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companies, agriculture companies, and other businesses). Creating weather watches and warnings is another aspect of forecasting. Meteorologists monitor weather conditions and use computer models to identify potentially dangerous weather conditions such as severe thunderstorms, tornadoes, flooding, hurricanes, and winter storms. They create watches and warnings that are issued to the public, businesses, and government officials in order to reduce the risk of injury, death, and property damage from these weather events. ATMOSPHERIC RESEARCH Research meteorologists study atmospheric conditions in order to better understand how they affect us. There are many specialties in this sector. For example, climatologists study historical weather data and use computer modeling software and other tools to interpret long-term weather patterns or shifts in climate to better understand ongoing global climate change. Aeronomists study the upper areas of Earth’s atmosphere and those of other planets. They study the chemical, dynamical, and radiative processes of the atmosphere in order to gain scientific insights and improve the ability to predict its behavior. Research meteorologists often work with scientists in other disciplines such as chemistry, hydrology , mathematics, oceanography, and physics. Climate change analysts study scientific data and conduct research about the effects of climate change on the environment. They make climate-related recommendations for potential legislation and government policies, fundraising, or awareness campaigns; write grant proposals (to ask for money to fund projects); and engage in environmental outreach activities (to inform and inspire the public and decision makers to fight climate change).

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COOL CAREERS IN SCIENCE: METEOROLOGISTS