Most Popular
1500 questions
17
votes
3 answers
Is there a reason most mountain ranges seem to run parallel to coastlines?
Eyeballing a map of the world, it seems that most mountain ranges that don't occur along continental fault lines run parallel to coastlines. Is there a reason for this?
nmvasq
- 173
- 1
- 1
- 5
17
votes
3 answers
How far away can you see a thunderstorm?
At 9:30 PM on July 13, 2015, I was looking due south from Oshkosh, WI. I saw very clearly a large storm with 1-2 lightning strikes per second. I could see cloud-to-cloud lightning traces, as well as the cloud lit up from within.
Looking at the…
Christian Long
- 273
- 1
- 2
- 5
17
votes
0 answers
How will climate change affect the entropy budget of the atmosphere?
The entropy per unit mass of moist air can be defined as
$$s=(1-q_t)(C_{pd} \ln{T}-R_d\ln{p_d})+q_tC_l\ln{T} + \frac{q_vL_v}{T}-q_vR_v\ln{\mathcal{H}}$$
And in statistical equilibrium, the entropy budget takes this following…
InquilineKea
- 7,827
- 2
- 22
- 60
17
votes
2 answers
How is the equilibrium of 21% oxygen in Earth's atmosphere established?
The atmosphere is 21% oxygen. I assume that there must be an equilibrium between processes that produce oxygen (e.g. photosynthesis) and those that consume oxygen (e.g. aerobic respiration).
Moreover, there should be a self-regulatory negative…
Irigi
- 573
- 2
- 12
17
votes
3 answers
Why does the Inter tropical Convergence Zone shift?
I am currently learning at school about the climatic conditions (mainly winds, difference in pressure, Coriolis effect, etc.) that cause and affect the monsoons received by India.
One of the factors mentioned is the shift of the Inter tropical…
ghosts_in_the_code
- 223
- 1
- 2
- 8
17
votes
2 answers
How strong can a glacial icequake get?
While researching Antarctic geology, I came across the term 'icequake' in the abstract to the article Seismicity within a propagating ice shelf rift: The relationship between icequake locations and ice shelf structure (Heeszel et al. 2014).
These…
user889
17
votes
3 answers
Coriolis effect and Cyclones
The Coriolis force predicts that winds in the northern hemisphere should be deflected in a clockwise pattern and winds in the southern hemisphere should be deflected in an anti-clockwise pattern. Why is it that in the case of cyclones however, the…
Kenshin
- 7,576
- 12
- 42
- 81
17
votes
2 answers
Why does the colour of amethyst fade if exposed to too much light?
It is well known that the purple hue that is characteristic of the amethyst quartz ($\ce{SiO2}$) will fade if the crystal is exposed to light for a prolonged period of time. What is the underlying mechanism of this change?
Kenshin
- 7,576
- 12
- 42
- 81
17
votes
1 answer
What is the predictability of El Niño/La Niña?
What is the maximum period of time into the future that an El Niño event can be forecasted with reasonable accuracy and what are the limitations in predicting the time limit?
user1066
17
votes
1 answer
What are the differences between an LES-SGS model and a RANS based turbulence model?
I'm kind of new to the Large Eddy Simulation (LES) modeling world and I wondered what is the difference between an LES subgrid scale model like the Smagorinsky–Lilly model and a one-equation Reynolds-Averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS) based model like…
Julian Zimmermann
- 455
- 1
- 3
- 9
17
votes
2 answers
At what point does plate tectonics stop?
As the core and mantle of the earth cools, it will reach a point where new crust cannot be produced.
How can this point be calculated?
If we can, has anyone done such calculations?
Thanks!
rnrneverdies
- 335
- 1
- 8
17
votes
1 answer
What is the methodology to analyze future climatic extremes using the results of climate models?
What is the accepted methodology to predict future climatic extremes using the results of climate models?
I have recently read a report about climatic extremes considering climate change (MICE, 2002). The report says that researchers fitted extreme…
rozsasarpi
- 463
- 2
- 9
17
votes
2 answers
Which places on Earth would be affected the least by severe climate change?
If I had the choice to move to an arbitrary region on the planet, which regions should I favour and which should I avoid in terms of habitability in face of the possibility of an extreme climate change?
Lenar Hoyt
- 271
- 2
- 6
17
votes
1 answer
How do urban areas affect rain?
Urban areas these days can be quite large, and they can have strong effects on the environment: the urban heat island effect being the most obvious, but there may be other, more subtle effects. The relative lack of vegetation and drainage might make…
congusbongus
- 1,833
- 16
- 23
17
votes
10 answers
Why is global warming bad?
I had a discussion about this with my coworker. It appears that global warming (even up to +6K) has advantages:
increased plant growth: increase in photosynthesis efficiency
more water evaporation from oceans which will cause more rains even in dry…
avi9526
- 295
- 1
- 4