vbid/9783319652153

Description

Air and water are so familiar that we all think we know them. Yet how difficult�it remains to predict their behavior, with so many questions butting against�the limits of our knowledge. How are cyclones, tornadoes, thunderstorms,�tsunamis or floods generated � sometimes causing devastation and death?�What will the weather be tomorrow, next week, next summer? This book�brings some answers to these questions with a strategy of describing before�explaining. Starting by considering air and water in�equilibrium�(i.e., at rest),�it progresses to discuss dynamic phenomena first focusing on large scale�structures, such as�El Ni�o�or trade winds, then on ever smaller structures,�such as low-pressure zones in the atmosphere, clouds, rain, as well as tides�and waves. It finishes by describing man-made constructions (dams, ports,�power plants, etc.) that serve to domesticate our water resources and put�them to work for us.� Including over one hundred illustrations and very few equations, most of the�text is accessible to readers with no more than high-school science and who�are at ease with quantities such as the temperature of a fluid or the pressure�within such a medium. Beyond the primary audience of engineers, teachers,�and students, the book is thus also addressed to walkers, hikers, navigators,�and all nature lovers.� �Typham this is the title: Air and Water Trade Winds, Hurricanes, Gulf Stream, Tsunamis and Other Striking Phenomena