meteoro-, meteor- +
(Greek: upraised, high up; in the air; anything raised from the ground, high, lofty; hovering in the air; hence, "heavenly body, atmospheric phenomenon")
2. One of the many small bodies in the solar system that become meteors on entering the earth’s atmosphere.
2. The character, as regards weather, atmospheric changes, etc., of a particular region.
3. The study of things in the air.
Meteorology is the scientific study of the physical and chemical phenomena of the atmosphere, especially as they relate to weather and climate.
Prior to the last third of the 20th century the term was used primarily in reference to the study of the winds, temperature, clouds, and other elements associated with weather.
The term is now commonly used to include all scientific study of the role of the atmosphere in the global climate system.
Meteorologists are now concerned with problems; such as, acid rain caused by sulfur emissions from power plants, depletion of the ozone layer by fluorocarbon emissions, and global warming believed to be a result of increasing concentrations of carbon dioxide and other radiatively active trace gases.
Meteorologists no longer concern themselves solely with the atmosphere because the various aspects of global change require that the atmosphere, the oceans, and the biosphere be treated as interacting parts of the climate system.
2. An instrument for measuring the apparent path of a meteor.
