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Physical Geography

This guide highlights the library and internet resources for Physical Geography.

Defining Climate and Weather

Climatology - The study of the origins and impacts of climates.

Mayhew, S. (2015). "Climatology." In A Dictionary of Geography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2 Mar. 2022

Meteorology - The study and science of all aspects of the atmosphere—weather and climate—aiming to understand the physical and chemical nature of the atmosphere, its dynamical behaviour, and its complex interactions with the surface. It includes both short- and long-term weather forecasting, and the determination of past and future climatic change. Meteorology now includes the study of the atmospheres of other planets (S. Dunlop 2001).

Mayhew, S. (2015). "Meteorology." In A Dictionary of Geography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 2 Mar. 2022

Synoptic - Overall, or relating to a large-scale or broad view. Synoptic meteorology is primarily concerned with large-scale weather systems, such as extratropical cyclones, but not on a global scale. See C. N. Hewitt and A. Jackson (2003).

Mayhew, S. (2015). Synoptic. In A Dictionary of Geography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 11 May. 2022

In the Library's Collections

Most of the works on Climatology, Weather and Meteorology are now located in Baker-Berry Library on Berry Level 4.

Call number ranges: QC 851 through QC 999

Suggested subject headings for searching in the online catalog:

Introductory reading(s)

These books and online reference sources provide useful summaries of climate data from many regions of the world, and can suggest further sources of data for your topic.

More Climate data source(s)

Internet resource(s) for Climate data