Changes in the Wind: Earth's Shifting Climate

This intro to weather was written with a younger reader in mind, but that should not deter an older reader who wants to know more about the facets of weather and how it is studied. Of course, many discoveries about weather are relatively recent. In November of 1944, B-29 aircraft were flying a bombing mission at an altitude of 30,000 feet. Their target was Tokyo. Turning toward the east to make their approach, the B-29's suddenly found that they were being pushed by 150 mph winds. It was not until after the war that that meteorologists discovered the jet stream. On April 12, 1934, Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire recorded the highest wind velocity ever recorded: 231 mph. In January and February of 1977, the people of Buffalo, NY, must have thought an Ice Age was returning. The President sent in the National Guard to help dig the city out of the snow, and they soon ran out of places to pile it. Finally they decided to ship the snow south in railroad cars. There may be a coming ice age or there may be a significant change due to global warming. The recurring lesson that Margery Facklam has in her book is to plan ahead. To that I might add one obvious item and that is to study the weather.