What is the impact of weather on the earth?

WEATHER

Driven by the heat of the Sun, circulating currents of air swirl through the lower atmosphere, creating the winds that carry clouds, rain, and snow from the oceans over the land. Without these weather systems the continents would be barren deserts, where life would be impossible. Sometimes, however, the weather can be so violent that it causes destruction on a terrifying scale.

  • PREDICTING WEATHER

Satellite images like this view of a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico can help meteorologists predict the weather. Forecasters also gather data on wind, temperature, air pressure, and other variables, and feed them into computers that are programmed with Mathematical models of the atmosphere. The computers use the new data to predict how the atmosphere may react, and so produce a weather forecast.

  • HURRICANES

The most devastating weather occurs over tropical oceans, where intense heat creates huge storm clouds that revolve around zones of very low air pressure. Winds spiral into the centre at 300 km/h (185 mph) or more, heaping ocean water into “storm surges” that can drown coastal cities. Hurricanes that form over the Pacific Ocean are called typhoons.

  • ICE STORMS

Freezing winter weather is normal in many regions, but freak conditions can sometimes cause unusually destructive ice storms. If moist air is swept over a very cold region, falling rain may freeze where it lands to form thick ice. This can bring down power lines, paralyze rail networks, and turn roads into death traps.

  • FLOODS

Heavy rain can swell rivers until they overflow their banks, flooding nearby low-lying land. The water may rise slowly, but it can also surge down valleys in sudden “flash floods” that sweep everything before them. Either way the flood water can wreck homes and even swamp cities.

  • HAILSTONES

Big thunderclouds contain updrafts that carry raindrops to heights where they freeze. The pellets of ice fall through the cloud, but are carried up again so more ice freezes onto them. This can happen many times, building up hailstones that can be bigger than golf balls.

  • THUNDERSTORMS

Hot sunshine causes water to evaporate and rise into the air, where it cools and forms clouds. Some clouds build up to immense heights of 15 km (9 miles) or more. They contain a huge weight of water that is eventually released in dramatic thunderstorms of torrential rain.

  • TORNADOES

Thunderclouds are built up by rising warm, moist air that spirals up into the cloud. Sometimes this can develop into a tight, swirling vortex of rising air, called a tornado. Wind speeds inside the vortex can exceed 500 km/h (310 mph), and the powerful updraft can easily rip the roof off a house.

  • LIGHTNING

Ice crystals tossed around inside a thundercloud can charge the cloud with electricity like a giant battery. Eventually the charge is released as a colossal spark of lightning, which heats the air along its path to about 30,000°C (50,000°F) in a split second.

Picture Credit : Google

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