| World-wide events are creating an unprecedented growth
of interest in regional and global climates. Extensive
media coverage of droughts, floods, and very cold or
exceptionally warm winters is exposing people from all
segments of society to the significance of climate.
The modern age of communications has permitted many
formerly esoteric climatological terms, with El Nino
providing an excellent example, to be widely known and
frequently cited. The realization that climate,
and its potential for change, can have profound
influences on both the quality of life and the nature
of the Earth's environment provides the basis for global
actions. International conferences, publications, and
agreements, many sponsored by the United Nations, are
based upon the necessity of establishing international
climate programs that assist nations in both
understanding and responding to natural and human-
induced climate processes and their implications.
Results are widely reported and have become the basis
for some controversies, especially regarding future
climate scenarios.
Given that the public is becoming more aware of the
importance of climate, it is necessary for the
professional climatologist to respond to the public's
needs. Research in both theoretical and applied
climatology is beginning to provide a greater
understanding of the actual and potential impacts
of past, present and future climates, and it remains
for the professional to provide the educated
layperson with climatic information that is accurate,
meaningful and readily comprehended. It is hoped that
The Encyclopedia of World Climatology will be of
value in this respect, for its content provides the
basis for the understanding of many aspects of
climate while, at the same time, providing information
on recent advances in the field.
The content of this work reflects, in part, that of
the Encyclopedia of Climatology that was published
in 1986. However, there are many essential
differences between the current volume and the
earlier work, with the most obvious being the
inclusion of modern developments in the field.
Of importance, too, is the way in which past
climates are treated. In this volume, apart from
an overview of changes over geologic time, past
climate articles deal with changes that have
occurred in historic times and their impacts.
This time restriction results from the explosive
development of paleoclimatology in recent
decades. So significant is this growth, that a
companion volume, Encyclopedia of Paleoclimatology
and Ancient Environments, is necessary. Such a
volume is currently being composed and edited for
the same Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series.
The transfer of paleoclimate articles to
another volume permits the Encyclopedia of
World Climatology to include many more articles
dealing with impacts of climate, examined
from both environmental and social points of
view. For example, changes in atmospheric quality
are discussed not only as an atmospheric process
but also as a human hazard. Additionally, a number
of biographies of climatologists who have played a
significant role in the development of climatology
are provided. Those included should be considered
representative of the many scholars who contributed
to the discipline at various stages of its
development. It is, of course, impossible to
include all those individuals whose research has
added to the intellectual content of climatology.
The 1986 volume contained contributions by
outstanding scholars who are now deceased. The
skill with which such authors as Helmut Landsberg,
Elmer Reiter, J. Murray Mitchell and Derek Schove
presented their ideas and concepts was not something
that 1 wished to lose. As a result, their works hav
ebeen suitably and carefully revised and edited while
retaining enough of the original to reflect the
writings of the original contribution. Completing such
a task is no easy undertaking, and the writers who
completed those revisions are certainly to be
commended.
Organization
Entries are in alphabetical order, with their length
being related to the relative importance of the topic.
In some cases the same topic is considered under
separate headings, and there are a number of ways
to find relevant information. Initially, to find a
particular topic it is best to look for that subject
in the alphabetical listing of entries. Beyond that,
the index and article cross-references locate the
required subject matter. The comprehensive index at
the back of the volume will list, for a given name
or term, every page where that item appears in the
volume.
Each article is followed by a list of cross-
references that locate related entries to that article.
It should be noted that these cross-references are not
intended to be exhaustive, for this would lead, in many
instances, to a very long listing. Instead, the reader
is guided to other topics which themselves are cross-
referenced. In this way, the many aspects of a given
topic may be meaningfully selected.
To further assist the reader to complete research,
references are given at the end of each entry. The
number of references usually varies in direct
proportion to the length of the entry. It will be
noted that some articles provide older citations.
These are intended to allow the reader to examine
the historical development of a topic ifdesired.
For the most part, however, the referencesprovide
recent significant information.
Acknowledgements
Editing a multiauthored volume such as this is
not without its problems. Ranging from selection of
topics to be included to determining an appropriate
length, the decisions I made were greatly helped by
many others. I gratefully acknowledge the ideas and
suggestions of my Advisory Board members who
provided an international perspective upon selection
of topics and authors: Howard Bridgman, Newcastle
University,
Australia; Henry Diaz, NOAA/CDC/OAR,USA;
Michael Glantz, ESIG, NOAA,
USA;
John Hay, IGCI, University of Waikato, New Zealand;
Tim Оке, University of British Columbia,
Canada;
John Thornes, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom.
At all stages, the sage advice of Rhodes Fairbridge
was invaluable.
All of the major articles in this volume were peer-
reviewed. In addition to the acknowledgements given
following selected articles, I gratefully acknowledge
the comments of each of the following:
Richard Allen, Eric Alfaro, Huug van den Dool, John
Feddema, James Hansen, John Horel, John Hidore, Arun
Kumar, Tim Osborn, David Robinson, Thomas Schmidlin,
Andrew Sturman, Tsegaye Tadesse, Martin Wadley.
Additionally, the support of Dr. Susan Berta, Chair,
and colleagues in the Department of Geography,
Geology and Anthropology at Indiana State University
is appreciated.
Given the magnitude of the task, compiling a work
of this nature requires someone of infinite patience,
organizational ability, and all office management
skills. I am fortunate that my wife Loretta filled
this role. Without her considerable effort and
continuing support, this volume might never have
been completed.
John E. Oliver Terre
Haute, Indiana, 2005
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