What’s going on up there when the rain falls, when the wind blows, when the clouds roll in and the lightning flashes? How do hurricanes arise and where to tornadoes come from? Why do seasonal conditions sometimes vary so much from one year to the next? Our ways of life, our very existences depend on knowing the answers to questions like these. Economies have been wiped out, civilizations have risen and fallen, entire species have come into being or gone extinct because of a temperature shift of just a few degrees, or a brief shortage or glut of rainfall. With so much riding on the weather, it makes you wonder how you’ve lived this long without knowing more about it.

Don’t worry it’s never too late to find out about what makes the weather tick.

And there’s never been an easier or more enjoyable way to learn than Weather For Dummies. In know time, you’ll know enough of weather basics to be able to:

Identify cloud types

Make sense of seasonal differences in the weather

Understand what causes hurricanes, tornadoes, and other extreme events

Make your own weather forecasts

Avoid danger during severe weather

Understand the global warming debate

Get a handle on smog, the greenhouse effect, El Niño, and more

Award-winning science writer John D. Cox brings the science of meteorology down to earth and, with the help of dozens of cool maps and charts and stunning photographs of weather conditions, he covers a wide range of fascinating subjects, including:

What is weather and how it fits into the entire global ecosystem

What goes into making a professional daily weather forecast

The basic elements of weather, including air pressure, clouds, and humidity

Storms, hurricanes, tornadoes, monsoons, and other extreme forms of weather

Seasonal weather effects and why they vary

Lightening, rainbows, sundogs, haloes, and other special effects

Featuring clear explanations, stunning illustrations, and fun, easy experiments and activities you can do at home , Weather For Dummies is your guide to making sense of  the baffling turmoil of the ever-changing skies above.