VOL. zyxwvuts 39, NUMBER 4, NOVEMBER, 1987 zyxwv 465 22. Shepard, F.P. "Gulf Coast Barriers." In Recent Sediments: Northwest Gulf ofMexico, pp. 197-220. Tulsa, OK: American Society of Petroleum Geologists, 1960. 23. Silvester, R. "The Role of Wave Reflection on Coastal Processes." I n Coastal Sediments '77, pp. 639- 654. New York: American Society of Civil Engineers, 1977. 24. Thompson, E.F. "Wave Climate at Selected Locations along U.S. Coasts." Technical Report zy 77-1. Fort Belvoir, VA: US Army Corps of Engineers, Coastal Engineering Research Center, 1977. 25. US. Army Corps of Engineers. zyxwvut Postflood Report: Coastal Storm of 6-7 March, 1962, Southern NewJersey and Delaware. Philadelphia: 1962. 26. - . Study of the New Jersey Coastal lnlets and Beaches: lnterim Report on Great zyx Egg Harbor Inlet to Stone Harbor. Philadelphia: 1966. 27. US. Congress. Newlersey Coastal fnlets and Beaches: HerefordInlet to Defaware Bay Entrance to Cape May Canal. House Document 94-641. Washington: U.S. Government Printing Office, 1976. 28. Walker, zyxwvutsrq H.J. "Man's Impact on Shorelines and Nearshore Environments: a Ceomorphological Perspec- tive." Geoforum, 15 (1984), 395-417. 29. Williams, M.L. and T.W. Kana. "Inlet Shoal Attachment and Erosion at Isle of Palms, South Carolina: a Replay." In Coastal Sediments 87, pp. 1174-1187. Edited by N.C. Kraus. New York: American Society of Civil Engineers, 1987. KARL F. NORDSTROM (Ph.D, Rutgers) is an Associate Research Professor in the Center for Coastal and Environmental Studies and a member of the Department of Geography at Rutgers University, New Bruns- wick, NJ 08903. His research interests include geomorphology and environmental policy. Professional Geographer, zyxwvutsrqpo 39(4). 1987, pp. 465-473 zyxwvutsrq C Copyright 1987 by Association 01 American Geographers A NEW CHALLENGE FOR CLIMATE STUDIES IN GEOGRAPHY Brent Yarnal and Robert G. Crane Andrew M. Carleton Laurence S. Kalkstein Universitv of Delaware Pennsylvania State University Indiana University Greater emphasis is being placed on large-scale (synoptic and dynamic) climatology in geography. Concurrently, climatological research as a whole has evolved to view climate as a complex, integrated and interactive global system. in this contexf, we review new directions in large-scale climate studies in geography. We conclude that no matter at which climatic scale geographers are working, the new challenge is to integrate their research and teaching activities into a more holistic, global-systems approach while maintaining and improving their traditional strengths. Key Words: climatology, climate system, synoptic climatology, dynamic ciimatology. At the beginning of the decade, Mather et al. 1561 presented a challenge for "geographical climatology" in the 1980s. This article became the center of a debate in which one side claimed that true "geographical climatology" should focus on the planetary boundary layer in which man lives [56, 57, 76, 771, while the other suggested that that viewpoint was too restrictive and that, in fact, geographers were conducting notable research on larger scales of climate above the boundary layer [6, 71. Today, as we approach the 199Os, with tremendous strides in com- puter power, improvements in data collection and transmission, and maturation of satellite remote sensing of the planet, it is apparent that our role as climatologists has broadened. Greater emphasis is indeed being placed on large-scale (i.e. synoptic- and global-scale) re- search, with climatologists in geography increasingly focusing much of their attention above the planetary boundary layer. In recent years and beyond the bounds of geography, climatological research has evolved to view climate at many scales as an integrated, interactive and inherently spatial system con- sisting of the atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere, biosphere and lithosphere. This new perception of climatology presents geographers with a conspicuous advantage over climatol- ogists based in meteorology, geophysics, and other sciences because of our tradition as an