Climate Change : A Realistic Perspective: The fall of the weather dice and the butterfly effect

The explosive nature of the subject climate change during the last three decades, and especially the last few years, when daily and sometimes hourly the words “climate”, “climate change” or “global warming” are mentioned, is well recognised. It has brought about a significant challenge for those of us who are climate scientists to provide details of what is currently happening, why is it happening, and what is going to happen in the next month, year, and decade. An equal challenge is for media, including the social media, to present this information in a coherent manner, so that society, and political leaders at all levels - from the UN down to the local level - make appropriate decisions, whether this involves solar energy, the burning of coal, forest management, hydroelectricity, electric cars, veganism, nuclear power, the building of sea walls, moving to a better climate, learning to live with whatever Nature provides, or even who to vote for in the next election. The media and the education institutes are full (probably overfull) of the “climate story”, but the information portrayed in many cases lacks a full appreciation of the complexity of the climate system. The aim of this book is to “correct” this anomaly. Writing for the non-specialist as well as to the climate community, the book should appeal to graduate classes, not specifically associated with climate, such as history, architecture, political science etc., as well as undergraduate and graduate classes in climate and environmental science. The book should also be of interest to those outside academia such as the media, politicians and the informed public. The author, Dr John Maunder, was President of the Commission for Climatology of the World Meteorological Organization from 1989 to 1997, and has over the last 70 years been involved in the “weather business” in various countries, including New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the USA, Ireland, Switzerland and England, through activities in national weather services, universities and international organizations. Publications include four books: The Value of the Weather (1970), The Uncertainty Business - Risks and Opportunities in Weather and Climate (1986), The Human Impact of Climate Uncertainty - Weather Information, Economic Planning, and Business Management (1989), and the Dictionary of Global Climate Change (1994). Dr Maunder is now retired, living in Tauranga, New Zealand.