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| Day Two: With the Fitz | |
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| Portrait of the Cyclone as a Young Adult | |
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| Cyclones and Fronts: On the Ground | |
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| Cyclones and Fronts: In the Sky | |
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| Back with the Fitz: A Fateful Course Correction | |
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| Cyclones and Jet Streams | |
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| Day Three: The Mature Cyclone | |
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| Bittersweet Badge of Adulthood: The Occlusion Process | |
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| Cyclones and Water: Bomb and Bust | |
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| Hurricane West Wind | |
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| One of the Worst ... | |
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| "Nosedive" | |
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| Cyclone Winds in 3D: Belts, Slots, and Squalls | |
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| Day Four (and Beyond): Death | |
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| The Cyclone | |
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| The Fitzgerald | |
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| The Sailors | |
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| The Extratropical Anticyclone | |
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| Anticyclones and Another Fitzgerald Tragedy | |
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| High Pressure, Low Visibility | |
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| Putting It All Together | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Review Questions | |
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| Observation Activities | |
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| Thunderstorms and Tornadoes | |
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| Introduction | |
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| What Is a Thunderstorm? | |
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| Thunderstorm Distribution | |
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| Factors Affecting Thunderstorm Growth and Development | |
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| Lifting Mechanisms | |
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| Unstable Atmosphere and Stability Indices | |
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| Vertical Wind Shear | |
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| Low-Level Jet Stream and Inversions | |
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| Types of Thunderstorms | |
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| Ordinary Single-Cell Thunderstorms | |
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| Multicell Thunderstorms | |
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| Supercell Thunderstorms | |
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| Microbursts | |
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| The Tornado | |
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| Tornado Formation and Life Cycle | |
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| Storm Chasers | |
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| Radar Observations of Tornadoes | |
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| Tornado Winds | |
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| Tornado Distribution | |
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| Tornado Outbreaks | |
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| Severe Weather Safety | |
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| The Waterspout | |
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| Tornado Safety: A Success Story | |
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| Other Thunderstorm Severe Weather | |
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| Lightning | |
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| Flash Floods and Flooding | |
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| Hail | |
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| Putting It All Together | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Review Questions | |
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| Observation Activities | |
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| Small-Scale Winds | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Friction in the Air: Turbulent "Eddies" | |
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| Clear-Air Turbulence | |
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| A Tour of Small-Scale Winds | |
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| The East and South | |
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| Coastal Fronts and Cold-Air Damming | |
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| The Windiest Place on Earth | |
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| Gravity Waves | |
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| The Midwest | |
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| Lake Breezes | |
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| Derechos | |
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| The Great Plains | |
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| Blue Northers | |
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| Using Turbulence to Advantage: Snow Fences and Windbreaks | |
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| Heatbursts | |
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| Dust Storms and the "Dust Bowl" | |
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| Chinooks | |
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| The West | |
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| Mountain/Valley Breezes and Windstorms | |
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| Dust Devils | |
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| Lenticular Clouds | |
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| Santa Ana Winds | |
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| von Karman Vortex Street | |
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| The Big Picture | |
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| Putting It All Together | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Review Questions | |
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| Observation Activities | |
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| Weather Forecasting | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Methods of Forecasting by People | |
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| Folklore | |
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| Persistence and Climatology | |
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| Personal Weather Forecasting | |
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| Trend and Analog | |
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| A Real Life-or-Death Forecast: D-Day, June 1944 | |
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| L.F. Richardson and the Dawn of Numerical Weather Forecasting | |
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| Modeling the Equations of the Air | |
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| L.F. Richardson: Pioneer and Prophet | |
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| The Numerical Weather Prediction Process: Then and Now | |
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| Weather Observations | |
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| Data Assimilation | |
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| Forecast Model Integration | |
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| Forecast Tweaking and Broadcasting | |
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| "Blowing Up" a Forecast Model | |
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| Modern Numerical Weather Prediction Models | |
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| Short-Range Forecast Models | |
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| A Day in the Life of Private-Sector Meteorology | |
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| Medium-Range Forecast Models | |
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| A Real Life-or-Death Forecast: The "Storm of the Century," March 1993 | |
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| The Medium-Range Forecast | |
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| The Short-Range Forecast for Washington, DC | |
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| The Short-Range Forecast for Birmingham, Alabama | |
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| The Storm of the Century Appears | |
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| A Perfect Forecast | |
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| Nowcasting in DC | |
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| The Aftermath | |
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| Why Forecasts Still Go Wrong Today | |
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| Imperfect Data | |
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| Faulty "Vision" and "Fudges" | |
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| Chaos | |
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| Improving Forecasts with Ensemble Forecasting | |
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| Pushing the Envelope: Numerical Nowcasts and Long-Range Prediction | |
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| The Proper Perspective | |
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| Putting It All Together | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Review Questions | |
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| Observation Activities | |
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| Past and Present Climates | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Defining Climate | |
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| Climate Controls | |
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| Classifying Today's Climate Zones | |
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| Tropical Humid Climates | |
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| Dry Climates | |
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| Moist Subtropical and Mid-Latitude Climates | |
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| Severe Mid-Latitude Climates | |
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| Polar Climates | |
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| Highland Climates | |
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| Past Climates: The Clues | |
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| Historical Data | |
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| Tree Rings | |
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| Pollen Records | |
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| Dating Ancient Climates | |
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| Air Bubbles and Dust in Ice Sheets | |
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| Glaciers and Icebergs | |
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| Marine Sediments | |
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| Fossil Records | |
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| Past Climates: The Change Mechanisms | |
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| Volcanic Eruptions | |
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| Asteroid Impacts | |
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| Solar Variability | |
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| Variations of the Earth's Orbit: Milankovitch Cycles | |
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| Plate Tectonics | |
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| Changes in Ocean Circulation Patterns | |
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| Putting It All Together | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Review Questions | |
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| Observation Activities | |
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| Human Influences on Climate | |
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| Introduction | |
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| Observations of Global Warming | |
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| Feedback Mechanisms | |
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| Air Pollution | |
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| Acid Deposition | |
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| The Stratospheric Ozone Hole | |
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| Changing Land Surfaces | |
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| Desertification | |
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| Urban Heat Islands | |
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| Greenhouse Gases and Global Warming | |
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| Global Warming and Atmospheric Water | |
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| Global Warming and the Oceans | |
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| Climate Modeling | |
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| Contrails | |
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| Climate Change Assessment | |
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| Climate Change and Health | |
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| Climate Change and Coastal Regions | |
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| Climate Change and Forests | |
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| Closure | |
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| Putting It All Together | |
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| Summary | |
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| Key Terms | |
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| Review Questions | |
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| Observation Activities | |
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| Appendix | |
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| Glossary | |
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| Credits | |
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| Index | |