"With the strongest seasonal variations in Earth's climate system, the Asian monsoon has far-reaching impacts on global climate and the environment. Written by a team of acknowledged experts, The Asian Monsoon is the first book to bring together the knowledge gained over the past two decades which has greatly advanced our understanding of the monsoon climate. Unlike traditional monsoon meterology, this book describes the Asian monsoon system as an interdisciplinary scientific theme incorporating the atmosphere, the ocean and the land surface, all of which interact through physical, chemical and biological processes. A 32-page colour section graphically illustrates the body of the text." "The book makes an important contribution to the understanding of the monsoon environment by including analyses of paleoclimate records, human influences on monsoon climate, and impacts of the monsoon on the economy and human health. It also contains new ideas that are expected to markedly improve predictions of monsoon climate variations and anthropogenic changes. A distinctive feature of the book is that it combines modern observations with explanations of the physical principles governing monsoon climate variations on all time scales, ranging from intraseasonal to tectonic."--BOOK JACKET.