A collection of unforgettable images of dramatic weather events around the world.

Our climate is changing. "Climate" is weather averaged over a period of time, usually 30 years. We experience "weather" every day, but over time the accumulations in the changes in daily weather add up to climate change. Climate is what you expect but weather is what you get.

The photographs in this book are the best of a worldwide, five-year long competition that received over 10,000 submissions of dramatic weather phenomena from 29 countries -- every corner of the world.

Every picture is beautiful to look at and interesting meteorologically, but each is accompanied by a descriptive text that explains what you are seeing and why you are seeing it in this place and at this time. The images are grouped under five different themes:

• The changing climate
• Extreme weather
• The oceans
• The poles
• The impact of climate on life.

And there is an introductory essay for each section describing the context of these phenomena.

With depictions of rare weather events and common ones that most of us can't explain, this book will thrill weather enthusiasts and inform people curious about weather events everywhere.