LWC and Absolute Humidity
Earth scienceAsked by: Ashley Benavides What is the difference between humidity and absolute humidity? Or to put it simply, relative humidity indicates the actual water content of air as a percentage of the maximum amount it could possibly hold. The term absolute humidity is less common: it describes the actual amount of water vapour in the
When is the next glaciation due?
Earth scienceAsked by: Ashley Benavides Predicted changes in orbital forcing suggest that the next glacial period would begin at least 50,000 years from now. Moreover, anthropogenic forcing from increased greenhouse gases is estimated to potentially outweigh the orbital forcing of the Milankovitch cycles for hundreds of thousands of years. What is the next glacial period? Next
How is phosphorus getting into lakes and rivers?
Earth scienceAsked by: Jenny Foster Because phosphorus usually clings to soil particles, the main way in which phosphorus gets into water is when soil is washed in and becomes sediment. Excess phosphorus causes excessive growth of plants in waterways, lakes and estuaries leading to eutrophication. How does phosphorus get into a river? Phosphorus moves through the
Would the Earth function the same spinning the other way?
Earth scienceAsked by: Jenny Foster An Earth spinning in the opposite direction would have very different atmospheric and ocean currents. Although the global mean temperature would remain almost the same, the major ocean currents would switch from the Atlantic to the Pacific, changing the planet’s climate drastically. What will happen if the Earth starts rotating in
How would one get a submarine to rise?
Earth scienceAsked by: Mike Burrell How do submarines rise to the surface? In order to control buoyancy, the submarine relies on special tanks that can be filled with water or air. To return to the surface, the tanks are filled with air. This makes the submarine less dense than the water around it, causing the sub
Would epicenters in less-deep areas of ocean tend to reduce the impact of a resulting tsunami somehow (wave “breaks” before getting there?)
TsunamiAsked by: Mike Burrell What is the largest tsunami possible? Tsunamis generally reach a maximum vertical height onshore, called a run-up height, of no more than 100 feet above sea level. A notable exception was the 1958 tsunami triggered by a landslide in a narrow bay on Alaska’s coast. Its over 1,700-foot wave was the
Where is the least polluted place to live on earth?
Earth scienceAsked by: Kira Huntington The world’s least polluted countries are a mixture between countries and island countries, with the top three being Cape Verde, the Caribbean Netherlands (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba) and Finland. What place on Earth has the least pollution? 1. Zurich, Switzerland (0.51µg/m3) Zurich is the least polluted city in 2021 and
Estimating Average Rainfall
Earth scienceAsked by: Kira Huntington The grid point precipitation value is calculated based on the sum of the individual station weight multiplied by observed station value. Once the grid points have all been estimated they are summed and the sum is divided by the number of grid points to obtain the areal average precipitation. How do
Direct and Diffused component of shortwave radiation in ERA5 data
Earth scienceAsked by: Richard Hernandez What is diffuse shortwave radiation? Shortwave solar radiation can be separated into two components: direct and diffuse beam. Diffuse beam is the portion of the radiation that has been scattered by gas molecules and suspended particles in the atmosphere and reaches the earth’s surface from multiple directions. What are the types
Is sea erosion the opposite of sea level rising (or rather, an adjacent phenomenon)?
Earth scienceAsked by: Richard Hernandez Sea erosion is not the opposite of sea level rising, it is a direct consequence of it. How does sea level rise effect erosion? Sea level rise can also increase coastal erosion because waves can extend further up and along beaches and cliffs. Erosion is happening faster along coastlines made from