Winner of the Science Writers and Communicators of Canada General Audience award
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. Shrink the earth to the size of a basketball and our atmosphere would be as thick as a layer of food wrap – 99 percent contained within 18 miles. Yet within this fragile margin lies a magnificent realm – at once gorgeous, terrifying, capricious, and elusive.
18 Miles is a kaleidoscopic and fact-filled journey through our atmosphere and weather. Author Christopher Dewdney reveals to us the invisible rivers in the sky that affect how our weather works, and the rollercoaster of our climate. He details the history of weather forecasting, looking at weather events from ancient history to the present day, and introduces us to the eccentric and determined pioneers of science and observation whose efforts gave us the understanding of weather we have today.
Throughout history, humanity has been obsessed with the weather and the atmosphere. We have been determined to find reliable ways to predict our seemingly unpredictable weather, and in the 21st century, faced with the challenges of climate change, it is more important than ever that scientists are able to study our atmosphere and work out how and why humanity has affected it. From the roaring winds of Katrina to the frozen oceans of Snowball Earth, 18 Miles provides an entertaining and in-depth look at the very air we breathe.
By:
Christopher Dewdney
Imprint: Bloomsbury Sigma
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions:
Height: 216mm,
Width: 135mm,
Weight: 400g
ISBN: 9781472969897
ISBN 10: 1472969898
Pages: 272
Publication Date: 01 October 2019
Audience:
General/trade
,
College/higher education
,
Professional and scholarly
,
ELT Advanced
,
Primary
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Introduction Chapter 1: Stormy with a Chance of Life: The Improbable Birth of our Atmosphere Chapter 2: The Wild Blue Yonder: The Layers of the Atmosphere Chapter 3: Cloud Nine: Inside the Misty Giants Above our Heads Chapter 4: The Poem of Earth: rain Chapter 5: The Secret Life of Storms Chapter 6: Katrina: The Life Story of a Hurricane Chapter 7: Palace of the Winds Chapter 8: Which Way the Wind Blows: The Story of Weather Forecasting Chapter 9: Apollo’s Chariot: The Seasons Chapter 10: A Cold Place: Winter and the Ice Ages Chapter 11: Climate Change Past and Present Chapter 12: Weather That Changed History Postscript: Fire, Water, Earth, Air Selected Bibliography Acknowledgements Index
Christopher Dewdney is the author of five books of non-fiction and eleven books of poetry. A four-time nominee for the Governor General's Award, he won first prize in the CBC Literary Competition for poetry and was awarded the Harbourfront Festival Prize, given in recognition of his contribution to Canadian Literature. His non-fiction book, Acquainted With The Night: Excursions into the World After Dark, was nominated for both a Governor General’s Literary Award and the Charles Taylor Prize for non-fiction, and was published in six countries. Fascinated by weather phenomena from a young age, Dewdney lives in Toronto, where he teaches writing at York University.
