Description of meteorology and different fields meterologists can work in

When confronted with the idea of what exactly a meteorologist is, most people instantly think of a weather forecaster on a local television or radio station. However, meteorology entails a much wider range of job opportunities than just relaying information on to local citizens. Meteorology is defined by American Meteorological Society as, "the science of the atmosphere."

The name meteorology is derived from the Greek word meteoron, meaning something that happens high in the sky. Aristotle is considered to be the father of meteorology, with his book entitled Meteorologica being the first major study of the atmosphere. As many other scientists of the time, Aristotle's discoveries, for the most part, we found to be incorrect, although some are still believed to be true today.

Once the telegraph was invented, in the mid-1800s, meteorology was developed even further because scientists could now exchange ideas through this new, quick way to transport messages.

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Meteorology Today - 1984 Polar Air Blast

Meteorology

Shortly after, in the early 1900s, a group of Norwegian scientists laid a base for what is now considered the foundation of modern weather forecasting when they began to apply basic laws of physics to create new ideas, such as "fronts" where warm and cold air masses meet.

With the events of World War II, great advances in the field of meteorology were made since the armies were dependent upon the fact of the weather. Also, methods and tools used in the war, such as radars, also became of great use to meteorologists. Since then, many more tools and methods have been developed for studying the atmosphere. Many theories as to reasoning behind atmospheric happenings have been dismissed by scientists, yet many have been built upon to reach what we, today, know as meteorology.

A meteorologist is a person "who uses scientific principles to explain, understand, observe, or forecast...