‘Come Rain Or Shine’ is a delightfully informative and accessible book on weather features and weather phenomena.
Tobin’s passion and enthusiasm for her subject sparkles on every page and she arms her readers with surprising facts about the weather- every British person’s favorite conversation topic! As she acknowledges, ‘There’s no doubt that we Brits are obsessed with the weather.’
From clouds, to oceans, to pressure, to precipitation, to temperatures, Tobin engagingly breaks down technical topics into a layperson’s understanding, hoping that when we look at the skies, or watch a weather forecast, we can be more informed about the ‘delicate balance that sustains life on Earth, and the vast, interconnected systems that we all form part of.’
She does not shy away from addressing the key differences that have been recorded in observational measurements over the decades and offers a hopeful, (one doesn’t want to say forecast!) view of the opportunities that lie ahead of us.
‘Everywhere we look, our planet is changing before our eyes: relentless extreme weather events are destroying ecosystems, and communities around the globe are being devastated. We are at a turning point for us and our planet, on a tipping point of irreversible change. No one can do everything, but everyone can do something.’
Tobin follows with the truism that, ‘One of the most important things you can do to tackle climate change is talk about it.’
Tobin vividly recalls the summer of 2022 in the UK where temperatures exceeded 40°C and she has a gift for personalising the weather experiences which she has had, sometimes painful, sometimes poignant, which brings the moment alive for the reader. Perhaps it is the storyteller within her, which rejoices in the wonder of the weather and marvels at the experiences of others, whether these be hurricane hunters, or William Shatner’s account of his journey into space and what that meant to him- the understanding and clarity which that brought him. There is a feeling that we could all share his experience, as the warnings of future climates are becoming clearer with every passing day. Tobin notes, ‘What was once impossible is now not only possible but becoming more likely.’
This is not, however, a doom-laden book, but rather a celebration of the intricacies, influences and complexities of weather systems. Our lives are underpinned by the impacts of the weather- from disrupted journeys, to storms, to heatwaves and monsoons. Tobin effectively underscores that there is a vast equilibrium of inter-connected systems, which are oftentimes ‘invisible’ to the public, which extend far beyond the need to carry an umbrella, but which affect aviation through aircraft landings and take-offs, the financial world, huge global sports events, military actions, space launches, as well as shipping, transport and trade. ‘Weather increasingly shapes global politics acting as a’threat multiplier’ that influences elections, policies and national security priorities.’
As Tobin concludes, ‘We all love to hate the weather.’ What she marvels in and what she wants us to do, is to peek behind the curtain of the simple weather forecast on our phones, or on television, and understand that this information is reliant on a huge number of observers, recorders, organisations and other individuals, who gather the information around the world and make it available to all.
‘Come Rain Or Shine‘ is a glowing testament to the huge numbers of people who work in meteorology, as well as television producers and programme directors, which share the vision and ideal that an informed public is a powerful tool to be used to shape tomorrow by understanding today.
When we click on our weather ‘forecast’ then, let us remember the advancements which have allowed us to understand our world a little more. And if this book does nothing else, at least it may make us a little kinder to meteorologists when their ‘forecasts’ go slightly awry.
After all, we can’t control the weather any more today than we could in the past, but we can control how we process, manage and adapt to the changing entity that is our weather.
