Sunday, December 8. 2019CAN CLIMATES BE SIMULATED?
It is possible to simulate the conditions of certain climates inside a greenhouse. Glass and other materials can be used to create a space within which the heat and light from the Sun is intensified, making it much warmer than it is outside. The temperature, humidity and air movement can be controlled, recreating the atmosphere of a particular climate. Climate simulators (or climate models) are complex computer programmers which simulate the Earth's climate system, including the atmosphere, ocean, land surface and ice, and the interactions between them. The computer programme represents the climate in terms of key quantities such as atmospheric temperature, pressure, wind, and humidity at locations on a three dimensional grid. The atmospheric grid covers the Earth’s surface and extends from the surface to the upper atmosphere. A similar grid for the ocean extends from the ocean’s surface to the ocean floor. By solving the relevant mathematical equations the computer is able to calculate how the state of the atmosphere and ocean evolves in time. At present, a typical simulator of global climate has grid boxes with horizontal dimensions of approximately 100-200 km; this is known as the "spatial resolution". Simulators used to predict daily weather use much higher spatial resolution, but typically only simulate a specific region (e.g. the UK). Simulators with higher resolution are more accurate, but they also take longer to run and require larger computers. To test scientific understanding Scientists use climate simulators to test and improve their understanding of the climate system. By comparing the simulated climate with observations of the real world, scientists can identify where a simulator needs improvement. To predict future climate Climate simulators are used to predict how climate may change in the future. For example, scientists can implement expected future conditions, such as a higher concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, and use the simulator to predict how such a change may affect the climate. Climate simulators are not perfect and scientists are careful to study, quantify and communicate their accuracy and reliability along with particular results. However, climate scientists are confident that climate simulators can accurately represent many fundamental aspects of the climate system for several reasons. Picture Credit : Google Sunday, December 8. 2019WHAT IS IT LIKE TO LIVE IN A MONSOON REGION?
Parts of India and Southeast Asia have a monsoon climate. In these areas, it changes very suddenly from a wet to a dry season, according to the direction of the prevailing wind. The dry period is extremely hot, and the powerful monsoon winds that blow in from the sea bring torrential rain, often without warning. Such violent extremes of weather can make daily life very difficult, with heavy flooding, damage to property and loss of life commonplace. A monsoon often brings about thoughts of torrential rains, similar to a hurricane or typhoon. But there is a difference: a monsoon is not a single storm; rather, it is a seasonal wind shift over a region. The shift may cause heavy rains in the summer, but at other times, it may cause a dry spell. A monsoon (from the Arabic mawsim, which means “season”) arises due to a difference in temperatures between a land mass and the adjacent ocean, according to the National Weather Service. The sun warms the land and ocean differently, according to Southwest Climate Change, causing the winds to play "tug of war" eventually switching directions bringing the cooler, moister air from over the ocean. The winds reverse again at the end of the monsoon season. A wet monsoon typically occurs during the summer months (about April through September) bringing heavy rains, according to National Geographic. On average, approximately 75 percent of India's annual rainfall and about 50 percent of the North American monsoon region (according to a 2004 NOAA study) comes during the summer monsoon season. The wet monsoon begins when winds bringing cooler, more humid air from above the oceans to the land, as described above. A dry monsoon typically occurs between October and April. Instead of coming from the oceans, the winds tend to come from drier, warmer climates such as from Mongolia and northwestern China down into India, according to National Geographic. Dry monsoons tend to be less powerful than their summer counterparts. Edward Guinan, an astronomy and meteorology professor at Villanova University, states that the winter monsoon occurs when "the land cools off faster than the water and a high pressure develops over the land, blocking any ocean air from penetrating." This leads to a dry period. Picture Credit : Google Sunday, December 8. 2019DOES IT EVER GET WARM AT THE POLES?
The polar climate is very dry and windy, as well as being exceptionally cold. Inland, it is nearly always below freezing, and temperatures often reach -40°C (-40°F). Only near the coasts do temperatures reach about 10°C (50°F) in the summer. Both the Arctic (North Pole) and the Antarctic (South Pole) are cold because they don’t get any direct sunlight. The Sun is always low on the horizon, even in the middle of summer. In winter, the Sun is so far below the horizon that it doesn’t come up at all for months at a time. So the days are just like the nights—cold and dark. Even though the North Pole and South Pole are “polar opposites,” they both get the same amount of sunlight. But the South Pole is a lot colder than the North Pole. Why? Well, the Poles are polar opposites in other ways too. The Arctic is ocean surrounded by land. The Antarctic is land surrounded by ocean. The ocean under the Arctic ice is cold, but still warmer than the ice! So the ocean warms the air a bit. Antarctica is dry—and high. Under the ice and snow is land, not ocean. And it’s got mountains. The average elevation of Antarctica is about 7,500 feet (2.3 km). And the higher you go, the colder it gets. Picture Credit : Google |
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