Student Questions from The Day After Tomorrow

Phy 101 Global Climate and Extreme Weather

Spring 2016
Atmosphere and Forecasts
How accurate are forecasts?
Weather forecasts 24 hr. 48 hr. are pretty reliable but still can mess up. The forecast
improves over the time. 5 days is better because advancing technology.

What is the normal atmospheric circulation pattern?

Ocean
How do ocean currents affect weather patterns and climate?
Ocean currents transports warm water and precipitation from the equator towards
the poles and cold water from the poles back to the tropics. They help to regulate
global climate, helping to counteract the uneven distribution of solar radiaton
How does fresh water impact the North Atlantic current?
Fresh water prevents salty water from sinking. The currants would be different
Younger Dryas age Fresh water will alter the density of the water salt water is
denser than fresh water
How does desalinization of the ocean occur?
What is the difference in climate change over the ocean vs. the land?
Ice
Can we enter another Ice Age?
Yes, so if glacier melt continues than we will see lower surface temperature. Ice
could interrupt ocean currents and such over time. It will lead to cooler ocean
temperatures around the northern areas and deep south areas around the pole
regions.
Can water freeze instantly?
In a lab environment yes. But because water takes so much energy to freeze then
we cannot freeze instantly over in weather because of all the energy that would
need to be lost.
How does melting of glaciers (warming) produce snow in India?

It is highly unlikely that there will be snow in India, but in correlation with the first
question then there could be snow in the north of India if sea surface temperatures
continue to lower due to glacier melting.
Could we survive an Ice Age?
Humans have survived Ice Ages so they could do it again. We would have to evolve
again. But because of resources we probably wouldnt have to evolve.
Global Warming and Climate
What is the polar influence on global weather?
Ice caps melting as a result of the fresher water around the poles which is bad for
the environment
How fragile is the climate?
It is fragile has to do with the fact that the change of climate has changed faster
than ever before because earlier the climate changed within the course of 100
years and now its in 10 years
What evidence is there for human vs. natural climate change? (consider long term
and recent change)
Bloomberg, the factors of humans make the temperature rise more rapidly opposed
to the other pieces, climate change and everything was not as drastic and slower
How intense is global warming?
Similar to how fragile is the climate with evidence from Bloomberg, temperature has
gone up significantly and affected by humans making it rise more rapidly
Have we passed the point of no return?
Yes because of all the fossil fuel burning and amount of carbon we have released
will affect the future greatly IPCC
What causes runaway warming?
Positive feedback group that has to do with certain areas melting with a positive
feedback group that results in a desalination
Giant Storms and Hurricanes
How often would the movies superstorm occur?
The storms spawn from the north the closest we have to that in scale is a category
5 hurricane but we dont need massive hurricanes to be devastating. Depends on
what area is impacted. Allison was just a tropical storm and she brought feet of rain
to Houston and cause a huge mess so storms can be more damaging without
hurricanes. So we have superstorms they just dont have to be hurricanes.
What is the role of a supersystem?

Like any other system it is moving warm air from one area and brings it up to colder
areas. It is still trying to regulate colder temperatures. Super Typhoon Tip
EXAMPLE LOOK IT UP
Why is it calm in the eye of the storm?
Has to do with how storms converge. This is below surface area and when they
converge they are spinning while air from the top comes down and spins. So the
warmer air from the stratosphere and the warm air from the bottom swirling
together.
Is the temperature drop in the eye realistic?
NO absolutely false. Air from the stratosphere is warmer not colder and it gets
warmer as it drops down and getting closer to the surface of the earth which is
transferring heat to each other making it warmer
Why do hurricanes occur over ocean but these storms over land?
The ocean is one of the primary sources for fuel in the area and a key factor of
forming the system the heat needs to be 50 m below the ocean and the hurricane
does not have to deal with the friction on the land. So storms get a lot bigger and
have more intense winds over the ocean. So land gives it friction and makes it
weaken. When it hits ocean again it becomes stronger again. Katrina is an example
of land ocean land making it weak strong weak.
What is the northern limit for hurricanes?

Must be at least 5o north or south of the equator; Form in the tropics and have
different characteristic as a mid-latitude cyclone which has cold fronts and warm
fronts, tropical storms have all warm air. As the hurricane goes north its hard for it
to keep its tropical characteristics because it moves out of the warm water which is

its source of energy and it interacts with the cold hair. Tropical storms cant make it
too far into the mid-latitudes because of cold air.
What limits storm (or hurricane) growth?
Moving over colder water or making landfall

Severe Weather
What determines the location of tornadoes?
Can multivortex tornadoes form?
How do supercells and tornadoes form?
How does lightening happen?

Jvecchio14@austincollege.edu
Anna
Deric
Robert
Quincy