Word: planetful
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...Odyssey contains several references to storms raised against Odysseus by a wrathful Poseidon. Modern-day meteorologists have established that earth's weather stems mainly from the sun. Each day radiation equal to some 17 trillion kilowatts reaches the earth's atmosphere from the sun and warms the planet, particularly around the equatorial regions, where this radiation strikes more directly than it does at the poles...
Heated tropical air rises and flows from the equator toward the colder polar regions, while cold polar air flows toward the equator. The planet's eastward rotation skews the movement of air and causes the prevailing westerly winds that blow from North America toward Europe, and roar across the southern oceans. Topographical features, such as land masses and mountains, and uneven heating patterns further alter the air flow. The result is the assortment of high-and low-pressure regions and the winds that give the earth its weather...
...long-term effects of weather modification might be even more disastrous. Meteorologists point out that tropical storms serve as an environmental safety valve, enabling the planet to distribute the enormous heat that would otherwise build up around the equator. Preventing these storms, they warn, could drastically alter the earth's atmosphere and climate, possibly for the worse. Others fear that altering weather patterns over one region of the globe could result in the disruption of rainfall and damage or even destroy vital crops elsewhere...
Their finding: the timing of each of the planet's major ice ages was closely related to changes in the earth's attitude and orbit that reduced the amount of summer sunlight striking the polar caps. Unless man somehow unbalances the equation, these scientists concluded, the trend over the next 20,000 years will be toward a cooler global climate and the spread of glaciers in the Northern Hemisphere...
Upholding Einstein. In other new experiments not concerned with biology, one of the landers will pick up and analyze a pebble (only soil has been examined to date) to get a better idea of the planet's geology. Scientists will also continue monitoring Viking 2's seismograph (the one aboard Viking 1 is disabled), which earlier picked up what may have been the only Marsquake to have occurred so far during the mission. They also plan to maneuver one of the Viking orbiters to within 50 kilometers (31 miles) of Phobos in order to get high-resolution pictures...