Moreover, in order to predict future weather patterns and to develop increased accuracy in weather study and forecasting, meteorologists conduct research on such subjects as atmospheric electricity, clouds, precipitation, hurricanes, and data collected from weather satellites. Other areas of research used to forecast weather may include ocean currents and temperature.
Meteorology is the science of the atmosphere. Although people have always been concerned with the air around them, only relatively recently has anyone been able to learn much about it. Historians have evidence of attempts made in India in the fourth century to measure rainfall. The development of the first instruments to study the nature of the atmosphere occurred in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries when Galileo invented the thermometer, and Torricelli invented the barometer. Not until World War II, however, was great financial support given to the development of the science of meteorology. In the war, a very clear-cut relationship was established between the effectiveness of new weapons and the atmosphere. More accurate instruments involving sciences jobs for measuring and observing weather conditions, new systems of communication, and the development of high-speed data have helped people to understand more about the atmosphere. Our need to understand even more has been increased because of the demands of the space age. The meteorologist enjoys a more important role in our society at present than ever before.
Although most people think of weather forecasting when they think of meteorology, meteorologists do many other jobs in science. They do research on subjects ranging from radioactive fallout to the dynamics of hurricanes. They study the ozone levels in the stratosphere. Some teach in colleges and universities. As to its science employment, many meteorologists are needed in radio and televised weather forecasting programs. Networks usually hire their own staff of meteorologists. Meteorology is a technical field that is becoming ever more technological. Likewise, they generally specialize in one branch of this rapidly developing science. However, the lines of specialization are not clearly drawn and meteorologists often work in more than one area of specialization. Meanwhile, the largest group of specialists are called synoptic meteorologists, the technical name for weather forecasters, who interpret current weather information reported by observers in many parts of the world and make short-and-long range forecasts for given regions. Other specialists include climatologists who study past records to discover whether patterns for a given region. The climatologist compiles and makes statistical analyses of, and interprets data on temperature, sunlight, rainfall, humidity, and wind for a particular are over a long period of time for use in weather forecasting, aviation, agriculture, commerce, and public health.
Nevertheless, being a meteorologist means, you are into a science job. Students interested in this rare type of science career can best prepare themselves for a college major in meteorology by taking as much high-school coursework as possible in mathematics, physics, and chemistry. To succeed in such a course of study, the interested student must have above-average intelligence and considerable interest and aptitude in mathematics and the physical sciences. A good command of the English is essential, because the meteorologist must be able to describe complex events and patterns both orally and in writing. Although some beginners in meteorological work have majored in some subject related to meteorology, the normal minimal requirement for work in this field is a bachelor’s degree in meteorology from one of the almost one hundred colleges offering a major in this field. The federal government, for example, requires beginners to have had a minimum of twenty semester hours in meteorology, supplemented by work in physics and mathematics. Advanced graduate training in meteorology and related areas is required for research and teaching positions, as well as for other high-level positions in meteorology. Doctorates are quite common among high-level personnel. Meanwhile, because the armed forces require the services of so many meteorologists, they have programs whereby they send new college graduates who have been recently commissioned to civilian universities for intensive work on scientist jobs related to meteorology. The armed forces also send a smaller number of personnel on for this advanced science jobs training.
