Those old jokes about weathermen flipping coins to forecast rain or shine are outdated. Recent decades have seen a noticeable increase in accuracy, largely from complex computer models continuously fed with satellite observations on changing conditions across the globe. Science writer Andrew Blum wraps past and present developments in meteorology succinctly and revealingly in The Weather Machine. Weather reports trigger everything from carrying umbrellas to evacuating a city, and as Blum writes, “we need weather forecasts like never before” in a world of climate change. He raises questions less asked: Will Google or Facebook displace public agencies and “own” weather data? Then what?
