Weird Weather—Tales of Astronomical and Atmospheric Anomalies

This book is, in a sense, a sequel to David Seargent's first Springer book Weird Astronomy (2010). Whereas Weird Astronomy extended over a broad range of purely astronomical topics, the present work concentrates on phenomena closer to home; the atmospheric and "shallow space" events as opposed to deep space events. The line between astronomy and meteorology is blurred - a fact that is discussed in Weird Weather. It is not primarily a book of "wonders" or of the unexplained, although some of the topics covered remain mysteries. It is primarily directed toward those who are fascinated by climate and weather, and who are open-minded when considering Earth's climate, what drives it, and what are the causes of climate change. The author, David A. J. Seargent, presents the facts with a balanced and scientific approach.Weird Weather: Tales of Astronomical and Atmospheric Anomalies is about strange, unusual, and apparently inexplicable observations of the air and sky. Primarily these are in the Earth's atmosphere, but there are corresponding phenomena in the atmospheres of other planets of the Solar System - lightning on Venus, Jupiter, and Saturn, whirlwinds and dust storms of Mars, and auroras on Jupiter. Topics include anomalous lights, anomalous sounds, spectacular effects of cloud illumination by the Sun or Moon, lightning phenomena, electrophonic sounds of lightning, aurora and meteors, tornado and whirlwind phenomena on Earth and Mars, usual atmospheric effects, mirages, and the possible astronomical influences on cloud and climate.

David A. J. Seargent holds an MA and PhD, both in Philosophy, from the University of Newcastle NSW, where he formerly worked as a tutor in Philosophy for the Department of Community Programs/Workers' Educational Association external education program. He is also an avid astronomer and is known for his observations of comets, one of which he discovered in 1978. Together with his wife Meg, David lives at The Entrance, north of Sydney on the Central Coast of New South Wales, Australia. He is the author of two published astronomy books: 'Comets: Vagabonds of Space' (Doubleday, 1982), and 'The Greatest Comets in History: Broom Stars & Celestial Scimitars' (Springer 2008). Currently he is the author of a regular column in 'Australian Sky & Telescope' magazine. His latest work for Springer is 'Weird Astronomy: Tales of Unusual, Bizarre, and Other Hard to Explain Observations' (2010).