Historic Storms Of The North Sea British Isles And Northwest Europe

This is a historical study of great wind storms over the last 500-600 years, with meteorological maps and wind measurements.

Our understanding of climate and its role in human affairs has changed markedly over recent years, as have climate observation systems and modelling capabilities. Reliance on recent weather statistics to provide a guide for future climate is no longer viable. Evidence of human-induced climate change has placed climate high on political and the media agendas. Climates of the British Isles provides a comprehensive account of what we know about climate and changing climates at the end of the twentieth century. Integrating the historical and geographical dimensions of climate, the crucial link between past and future climatic conditions is examined through the geographical lens of the British Isles. Climates of past ages are reconstructed and full descriptions of present climate are illustrated by a wealth of graphs, maps and images. Important climate data sets are provided. Marking the twenty-fifth anniversary of the internationally acclaimed Climatic Research Unit, this book distils much of the leading research of present and recent members of the unit and presents an authoritative, accessible view of climatic change and prospects for the next millenium and beyond.

Global climate and the effects of global warming are commanding unprecendented interest as climates grow more dynamic and changeable. How does global warming change patterns of climate? Why is the weather and climate of the British Isles so variable? Regional Climates of the British Isles presents a comprehensive and up-to-date survey of the diverse climate of the British Isles. Examining the ways in which regional climates evolve from the interplay of meteorological conditions and geography of the British Isles, leading climatologists provide detailed explanations of the climatic characteristics of eleven regions of the British Isles. Climatic distinctiveness and local weather contrasts are described for each region, together with a summary of climatic data from 1961 to the present. Reviewing the history and causes of climatic change and evaluating regional models, Regional Climates of the British Isles offers an important analysis of climatic variations. Examining future climatic change and its likely consequences, the authors acknowledge the need for regionally diverse responses to the greenhouse effect.

The global environment is changing rapidly under the impact of human activities, and an important element of this change is related to global c1imate modification. Can the study of c1imate and history help in devising strategies for coping with this change? What might be the type of information most useful in this context? What are the pitfalls awaiting the unwary? These are the kinds of questions that led us to bring together experts from the natural and social sci ences with a strong interest in history, to promote discussion between workers in different disciplines by focussing on a common topic of great interest to society. The meeting was arranged in the framework of a "Hanse Conference" within the interdisciplinary program of the Hanse-Wissenschaftskolleg, a foundation set up to promote interdisciplinary studies in collaboration between the universities ofBremen and Oldenburg. The aim ofthe Hanse Conferences in general is to provide opportunities for experts from different fields of the sciences and humanities to come together and explore the larger framework oftopics of common interest. What unites the partici pants is their desire to look over the fence to neighboring disciplines. Young colleagues who wish to build an interdisciplinary career are particularly welcome. In the Hanse Conference on Climate and History, we have endeavoured to build bridges between the c1imate sciences and the sociological sciences concemed with environmental impacts on human activities. The geological sciences, we feIt, are especially well suited to the purpose because they al ready comprise historical aspects.

Explores the resilience of the Dutch Republic in the face of preindustrial climate change during the Little Ice Age.

Provides an understanding of the relationship between social-ecological systems and multilevel governance so that readers can properly deal with hydrometeorological extreme events and hazards Based on field investigations from EU research projects, this book is the first to devote itself to scientific and policy-related knowledge concerning climate change-induced extreme events. It depicts national and international strategies, as well as tools used to improve multilevel governance for the management of hydrometeorological risks. It also demonstrates how these strategies play out over different scales of the decision-making processes. Facing Hydrometeorological Extreme Events: A Governance Issue offers comprehensive coverage of such events as floods, droughts, coastal storms, and wind storms. It showcases real-life success stories of multilevel governance and highlights the individuals involved and the resources mobilized in the decision-making processes. The book starts by presenting a synthesis of hydrometeorological extreme events and their impacts on society. It then demonstrates how societies are organizing themselves to face these extreme events, focusing on the strategies of integration of risk management in governance and public policy. In addition, it includes the results of several EU-funded projects such as CLIMB, STARFLOOD, and INTERREG IVB project DROP. The first book dedicated to hydrometeorological extreme events governance based on field investigations from EU research projects Offers a “multi-hazards” approach—mixing policy, governance, and field investigations’ main outputs Features the results of EU-funded projects addressing hydrometeorological extreme events Part of the Hydrometeorological Extreme Events series Facing Hydrometeorological Extreme Events is an ideal book for upper-graduate students, postgraduates, researchers, scientists, and policy-makers working in the field.

Since before recorded history, people have congregated near water. But as growing populations around the globe continue to flow toward the coasts on an unprecedented scale and climate change raises water levels, our relationship to the sea has begun to take on new and potentially catastrophic dimensions. The latest generation of coastal dwellers lives largely in ignorance of the history of those who came before them, the natural environment, and the need to live sustainably on the world’s shores. Humanity has forgotten how to live with the oceans. In The Human Shore, a magisterial account of 100,000 years of seaside civilization, John R. Gillis recovers the coastal experience from its origins among the people who dwelled along the African shore to the bustle and glitz of today’s megacities and beach resorts. He takes readers from discussion of the possible coastal location of the Garden of Eden to the ancient communities that have existed along beaches, bays, and bayous since the beginning of human society to the crucial role played by coasts during the age of discovery and empire. An account of the mass movement of whole populations to the coasts in the last half-century brings the story of coastal life into the present. Along the way, Gillis addresses humankind’s changing relationship to the sea from an environmental perspective, laying out the history of the making and remaking of coastal landscapes—the creation of ports, the draining of wetlands, the introduction and extinction of marine animals, and the invention of the beach—while giving us a global understanding of our relationship to the water. Learned and deeply personal, The Human Shore is more than a history: it is the story of a space that has been central to the attitudes, plans, and existence of those who live and dream at land’s end.

On August 25, 1833, the British convict ship Amphitrite, filled with more than one hundred women prisoners and their children along with a crew of thirteen, left London for a convict colony in New South Wales. Less than a week later, all but three died when a savage storm battered their ship to pieces on the beach at Boulogne--in sight of hundreds of horrified onlookers. Inexplicably, the captain, John Hunter, had refused offers of aid from the shore. Sensational news coverage of the calamity prompted an Admiralty investigation to find out who was responsible. The suspicion was that Hunter and the surgeon aboard rejected assistance because they feared the women would escape custody. Some blamed the doctor’s wife because she had refused to go ashore in the same boat with the convicts so no boat was launched. Colorfully set in the political and social context of early 19th century Great Britain, this account of the shipwreck is peopled with a fascinating cast of characters that includes John Wilks, the Paris correspondent of a London newspaper whose reporting triggered public emotions; Lord Palmerston, the British foreign secretary; William Hamilton, the British consul who led the investigation; Sarah Austin, a British expatriate whose heroism the night of the wreck merits an award; and a Prussian prince. Drawing from government records in England, Scotland, and France, and from contemporary reports, Andrew Jampoler spins a memorable sea tale that is entirely true yet rivals the best of fiction. Readers will find this latest addition to his growing body of works firmly cements Jampoler’s reputation as a master storyteller.