Includes bibliographical references (pages 243-248) and index.

Introduction -- Stormy with a chance of life: the improbable birth of our atmosphere -- The wild blue yonder: the layers of the atmosphere -- Cloud Nine: inside the misty giants above our heads -- The poem of Earth: rain -- The secret life of storm -- Katrina: the life story of a hurricane -- Palace of the winds -- Which way the wind blows: the story of weather forecasting -- Apollo's chariot: the seasons -- A cold place: winter and the ice ages -- Climate change past and present -- Weather that changed history -- Postscript: Fire, water, earth, air.

"We live at the bottom of an ocean of air -- 5,200 million million tons, to be exact. It sounds like a lot, but Earth's atmosphere is smeared onto its surface in an alarmingly thin layer -- 99 percent contained within 18 miles. Yet, within this fragile margin lies a magnificent realm -- at once gorgeous, terrifying, capricious, and elusive. With his keen eye for identifying and uniting seemingly unrelated events, Christopher Dewdney reveals to us the invisible rivers in the sky that affect how our weather works and the structure of clouds and storms and seasons, the rollercoaster of climate. 18 Miles is a kaleidoscopic and fact-filled journey that uncovers our obsession with the atmosphere and weather -- as both evocative metaphor and physical reality. From the roaring winds of Katrina to the frozen oceans of Snowball Earth, Dewdney entertains as he gives readers a long overdue look at the very air we breathe."--