Includes bibliographical references (pages 421-422) and index.

THE SCOPE AND CONTROLS OF THE CLIMATE: The science of climatology -- The developement of climatology -- Climatic elements -- The climate system -- Climatological space and time scales -- THE RADIATION BUDGET AND ENERGY SYSTEMS OF THE EARTH: The nature of radiation -- Radiation from the sun -- Interaction of radiation with the atmosphere -- Solar radiation at the earth's surface -- Longwave radiation -- Monitorng radiation from space -- The global radiation budget -- Surface radiation budget -- Energy and temperature -- Surface energy budgets -- Temperature at the Earth's surface -- Application of temperature information -- THE HYDROLOGICAL CYCLE: Evaporation -- Moisture in the atmosphere -- Clouds and cloud-forming processes -- Hydrostatic stability -- Clouds and climate -- Precipitation formation -- Precipitation -- Global precipitation distribution -- Local scale precipitation -- The water balance -- THE GENERAL CIRCULATION AND GLOBAL GLOBAL CLIMATE: The function of the general circulation -- Atmospheric pressure -- Air movement around a rotating planet -- Barotropic and baroclinic zone -- Large-scale effects of the surface boundary -- Oceans -- Cryosphere -- Continents -- REGIONAL CLIMATES: Climate classification -- The Empiric approach -- Tropical cliamtes- the Hadley cell -- Tropical climates-the monsoon regime -- Mid-latitude weather -- Mid-latitude climate regions -- Polar climates -- Change in regional climates -- LOCAL CLIMATES: Factors controlling local climates -- The importance of surface type -- The urban climate -- The influence of topography -- The influence of large-scale atmospheric features -- Defining and measuring local climates -- Inadvertent climate modification -- Deliberate climate modification -- The human response to climate -- THE FUTURE-CLIMATE CHANGE, CLIAMTE MODELS, CLIMATE IMPACTS: Mechanisms of climatic change -- Global-scale climate models -- Local climate models -- Changes and cycles in the climate system -- Climate changes and their impact on man -- Future climates-the probable impact of carbon dioxide.