Why weather changes so frequently

In this article, we look at what weather is and how it changes throughout the year. Weather is more than just how much rain or snow you get on Halloween and how many wind chills you get on Thanksgiving. In a broad sense, weather is defined as being an area that experiences a significant change in its climate conditions due to natural forces acting upon it. This can be as minor as whether or not you have sunshine or windy days, or as severe as having snowstorms without rain in your forecast. Weather conditions can affect almost every aspect of life, from our health and comfort to what cars we drive to where we live. For this reason, we’ll focus our attention on weather because it has been studied extensively and the most frequently asked questions answered.

Weather can have a huge impact on our daily lives. It dictates where we go to college, which way our house faces it, and even influences every day activities we undertake. The following information will help us understand exactly how it affects us, so let’s take a closer look.

The Atmospheric Circulation

The atmospheric circulation refers to the flow of cool Air around the Earth. The atmosphere circulates mainly through the upper stratosphere where the atmosphere is approximately 3,000 miles above sea level. From there, it flows through the troposphere where it encounters cooler air, with the top layer of ozone covering about 80 percent of the atmosphere. Then, after passing through the middle stratosphere to the lower troposphere, it begins to move to the polar regions where Arctic Polar Regions receive up to 90 percent of their annual precipitation. Here, the atmosphere interacts with ocean currents and Antarctic Ocean Currents, creating the famous cold front and resulting in the current system known as the Pacific Boundary Ocean Current (PBOC). An abrupt disruption of one of these currents could cause serious weather anomalies and strong hurricane effects.

The Arctic Circle

This region in northern Canada consists of mostly ice and rock that contains large amounts of greenhouse gases. As shown by satellite images, the entire Arctic Circle receives less than 20 percent annual rainfall. The central part of the circle is known as the Siberian Tundra, and the tundra surrounding Siberia and far north Russia is known as the Nordic Spruce Meadows. A vast majority of the northern Arctic holds a high concentration of permafrost. These rocks contain carbon dioxide, which allows heat to escape into the environment; when such air rises past the ice surface, it can cause extreme temperature differences. Since there are now more layers of ice around the world, such as the Greenland Ice Sheet and Antarctica Glacier, we’re seeing further deterioration of certain permafrost areas. Because of this, much of the ice on the continent will disappear within five years. We may be approaching the point where global warming and increased temperatures become permanent. With warmer temperatures, glaciers are melting on the East Coast of North America, causing ice shelves to collapse and exposing the underlying seabed for a longer period of time. Such damage from sea ice would make it difficult for ships sailing between continents even if they weren’t impacted by major storms.

Another example of how quickly things are changing is the rapidly shrinking size of several parts of Alaska. Due to sea level rise (SLR) in recent years, the mainland is now only 12 percent above pre-industrial levels. As shown by satellite images, the largest island on the planet, Kodiak Island, is currently experiencing some of the fastest rate of slide of all other islands. Due to continuous erosion of soil and water, the island is slowly losing its land mass as well. While this is happening, the state of Alaska itself is also being threatened by its own sinking. Already, the glacier along this coast that connects the two islands is completely destroyed. If this glacier collapses, it sends massive waves of water crashing against the island, making for an already dangerous situation. As more glacier slides occur, even harder landslides may occur, triggering the risk of sudden tsunamis, flooding, and even tornadoes. Although it’s still unclear whether or not this event will happen, once this glacier crushes, it will be an entirely different story across the whole island. Another example of how fast things are changing, is seen on the West Side of San Francisco. Over the course of 2018, thousands of homeless people gathered for protests over police brutality; however, before long, much of this encampment was cleared out. During the same time, hundreds of people who were seeking shelter were found dead from overdoses. Even worse, officers were arrested and charged with murder because of this gathering, with some even dying from exposure and overdoses. More than 70 families lost loved ones as a direct result due to protests, leaving each family grieving.

Weather can influence everything we do at home or in public. There are countless examples of weather events that have happened due to human error and bad planning. However, there are also many occasions where it’s caused weather systems to crash, and create deadly consequences. One tragic incident is Hurricane Katrina, which was made to feel like something straight out of a horror movie when it occurred. After months of research, scientists began investigating a possible storm surge in New Orleans, which would’ve brought severe rainfall over the city. Unfortunately, hurricane Katrina had a very steep incline, and at one point, hurricane Katrina was expected to be considered very severe. As a result, the National Transportation Safety Board declared a no cause not to travel to this city. Later on, news broke that Hurricane Harvey killed hundreds of residents of Texas after it hit the Gulf Coast. Many others died because of their homes, but sadly enough, most of them did not reach their homes in time.

There are numerous moments when weather systems get disrupted or malfunction, yet again leading to disastrous results. Just recently, during the 2016 Summer Olympics, a series of thunderstorms resulted in extremely heavy rain. Once the teams arrived, it took much longer than anticipated to clear the ground. As soon as the water started clearing, it flooded into the centre of the field. Heavy winds caused by the downpour wiped out trees, and left millions of fish floating in the deep waters. Also in May, Florida became engulfed in torrential rain and thunderstorms, forcing President Trump to evacuate his family to safety. His plane was forced off the runway, which left him stranded on the tarmac for hours. Fortunately, he survived this unscheduled evacuation, but unfortunately, the hurricane didn’t break. Instead, another storm came before then, damaging the Grand Canyon riverbed where the 2020 Winter Olympic Games were scheduled to take place. Not only did this stop the games, but also the upcoming summer, especially since visitors are unable to safely access them. Yet again, this event was the result of poor meteorological forecasting.

Weather events and their immediate effects can be unpredictable, and are often ignored by society because of the negative media attention it gets. Hopefully, if we continue to see such devastating weather, we can learn lessons and prevent similar incidents.