Word: oceanic
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...CHANTAL. DEAN. Erin. Felix. Gabrielle. Humberto. Iris. Jerry. Karen. Luis. If residents of low-lying coastal areas are anxious this summer, they have a dozen reasons--and more are undoubtedly on the way. The hurricane season has not yet peaked, but menacing storms are already rumbling across the Atlantic Ocean one after another, like warplanes taking off from a carrier deck. Last week alone, four ominously swirling air masses zigzagged across satellite weather maps, packed so close together that it almost seemed they might merge to form a single monster storm. "You feel like you're standing in the line...
...individual storms, though. Atlantic hurricanes inevitably get their start in Africa, where hot, dry air overlying the Sahara desert collides with cooler, moister air over the sub-Saharan region known as the Sahel. Under normal conditions, the collision produces eddies of low-pressure air that drift out over the ocean, where storm clouds begin to form. Most of the time, the clouds simply dump their load of rain and dissipate...
...every so often, one of these low-pressure systems, its winds spinning slowly counterclockwise, starts to strengthen-and that's when the trouble can begin. During late summer and fall, broad swaths of subtropical ocean can reach temperatures of 80øF or more. The warm, humid air above the ocean surface would tend to rise anyway, and when a low-pressure region drifts by, it's like taking the lid off a steaming pot. The air rushes upward, dumping its moisture and energy, which forces the winds to whirl ever faster. Meanwhile, down at the surface, more warm air rushes...
That's the textbook version at least. In practice, nature often kills hurricanes before they are born. For example, the intermittent warm-water current in the Pacific Ocean known as El Ni¤o generates westerly winds that reach halfway around the globe to disrupt cloud formations that might otherwise form hurricanes. In fact, says Colorado State's Gray, a major reason there have been so few hurricanes in recent years is that El Nino has continued on a more or less nonstop basis...
CONQUER! ASSAULT! I WAS DISMAYED AT seeing these words describe the continuing exploration of the depths of the seas. I have been awed by the underwater beauty of the ocean on just one snorkeling trip, and feel privileged to have beheld it. Surely man can leave this last frontier alone! True, there may be medicines to be found in the sea, but more people will die of starvation than by the diseases these might cure. If we are to survive, our primary focus must be worldwide population control. Where do we go after we have depleted the resources...