Our planet’s atmosphere is massively complex, and as a result the weather we experience varies hugely from place to place and over different times of the year. From heatwaves to storms to blizzards, weather and climate affect how we live and everything we do.
Through human ingenuity we have adapted to live with the weather: growing crops that will flourish, building homes that withstand local conditions, and planning our lives around the seasons. However, throughout history extreme weather events, such as droughts, floods and extreme cold, have challenged societies’ resilience, costing lives and livelihoods.
So it is natural that we have sought to understand our weather and climate – what causes it to fluctuate and change over hours, weeks, seasons and years. And this endeavour has led to increasingly skilful weather forecasts and climate predictions that allow us to prepare for what’s coming – whether it is heavy, thundery rain this afternoon, a damaging wind storm later this week, the chance of a colder winter this year or more extreme heatwaves in the coming years as our climate warms.
Today, we live in a global economy, relying on global trade, efficient transport networks and resilient and reliable provision of food, energy and water. All of these systems are vulnerable to adverse weather and climate. The additional pressure of climate change creates a new set of circumstances and poses fresh challenges about how secure we will be in the future. More than ever, the weather and climate have considerable direct and indirect impacts on us – our livelihoods, property, health, well-being and prosperity.
Through the application of scientific rigour and the use of cutting-edge technologies, such as satellites and supercomputers, the study of meteorology has revolutionized our understanding of the weather and climate we experience and enabled us to forecast its future behaviour with ever-increasing skill. From the global to local and from hours to decades, our understanding of weather and climate and the predictions we make enable us plan for the future. Dip into these pages to learn more about the science of meteorology and how our weather works.
Tackling the greenhouse
effect will test human ingenuity, making scientific knowledge and understanding of our planet and its atmosphere even more pressing during this century.