Showing posts with label Southern Hemisphere. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Southern Hemisphere. Show all posts

Saturday, November 2

Atmospheric Rivers


Scientists at UC Santa Barbara found that atmospheric rivers in both hemispheres have moved approximately 6° to 10° closer to the poles over the past 40 years. This means that the areas affected by atmospheric rivers are farther north in the Northern Hemisphere and farther south in the Southern Hemisphere than they used to be.

The researchers explain that an underlying cause of the shift is cooling in the eastern tropical Pacific over the past four decades, although they note that the chain of events “remains to be fully explored.”

Atmospheric rivers are flowing streams of water vapor in Earth’s atmosphere that have a major impact on levels of rain and snow. They can vary widely in size and intensity, but the average one can convey the same amount of water vapor as the water flow at the mouth of the Mississippi River.

One of the famous is known as the "Pineapple Express", a strong atmospheric river that delivers moisture from the tropical Pacific around Hawai'i towards the west coast of the US and Canada. When this band of balmy, moist air reaches the West Coast, it can cause significant downpours across California, as well as Oregon, Washington, and British Columbia.         READ MORE...