Space weather is the term used to describe conditions caused by the flow of magnetic material from the Sun to the Earth. Its greatest impact occurs in the years just before and after the Sun's most active period in its 11-year cycle, which is to say, now. The analogy to a hurricane is apt, says Prof. George L. Siscoe of Boston University's Center for Space Physics and co-editor of "Space Weather," published by the American Geophysical Union. These "hurricanes" from space can devastate orbiting satellites upon which we all depend and have even wiped out power grids on Earth, he noted. Like atmospheric hurricanes, they can damage human health and take lives.
The publication this month of "Space Weather," the first peer-reviewed scientific book on the subject, marks the fifth anniversary of the establishment of the U.S. National Space Weather Program. During that time the science has moved from simply observing solar storms to the beginnings of prediction, allowing managers of sensitive equipment on Earth and in space to take steps before damage occurs.
In March 2000, more than 160 scientists and students from a dozen countries gathered in Clearwater, Florida, to assess progress in the science of space weather. Their reports form the basis of "Space Weather." Edited by Paul Song of the University of Massachusetts in Lowell, Howard J. Singer of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration in Boulder, Colorado, and Siscoe, it draws together multidisciplinary research over five years, enabling scientists in any relevant area of research to learn what colleagues have discovered in other areas. The first nine chapters are nontechnical, outlining the nature and history of space weather observations, and are accessible to lay readers.
"Space Weather" is available from the publisher at http://www.agu.org/cgi-bin/agubookstore. It is the latest in AGU's Geophysical Monograph Series, Volume 125, 2001, 440 pages, hardbound, ISBN# 0-87590-984-1, $85 for non-members of AGU. It may also be available from online book suppliers, such as Amazon and Barnes & Noble.