Mountain Weather and Climate

Mountains and high plateau areas account for 20 per cent of the Earth's land surface. They give rise to a wide range of meteorological phenomena and distinctive climatic characteristics of consequence for ecology, forestry, glaciology and hydrology. Mountain Weather and Climate remains the only comprehensive text describing and explaining mountain weather and climate processes. It presents the results of a broad range of meteorological and climatological studies drawn from across the world. Following an introductory survey of the historical aspects of mountain meteorology, three chapters deal with the latitudinal, altitudinal and topographic controls of meteorological elements in mountains, circulation systems related to orography and the climatic characteristics of mountains. The author supplies regional case studies of selected mountain climates from New Guinea to the Yukon, a chapter on bioclimatology that examines human bioclimatology, weather hazards and air pollution and a concluding chapter on the evidence for and the significance of changes in mountain climates. Since the first edition of this book appeared a decade ago there has been a number of important field programs conducted in mountain areas. Notable among these have been the European Alpine Experiment and related investigation of local winds, studies of air drainage in complax terrain in the western United States and field and laboratory experiments on air flow over low hils. Results from these investigations and other research have been incorporated in this new edition. All relevant new literature is referenced.