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18 miles : the epic drama of our atmosphere and its weather / Christopher Dewdney.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: Toronto, Ontario, Canada : ECW, [2018]Copyright date: ©2018Description: 263 pages : illustration ; 22 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781770413467
  • 1770413464
Other title:
  • Eighteen miles : the epic drama of our atmosphere and its weather
Subject(s):
Contents:
Introduction -- Stormy with a chance of life: the improbable birth of our atmosphere -- The wild blue yonder: the layers of the atmosphere -- Cloud Nine: inside the misty giants above our heads -- The poem of Earth: rain -- The secret life of storm -- Katrina: the life story of a hurricane -- Palace of the winds -- Which way the wind blows: the story of weather forecasting -- Apollo's chariot: the seasons -- A cold place: winter and the ice ages -- Climate change past and present -- Weather that changed history -- Postscript: Fire, water, earth, air.
Summary: "We live at the bottom of an ocean of air -- 5,200 million million tons, to be exact. It sounds like a lot, but Earth's atmosphere is smeared onto its surface in an alarmingly thin layer -- 99 percent contained within 18 miles. Yet, within this fragile margin lies a magnificent realm -- at once gorgeous, terrifying, capricious, and elusive. With his keen eye for identifying and uniting seemingly unrelated events, Christopher Dewdney reveals to us the invisible rivers in the sky that affect how our weather works and the structure of clouds and storms and seasons, the rollercoaster of climate. 18 Miles is a kaleidoscopic and fact-filled journey that uncovers our obsession with the atmosphere and weather -- as both evocative metaphor and physical reality. From the roaring winds of Katrina to the frozen oceans of Snowball Earth, Dewdney entertains as he gives readers a long overdue look at the very air we breathe."-- Back cover.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Dr. James Carlson Library NonFiction 551.5 D515 Available 33111008934222
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 551.5 D515 Available 33111009293057
Adult Book Adult Book Northport Library NonFiction 551.5 D515 Available 33111008221372
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

WINNER, American Meteorological Society's Louis J. Battan Authors' Award WINNER, 2019 Science Writers & Communicators of Canada Book Award WINNER, 2018 Lane Anderson Award "With wit and a humbling sense of wonder, this is a book that can be shared and appreciated by a wide audience who now religiously check their phones for daily forecasts." -- Publishers Weekly Starred Review "This terrific, accessible, and exciting read helps us to better understand the aspects of weather and the atmosphere all around us." --Library Journal Starred Review We live at the bottom of an ocean of air -- 5,200 million million tons, to be exact. It sounds like a lot, but Earth's atmosphere is smeared onto its surface in an alarmingly thin layer -- 99 percent contained within 18 miles. Yet, within this fragile margin lies a magnificent realm -- at once gorgeous, terrifying, capricious, and elusive. With his keen eye for identifying and uniting seemingly unrelated events, Chris Dewdney reveals to us the invisible rivers in the sky that affect how our weather works and the structure of clouds and storms and seasons, the rollercoaster of climate. Dewdney details the history of weather forecasting and introduces us to the eccentric and determined pioneers of science and observation whose efforts gave us the understanding of weather we have today. 18 Miles is a kaleidoscopic and fact-filled journey that uncovers our obsession with the atmosphere and weather -- as both evocative metaphor and physical reality. From the roaring winds of Katrina to the frozen oceans of Snowball Earth, Dewdney entertains as he gives readers a long overdue look at the very air we breathe.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-248) and index.

"We live at the bottom of an ocean of air -- 5,200 million million tons, to be exact. It sounds like a lot, but Earth's atmosphere is smeared onto its surface in an alarmingly thin layer -- 99 percent contained within 18 miles. Yet, within this fragile margin lies a magnificent realm -- at once gorgeous, terrifying, capricious, and elusive. With his keen eye for identifying and uniting seemingly unrelated events, Christopher Dewdney reveals to us the invisible rivers in the sky that affect how our weather works and the structure of clouds and storms and seasons, the rollercoaster of climate. 18 Miles is a kaleidoscopic and fact-filled journey that uncovers our obsession with the atmosphere and weather -- as both evocative metaphor and physical reality. From the roaring winds of Katrina to the frozen oceans of Snowball Earth, Dewdney entertains as he gives readers a long overdue look at the very air we breathe."-- Back cover.

Introduction -- Stormy with a chance of life: the improbable birth of our atmosphere -- The wild blue yonder: the layers of the atmosphere -- Cloud Nine: inside the misty giants above our heads -- The poem of Earth: rain -- The secret life of storm -- Katrina: the life story of a hurricane -- Palace of the winds -- Which way the wind blows: the story of weather forecasting -- Apollo's chariot: the seasons -- A cold place: winter and the ice ages -- Climate change past and present -- Weather that changed history -- Postscript: Fire, water, earth, air.

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