Climates and Societies - A Climatological Perspective

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xi

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2. Introduction

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Human Activities and Environmental Change: A Climatologist’s View

      • Masatoshi Yoshino

      Pages 3-17

3. Climate Changes and Variability

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 19-19

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   2. On Relationships between Climate Variability and Change, and Societies

      • Annick Douguédroit

      Pages 21-41

   3. Climate Change in Post Glacial Period in Monsoon Asia

      • Jiacheng Zhang, Yasunori Yasuda, Masatoshi Yoshino

      Pages 43-60

   4. Approaches to Climatic Variations during the Historical Era: A Few Examples

      • Françoise Serre-Bachet

      Pages 61-76

   5. Some Statistical Aspects of Observed Regional and Global Climate Change within the Instrumental Period

      • C.-D. Schönwiese

      Pages 77-97

   6. Climate of the Future: An Evaluation of the Current Uncertainties

      • H. Le Treut

      Pages 99-117

   7. Impacts of the Climate Variability on Human Activities

      • Annick Douguédroit, Jean-Pierre Marchand, Marie-Françoise De Saintignon, Alain Vidal

      Pages 119-150

4. Regional Scales Climates

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 151-151

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   2. Society-Climate Systems in Tropical Africa

      • O. Ojo

      Pages 153-176

   3. Climate and Life in the Caribbean Basin

      • Lawrence C. Nkemdirim

      Pages 177-201

   4. Climate and Societies in Southeast Asia

      • K. U. Sirinanda

      Pages 203-234

   5. Climatic and Pathological Rhythms in a Humid Tropical Area, the Case of The Philippines

      • Jocelyne Pérard, Jean-Pierre Besancenot

      Pages 235-254

   6. Possible Impact on Agriculture Due to Climatic Change and Variability in South America

      • Fernando Santibáñez

      Pages 255-277

   7. Climate and Agriculture in China

      • Ai-Liang Jiang

      Pages 279-307

   8. The Climates of the “Polar Regions”

      • Tadeusz Niedzwiedz

      Pages 309-324

5. Local Scale Climates

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 325-325

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   2. Introduction to the Problems on Local Climate and Man

      • Janusz Paszynski

      Pages 327-331

The impact of climate on human activities and the effect of humans on cli­ mate are two of the most important areas of inquiry in climatology. These interactions conducted through physical, chemical and biological process­ es were described as early as Roman and Greek times. Marcus Vitruvius (75-25 B. C. ), a famous Roman engineer and architect, made the following observation about the climatic conditions necessary for founding a city: Land ideal for the health is slightly elevated and there should be neither fog nor frost. The direction of the slope and the distance to the swamps, lakes, and beaches must also be considered. The prevailing wind directions, observed by a wind tower at the center of the city, like Horologium at Athens, should be taken into consideration in city planning. The main and narrow streets should be placed in the middle angle of the two prevailing wind directions. Then the location of the Pantheons and squares should be decided. The influence of humans on climate was a major subject for discussion in the 19th century, inspired in part, by the rapid industrial growth and expanding deforestation of the time. D. L. Howard wrote brilliant pieces on the climate of London in the 1830s, while G . P. Marsh discussed the effects of forests on precipitation in the U. S . A. in the second half of the 19th century.

• Climatology
• Geoinformationssysteme
• Scale
• air pollution
• forestry
• transport
• hydrogeology
• remote sensing/photogrammetry
• ecotoxicology

• Institute of Geography, Aichi University, Toyohashi, Japan

  Masatoshi Yoshino

• Department of Geography, Mainz University, Germany

  Manfred Domrös

• Institute of Geography, d’Aix University, France

  Annick Douguédroit

• Institute of Geography and Spatial Organisation, Polish Academy of Science, Warsaw, Poland

  Janusz Paszyński

• Department of Geography, University of Calgary, Canada

  Lawrence C. Nkemdirim

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