Meteorology 1

Abstract

Meteorology is a science that studies the gaseous atmosphere, the elements of climate and weather, and its impact on humans, animals, and plants. Climate, with its elements of solar radiation, heat, atmospheric pressure, wind, evaporation and condensation, and atmospheric disturbances, and the impact of these climatic elements on various aspects of human, plant and animal life are topics studied by meteorology. The origin of the word meteorology is from the Greek language (Meteor means high and logy means science). Meteorology was the science of concern for mankind on earth since the beginning of animal domestication and the beginning of agriculture. The concern of mankind on rainy seasons, snow, wind, floods and drought times, which affected the attempt of mankind to overcome weather and climate problems to ensure his food safety. In ancient civilizations, for example the Pharaohs in ancient Egypt worshiped Sirius because they believed that its appearance is connected with the Nile floods, which the source of their welfare and prosperity. The Babylonians wrote their observations on thunder and rain on stone tablets. In ancient Greek, Aristotle in 340 BC, wrote the Meteorology book, he was considered as the father of meteorology (Alter, 1994). In India, Vedas, which are ancient Sanskrit texts, mentioned texts about clouds and seasons (Hellmann, 1908). In the nineteenth century, there was a qualitative leap in meteorology, with advances in physics and chemistry and its applications to meteorology. In the twentieth century, with the invention of balloons and aircraft, advances in space and satellite science in the second half of the last century, the invention of the computer and the great leap in computer science, and remote sensing; great progress has been noticed in meteorology and has become of interest to all mankind.Meteorology, with the help of modern technology in remote sensing and the ease of communications, is a very important science for human life, both for civil and military applications. Without the science of meteorology and the applications of weather forecasts, which are of the individual concern as well as governments and social organizations. With pre- warnings from meteorological services on floods, snow, heat waves, the tsunami waves, tornados, hurricanes, wind storms, and rainstorms, thousands of lives and billions of dollars are saved each year. Meteorological services are very important for aviation travels all over the world to save lives and properties. In agriculture, crops are saved from frost and heatwaves, and planning for planting seasons for each crop is very important all over the world, for the sake of war against famine and poverty. Also, environmental meteorology is important for the preservation of the environment against deforestation and desertification and for the preservation of water resources. The topic of meteorology and climate is one of the important sciences for all scholars and researchers all over the world. Libraries and databases have hundreds of books, reports, brochures and scientific papers, concerning meteorology and related topics. One of the good books on meteorology for students and researchers, is “Essentials of Meteorology, an invitation for the atmosphere” for C. Donald Ahrens. The book came in 15 chapters, which cover most of the topics on meteorological subjects such as earth atmosphere, temperature, air pressure, wind, clouds, humidity, evaporation, condensation, water cycle, climate change, weather forecasting, air pollution, and global climate. At the end of each chapter, Ahrens introduces questions for review in which their answers are found in the text. He also introduces ate the end of each chapter, questions for thought and exploration, which require critical thinking and good understanding.