Review by Choice Review
Schonwiese and Rapp discuss spatial and temporal averages and trends in climate variables (focused on surface observations) during the last century, much of this presented in 160 pages of maps showing interpolated isolines of absolute values of temperature, pressure, precipitation, and humidity, and linear trends in those variables. The first 50 or so pages describe with great clarity the methodology employed, issues surrounding interpretation of the observational records, the differences between the spatial and temporal behavior of the various variables, and potential sources of inaccuracies or biases in the records. Diagrams are neat and clear, and caution in interpreting the maps is clearly expressed in several locations throughout. The book is generally well written, although there are a number of spelling and grammatical infelicities. Also, a large number of references are drawn from the grey literature, and several are in German. The conclusions section focuses on a discussion of greenhouse gas forcing of climate rather than summarizing inferences that may be drawn from the observations, but this too is interesting and raises some important issues. Overall, a good resource. General readers; upper-division undergraduates through professionals. S. C. Pryor Indiana University
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
