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Title: Earth Getting Mysteriously Windier
Source:
National Geographic
URL Source: [None]
Published: Apr 18, 2011
Author: Mason Inman
Post Date: 2011-04-18 05:35:56 by Tatarewicz
Keywords: None
Views: 202
Comments: 8
Published March 28, 2011 The world has gotten stormier over the past two decades—and the reason is a mystery, a new study says. In the past 20 years, winds have picked up around 5 percent on average. Extremely strong winds caused by storms have increased even faster, jumping 10 percent over 20 years, according to the new analysis of global satellite data. The study, the first to look at wind speeds across such a large swath of the planet, bolsters some earlier findings, according to study leader Ian Young, of the Swinburne University of Technology in Melbourne, Australia. "Some regional studies had found similar results, so we suspected there may be an increasing trend," Young said. (See "Extreme Ocean Storms on the Rise, Tremors Show.") Bat-Like Sonar Tracks Wind Speeds With the development of satellite and radar technology, the planet's temperature and rainfall have been tracked like never before. Other aspects of the climate, however, haven't gotten as much attention. To create a record of wind measurements around the world, Young and colleagues assembled global satellite measurements dating back to 1985. The team drew on records from satellites that used radar altimeters, which work similarly to bats' echolocation, or natural radar. The orbiting satellites shoot radio waves at Earth and listen for the echoes that bounce back into space. When winds are blowing hard, the radar echoes are fainter, giving a measure of how strong the wind is blowing over the oceans. Windy Trend Linked to Global Warming? It's not yet clear whether the windier trend is due to global warming, or if it's part of a cyclical pattern, said Young, whose research appeared Friday in the journal Science. (Also see "Extreme Storms and Floods Concretely Linked to Climate Change?") "If this is related to global warming—and this is speculation—it indicates that either the intensity of storms is increasing or the frequency of storms is increasing," he said. If the winds keep up, they could impact "engineering design of coastal and offshore structures, coastal erosion, and marine ecosystems."
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#1. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
The orbiting satellites shoot radio waves at Earth and listen for the echoes that bounce back into space. When winds are blowing hard, the radar echoes are fainter, giving a measure of how strong the wind is blowing over the oceans. The report is confusing, seems half-baked. I see nothing indicating that they have found increasing winds directly measured. If they are correct, then we should have plenty of data on increasing wind speeds from our ordinary weather reporting and the satellite radar estimates would be a confirmation of that. But these guys are only relying on the satellite data and muster no data to support their claims from direct measurement sensors.
They own the satellite,and a large wind turbine company.
When we get millions of wind turbines generating electricity throughout the world and output per generator keeps increasing/deceasing we'll have a good idea of what's happening.
It's like the global hottists probably, all about faking up some data to get gooberment grants.
Aw, go fly a kite !!
The cause may be a mystery but I have two suggestions: (1) It may - in part - be that our measurement of the winds is simply much more sophisticated and better equipped than it was before, say, the space program. Before then, we were usually limited to wind reports made by people, which meant they were only available from places where people could live (for at least a part of the year), so we didn't have such measurements in the most extreme circumstances. Now we can get them from uninhabitable places. (2) One cause for winds are differentials in temperature, and severe winds often indicate extreme differences in temperature. Cities and urbanization create hot spots compared to grassland, lakes, and other undeveloped areas; so urbanization is contributing to the severity of the winds.
I expect a warm region would see air rising, creating low pressure which would bring air/wind into that area. If this conjecture is correct we should experiment with using space mirrors to heat a region to, for example, direct moisture-laden air to a drought area. A system of giant pipelines might be able to create low and high pressure areas to similarly bring about modification of weather. Or simply planting forests strategically might also bring about desirable weather patterns.
Anybody look to D.C. and Tel Aviv as the sources of the biggest blasts of foul- smelling wind?
__________________________________________________________The team drew on records from satellites that used radar altimeters, which work similarly to bats' echolocation, or natural radar.
#2. To: TooConservative (#1)
But these guys are only relying on the satellite data
#3. To: paddlefeet (#2)
#4. To: paddlefeet (#2)
They own the satellite,and a large wind turbine company.
#5. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
Earth Getting Mysteriously Windier
#6. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
#7. To: Shoonra (#6)
differentials in temperature,
#8. To: Tatarewicz (#0)
"This man is Jesus,” shouted one man, spilling his Guinness as Barack Obama began his inaugural address. “When will he come to Kenya to save us?"
-Schweizerische Schuetzenzeitung (Swiss Shooting Federation) April, 1941
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