Understand what's behind floods, fires, droughts, heat waves, tornadoes, hurricanes, blizzards, and more Over the last five years our country has been continuously inundated with natural disasters. We are hit with a constant barrage of traumatic headlines. The body count climbs. Temperature extremes are broken on all continents. Entire towns disappear to devastating floods. Towns, cities, countries burn from extreme heat and drought. Hurricanes and tornadoes rip across the country causing untold damage. Since the last century, through global warming, the polar ice is melting as are the glaciers topping our highest mountains leading to rising seas that flood our seaside communities while depleting the water supply for those inland whose lives depend on glacier melt. To grasp what is happening to the world we know, we need to understand weather and the changing climate. This book leads the reader to this end by explaining weather phenomena through stories of exploration and adventure. Concluding with the influence of modern civilization and its world-altering consequences, the author challenges the reader to take action now to alter the effects of global warming on future generations.