Climatology in Cold Regions

Book excerpt: Climatology in Cold Regions A groundbreaking interdisciplinary study of cold-region weather systems and their vital role in predicting climate change across the globe Climatology in Cold Regions explores the complexities of land−atmospheric interaction across the Earth’s cryosphere, systematically placing soil thawing, snow melting, surface diabatic heating, and other processes within the context of broader climatological models. Drawing from a wealth of new data, leading atmospheric scientist Chenghai Wang illustrates how cold-region weather systems can be parameterized to improve seasonal climate prediction and provide crucial insights into projected changes in climate over the next 50-100 years. The book opens with an introduction to the characteristics and classification of cold-region climatology, followed by a detailed description of the primary weather systems and land surface processes in cold regions. The core of the book presents a new approach for seasonal climate prediction using signals obtained from cryospheric processes, supported by a discussion of climate disasters and the impact of climate change on the ecology of cold regions. Introduces a new way of modeling climate in cold regions Offers novel approaches for assessing climate signals from cold regions in seasonal and sub-seasonal predictions Presents new data on the role of cold-region climatology in forecasting and driving global temperature changes Discusses the role of cold regions as the main source of global freshwater supply A significant contribution to climate research and beyond, Climatology in Cold Regions is essential reading for students, scientists, and researchers in the atmospheric sciences, meteorology, ecology, hydrology, and Earth sciences.