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121-435: A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes , hail , thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm ), heavy precipitation ( snowstorm , rainstorm), heavy freezing rain ( ice storm ), strong winds ( tropical cyclone , windstorm), wind transporting some substance through

242-487: A magnetosphere around a planet. Early space probes discovered the gross dimensions of the terrestrial magnetic field, which extends about 10 Earth radii towards the Sun. The solar wind , a stream of charged particles, streams out and around the terrestrial magnetic field, and continues behind the magnetic tail, hundreds of Earth radii downstream. Inside the magnetosphere, there are relatively dense regions of solar wind particles,

363-568: A thermal insulator , conserving the heat of the Earth and protecting crops from subfreezing weather. Some agricultural areas depend on an accumulation of snow during winter that will melt gradually in spring, providing water for crop growth. If it melts into water and refreezes upon sensitive crops, such as oranges, the resulting ice will protect the fruit from exposure to lower temperatures. Although tropical cyclones take an enormous toll in lives and personal property, they may be important factors in

484-441: A capacity to grow , respond to stimuli , reproduce and, through natural selection , adapt to their environment in successive generations. More complex living organisms can communicate through various means. An ecosystem (also called an environment) is a natural unit consisting of all plants, animals, and micro-organisms ( biotic factors) in an area functioning together with all of the non-living physical ( abiotic ) factors of

605-457: A center of low pressure develops with the system of high pressure surrounding it. This combination of opposing forces can create winds and result in the formation of storm clouds such as cumulonimbus . Small localized areas of low pressure can form from hot air rising off hot ground, resulting in smaller disturbances such as dust devils and whirlwinds . There are many varieties and names for storms: A strict meteorological definition of

726-508: A continuum, from 100% natural in one extreme to 0% natural in the other. The massive environmental changes of humanity in the Anthropocene have fundamentally effected all natural environments including: climate change , biodiversity loss and pollution from plastic and other chemicals in the air and water . More precisely, we can consider the different aspects or components of an environment, and see that their degree of naturalness

847-589: A decreased food supply for the wildlife in an area. The atmosphere of the Earth serves as a key factor in sustaining the planetary ecosystem. The thin layer of gases that envelops the Earth is held in place by the planet's gravity. Dry air consists of 78% nitrogen , 21% oxygen , 1% argon , inert gases and carbon dioxide . The remaining gases are often referred to as trace gases. The atmosphere includes greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone. Filtered air includes trace amounts of many other chemical compounds . Air also contains

968-578: A fictionalized account of that cyclone, titled "Southern Storm", for the May 1935 issue of Esquire magazine . Erik Larson excerpts a passage from that article in his 2005 book, Isaac's Storm : Numerous other accounts of the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 have been made in print and in film. Larson cites many of them in Isaac's Storm , which centrally features that storm, as well as chronicles

1089-414: A headwind that increases airspeed, which normally causes a pilot to reduce engine power if they are unaware of the wind shear. As the aircraft passes into the region of the downdraft, the localized headwind diminishes, reducing the aircraft's airspeed and increasing its sink rate. Then, when the aircraft passes through the other side of the downdraft, the headwind becomes a tailwind, reducing lift generated by

1210-427: A high frequency for cloud-to-ground lightning, like Florida, lightning causes several fatalities per year, most commonly to people working outside. Precipitation with low potential of hydrogen levels (pH), otherwise known as acid rain, is also a frequent risk produced by lightning. Distilled water , which contains no carbon dioxide , has a neutral pH of 7. Liquids with a pH less than 7 are acidic, and those with

1331-415: A mountain as tall as, for example, 15 km (9 mi), would develop so much pressure at its base, due to gravity, that the rock there would become plastic , and the mountain would slump back to a height of roughly 10 km (6 mi) in a geologically insignificant time. Some or all of these geologic principles can be applied to other planets besides Earth. For instance on Mars, whose surface gravity

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1452-411: A number of works of fiction. The Romantic seascape painters J. M. W. Turner and Ivan Aivazovsky created some of the most lasting impressions of the sublime and stormy seas that are firmly imprinted on the popular mind. Turner's representations of powerful natural forces reinvented the traditional seascape during the first half of the nineteenth century. Upon his travels to Holland, he took note of

1573-454: A pH greater than 7 are bases. "Clean" or unpolluted rain has a slightly acidic pH of about 5.2, because carbon dioxide and water in the air react together to form carbonic acid , a weak acid (pH 5.6 in distilled water), but unpolluted rain also contains other chemicals. Nitric oxide present during thunderstorm phenomena, caused by the splitting of nitrogen molecules, can result in the production of acid rain, if nitric oxide forms compounds with

1694-454: A pond from many other aquatic terrain features, such as stream pools and tide pools . Humans impact the water in different ways such as modifying rivers (through dams and stream channelization ), urbanization and deforestation . These impact lake levels, groundwater conditions, water pollution, thermal pollution, and marine pollution . Humans modify rivers by using direct channel manipulation. We build dams and reservoirs and manipulate

1815-400: A qualitative and quantitative understanding of the principal areas or spheres of Earth. The Earth's crust or lithosphere , is the outermost solid surface of the planet and is chemically, physically and mechanically different from underlying mantle . It has been generated greatly by igneous processes in which magma cools and solidifies to form solid rock. Beneath the lithosphere lies

1936-440: A result, companies with outside facilities have begun installing such facilities underground, to reduce the risk of damage from storms. Substantial snowfall can disrupt public infrastructure and services, slowing human activity even in regions that are accustomed to such weather. Air and ground transport may be greatly inhibited or shut down entirely. Populations living in snow-prone areas have developed various ways to travel across

2057-430: A river is usually in a channel , made up of a stream bed between banks . In larger rivers there is often also a wider floodplain shaped by waters over-topping the channel. Flood plains may be very wide in relation to the size of the river channel. Rivers are a part of the hydrological cycle . Water within a river is generally collected from precipitation through surface runoff , groundwater recharge , springs and

2178-480: A scene in Act II of Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville , the third act of Giuseppe Verdi 's Rigoletto , and the fifth (Cloudburst) movement of Ferde Grofé 's Grand Canyon Suite . Natural environment In contrast to the natural environment is the built environment . Built environments are where humans have fundamentally transformed landscapes such as urban settings and agricultural land conversion ,

2299-441: A smooth and polished surface" suggested that it and other worlds might appear "just like the face of the Earth itself". Advances in telescope construction and instrumental resolution gradually allowed increased identification of the atmospheric as well as surface details of the planets. The Moon was initially the most heavily studied, due to its proximity to the Earth, as it always exhibited elaborate features on its surface, and

2420-480: A snow day may occur when there is only light accumulation or even the threat of snowfall, since those areas are unprepared to handle any amount of snow. In some areas, such as some states in the United States, schools are given a yearly quota of snow days (or "calamity days"). Once the quota is exceeded, the snow days must be made up. In other states, all snow days must be made up. For example, schools may extend

2541-458: A terrestrial storm is a wind measuring 10 or higher on the Beaufort scale , meaning a wind speed of 24.5 m/s (89 km/h, 55 mph) or more; however, popular usage is not so restrictive. Storms can last anywhere from 12 to 200 hours, depending on season and geography. In North America, the east and northeast storms are noted for the most frequent repeatability and duration, especially during

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2662-476: A terrestrial thunderhead. The east–west extent of the same-year storm equaled the diameter of Earth. The storm was observed earlier in September 1990 and acquired the name Dragon Storm . The dust storms of Mars vary in size, but can often cover the entire planet. They tend to occur when Mars comes closest to the Sun, and have been shown to increase the global temperature. One particularly large Martian storm

2783-507: A variable amount of water vapor and suspensions of water droplets and ice crystals seen as clouds . Many natural substances may be present in tiny amounts in an unfiltered air sample, including dust , pollen and spores , sea spray , volcanic ash and meteoroids . Various industrial pollutants also may be present, such as chlorine (elementary or in compounds), fluorine compounds, elemental mercury , and sulphur compounds such as sulphur dioxide (SO 2 ). The ozone layer of

2904-537: A well-known example. Though technically an anticyclone, with greater than hurricane wind speeds, it is larger than the Earth and has persisted for at least 340 years, having first been observed by astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini . Neptune also had its own lesser-known Great Dark Spot . In September 1994, the Hubble Space Telescope – using Wide Field Planetary Camera 2 – imaged storms on Saturn generated by upwelling of warmer air, similar to

3025-562: A wide range of peer reviewed journals . Some planetary scientists work at private research centres and often initiate partnership research tasks. The history of planetary science may be said to have begun with the Ancient Greek philosopher Democritus , who is reported by Hippolytus as saying The ordered worlds are boundless and differ in size, and that in some there is neither sun nor moon, but that in others, both are greater than with us, and yet with others more in number. And that

3146-436: Is a terrain feature , a body of water that is localized to the bottom of basin . A body of water is considered a lake when it is inland, is not part of an ocean and is larger and deeper than a pond . Natural lakes on Earth are generally found in mountainous areas, rift zones and areas with ongoing or recent glaciation . Other lakes are found in endorheic basins or along the courses of mature rivers. In some parts of

3267-647: Is an important transitional zone between the solid planetary surface and the higher rarefied ionizing and radiation belts. Not all planets have atmospheres: their existence depends on the mass of the planet, and the planet's distance from the Sun ;– too distant and frozen atmospheres occur. Besides the four giant planets , three of the four terrestrial planets ( Earth , Venus , and Mars ) have significant atmospheres. Two moons have significant atmospheres: Saturn 's moon Titan and Neptune 's moon Triton . A tenuous atmosphere exists around Mercury . The effects of

3388-650: Is an ode to human daring in the face of the elements. The 1926 silent film The Johnstown Flood features the Great Flood of 1889 in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. The flood, caused by the catastrophic failure of the South Fork Dam after days of extremely heavy rainfall, prompted the first major disaster relief effort by the American Red Cross , directed by Clara Barton . The Johnstown Flood

3509-522: Is around 35 parts per thousand (ppt) (3.5%), and nearly all seawater has a salinity in the range of 30 to 38 ppt. Though generally recognized as several separate oceans, these waters comprise one global, interconnected body of salt water often referred to as the World Ocean or global ocean. The deep seabeds are more than half the Earth's surface, and are among the least-modified natural environments. The major oceanic divisions are defined in part by

3630-455: Is found in various kinds of natural body of water . An ocean is a major body of saline water and a component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the surface of the Earth (an area of some 362 million square kilometers) is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas . More than half of this area is over 3,000 meters (9,800 ft) deep. Average oceanic salinity

3751-791: Is from the Old English wildeornes , which in turn derives from wildeor meaning wild beast (wild + deor = beast, deer). From this point of view, it is the wildness of a place that makes it a wilderness. The mere presence or activity of people does not disqualify an area from being "wilderness". Many ecosystems that are, or have been, inhabited or influenced by activities of people may still be considered "wild". This way of looking at wilderness includes areas within which natural processes operate without very noticeable human interference. Wildlife includes all non- domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over

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3872-440: Is increasingly rare, wild nature (e.g., unmanaged forests , uncultivated grasslands , wildlife , wildflowers ) can be found in many locations previously inhabited by humans. Goals for the benefit of people and natural systems, commonly expressed by environmental scientists and environmentalists include: In some cultures the term environment is meaningless because there is no separation between people and what they view as

3993-501: Is much less, the largest volcano, Olympus Mons , is 27 km (17 mi) high at its peak, a height that could not be maintained on Earth. The Earth geoid is essentially the figure of the Earth abstracted from its topographic features. Therefore, the Mars geoid ( areoid ) is essentially the figure of Mars abstracted from its topographic features. Surveying and mapping are two important fields of application of geodesy. An atmosphere

4114-443: Is not uniform. If, for instance, in an agricultural field, the mineralogic composition and the structure of its soil are similar to those of an undisturbed forest soil, but the structure is quite different. Earth science generally recognizes four spheres, the lithosphere , the hydrosphere , the atmosphere and the biosphere as correspondent to rocks , water , air and life respectively. Some scientists include as part of

4235-414: Is one of the most significant thunderstorm hazards to aircraft. When hail stones exceed 0.5 inches (13 mm) in diameter, planes can be seriously damaged within seconds. The hailstones accumulating on the ground can also be hazardous to landing aircraft. Strong wind outflow from thunderstorms causes rapid changes in the three-dimensional wind velocity just above ground level. Initially, this outflow causes

4356-474: Is present, rainfall cannot prevent fires from starting when vegetation is dry as lightning produces a concentrated amount of extreme heat. Wildfires can devastate vegetation and the biodiversity of an ecosystem. Wildfires that occur close to urban environments can inflict damages upon infrastructures, buildings, crops, and provide risks to explosions, should the flames be exposed to gas pipes. Direct damage caused by lightning strikes occurs on occasion. In areas with

4477-421: Is scarce but the temperature is low enough, snow cannons may be used to produce an adequate amount for such sports. Children and adults can play on a sled or ride in a sleigh . Although a person's footsteps remain a visible lifeline within a snow-covered landscape, snow cover is considered a general danger to hiking since the snow obscures landmarks and makes the landscape itself appear uniform. According to

4598-556: Is seen, such as leaks or cracks. It is hardest to recognize hail damage on shingled roofs and flat roofs, but all roofs have their own hail damage detection problems. Metal roofs are fairly resistant to hail damage, but may accumulate cosmetic damage in the form of dents and damaged coatings. Hail is also a common nuisance to drivers of automobiles, severely denting the vehicle and cracking or even shattering windshields and windows . Rarely, massive hailstones have been known to cause concussions or fatal head trauma . Hailstorms have been

4719-671: Is the application of science and technology to predict the state of the atmosphere for a future time and a given location. The atmosphere is a chaotic system , and small changes to one part of the system can grow to have large effects on the system as a whole. Human attempts to control the weather have occurred throughout human history, and there is evidence that civilized human activity such as agriculture and industry has inadvertently modified weather patterns. Evidence suggests that life on Earth has existed for about 3.7 billion years. All known life forms share fundamental molecular mechanisms, and based on these observations, theories on

4840-430: Is the one originally developed by Wladimir Köppen . The Thornthwaite system , in use since 1948, uses evapotranspiration as well as temperature and precipitation information to study animal species diversity and the potential impacts of climate changes . Weather is a set of all the phenomena occurring in a given atmospheric area at a given time . Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere , just below

4961-662: The Apollo astronauts for the field geology they would encounter on their lunar missions. Overlapping sequences were identified on images taken by the Lunar Orbiter program , and these were used to prepare a lunar stratigraphic column and geological map of the Moon. One of the main problems when generating hypotheses on the formation and evolution of objects in the Solar System is the lack of samples that can be analyzed in

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5082-506: The HED meteorites back to a specific asteroid in the main belt, 4 Vesta . The comparatively few known Martian meteorites have provided insight into the geochemical composition of the Martian crust, although the unavoidable lack of information about their points of origin on the diverse Martian surface has meant that they do not provide more detailed constraints on theories of the evolution of

5203-678: The Solar System ) and the processes of their formation. It studies objects ranging in size from micrometeoroids to gas giants , with the aim of determining their composition, dynamics, formation, interrelations and history. It is a strongly interdisciplinary field, which originally grew from astronomy and Earth science , and now incorporates many disciplines, including planetary geology , cosmochemistry , atmospheric science , physics , oceanography , hydrology , theoretical planetary science , glaciology , and exoplanetology . Allied disciplines include space physics , when concerned with

5324-652: The Van Allen radiation belts . Planetary geophysics includes, but is not limited to, seismology and tectonophysics , geophysical fluid dynamics , mineral physics , geodynamics , mathematical geophysics , and geophysical surveying . Planetary geodesy (also known as planetary geodetics) deals with the measurement and representation of the planets of the Solar System, their gravitational fields and geodynamic phenomena ( polar motion in three-dimensional, time-varying space). The science of geodesy has elements of both astrophysics and planetary sciences. The shape of

5445-634: The atmosphere such as in a dust storm , among other forms of severe weather . Storms have the potential to harm lives and property via storm surge , heavy rain or snow causing flooding or road impassibility, lightning , wildfires , and vertical and horizontal wind shear . Systems with significant rainfall and duration help alleviate drought in places they move through. Heavy snowfall can allow special recreational activities to take place which would not be possible otherwise, such as skiing and snowmobiling. The English word comes from Proto-Germanic *sturmaz meaning "noise, tumult". Storms are created when

5566-436: The biosphere , but those meteorites collected in the last few decades from Antarctica are almost entirely pristine. The different types of meteorites that originate from the asteroid belt cover almost all parts of the structure of differentiated bodies: meteorites even exist that come from the core-mantle boundary ( pallasites ). The combination of geochemistry and observational astronomy has also made it possible to trace

5687-775: The continents , various archipelagos and other criteria, these divisions are : (in descending order of size) the Pacific Ocean , the Atlantic Ocean , the Indian Ocean , the Southern Ocean and the Arctic Ocean . A river is a natural watercourse , usually freshwater , flowing toward an ocean , a lake , a sea or another river. A few rivers simply flow into the ground and dry up completely without reaching another body of water. The water in

5808-456: The gravity fields of the planets to be mapped. For example, in the 1970s, the gravity field disturbances above lunar maria were measured through lunar orbiters, which led to the discovery of concentrations of mass, mascons , beneath the Imbrium, Serenitatis, Crisium, Nectaris and Humorum basins. If a planet's magnetic field is sufficiently strong, its interaction with the solar wind forms

5929-408: The mitigation of greenhouse gases that are causing climatic changes, on developing adaptative strategies to global warming, to assist humans, other animal, and plant species, ecosystems, regions and nations in adjusting to the effects of global warming . Some examples of recent collaboration to address climate change and global warming include: A significantly profound challenge is to identify

6050-557: The precipitation regimes of places they affect and bring much-needed precipitation to otherwise dry regions. Hurricanes in the eastern north Pacific often supply moisture to the Southwestern United States and parts of Mexico. Japan receives over half of its rainfall from typhoons. Hurricane Camille averted drought conditions and ended water deficits along much of its path, though it also killed 259 people and caused $ 9.14 billion (2005 USD) in damage. Hail

6171-399: The rotation rate of a planet about its axis can be seen in atmospheric streams and currents. Seen from space, these features show as bands and eddies in the cloud system and are particularly visible on Jupiter and Saturn. Exoplanetology studies exoplanets , the planets existing outside our Solar System . Until recently, the means of studying exoplanets have been extremely limited, but with

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6292-421: The stratosphere . Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate is the term for the average atmospheric conditions over longer periods of time. When used without qualification, "weather" is understood to be the weather of Earth. Weather occurs due to density (temperature and moisture) differences between one place and another. These differences can occur due to

6413-728: The Ark were left alive. In the New Testament , Jesus Christ is recorded to have calmed a storm on the Sea of Galilee . The Gilgamesh flood myth is a deluge story in the Epic of Gilgamesh . In Greek mythology Aeolus , keeper of storm-winds, squalls and tempests. The Sea Venture was wrecked near Bermuda in 1609, which led to the colonization of Bermuda and provided the inspiration for Shakespeare's play The Tempest (1611). Specifically, Sir Thomas Gates , future governor of Virginia ,

6534-681: The Atlantic coast of North America, in 1565. Strong winds from any storm type can damage or destroy vehicles, buildings, bridges, and other outside objects, turning loose debris into deadly flying projectiles. In the United States, major hurricanes comprise just 21% of all landfalling tropical cyclones, but account for 83% of all damage. Tropical cyclones often knock out power to tens or hundreds of thousands of people, preventing vital communication and hampering rescue efforts. Tropical cyclones often destroy key bridges, overpasses, and roads, complicating efforts to transport food, clean water, and medicine to

6655-473: The Bible, a giant storm sent by God flooded the Earth. Noah and his family and the animals entered the Ark , and "the same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened, and the rain was upon the earth forty days and forty nights." The flood covered even the highest mountains to a depth of more than twenty feet, and all creatures died; only Noah and those with him on

6776-473: The Earth is to a large extent the result of its rotation, which causes its equatorial bulge , and the competition of geologic processes such as the collision of plates and of vulcanism , resisted by the Earth's gravity field. These principles can be applied to the solid surface of Earth ( orogeny ; Few mountains are higher than 10 km (6 mi), few deep sea trenches deeper than that because quite simply,

6897-518: The Earth's atmosphere plays an important role in reducing the amount of ultraviolet (UV) radiation that reaches the surface. As DNA is readily damaged by UV light, this serves to protect life at the surface. The atmosphere also retains heat during the night, thereby reducing the daily temperature extremes. Earth's atmosphere can be divided into five main layers. These layers are mainly determined by whether temperature increases or decreases with altitude. From highest to lowest, these layers are: Within

7018-462: The Halloween Nor'easter of 1991, was a nor'easter that absorbed Hurricane Grace and ultimately evolved into a small hurricane late in its life cycle. Storms have also been portrayed in many works of music. Examples of storm music include Vivaldi's Four Seasons violin concerto RV 315 ( Summer ) (third movement: Presto ), Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony (the fourth movement),

7139-517: The Martian lithosphere . As of July 24, 2013, 65 samples of Martian meteorites have been discovered on Earth. Many were found in either Antarctica or the Sahara Desert. During the Apollo era, in the Apollo program , 384 kilograms of lunar samples were collected and transported to the Earth, and three Soviet Luna robots also delivered regolith samples from the Moon. These samples provide

7260-538: The Middle East. The total mass of recognized lunar meteorites is close to 50 kg. Space probes made it possible to collect data in not only the visible light region but in other areas of the electromagnetic spectrum. The planets can be characterized by their force fields: gravity and their magnetic fields, which are studied through geophysics and space physics. Measuring the changes in acceleration experienced by spacecraft as they orbit has allowed fine details of

7381-475: The Solar System and extrasolar planetary systems. Observing exoplanets and determining their physical properties, exoplanetology , is a major area of research besides Solar System studies. Every planet has its own branch. In planetary science, the term geology is used in its broadest sense, to mean the study of the surface and interior parts of planets and moons, from their core to their magnetosphere. The best-known research topics of planetary geology deal with

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7502-408: The Sun, or the geomorphology of the surfaces of the terrestrial planets, to give only a few examples. The main comparison that can be made is to features on the Earth, as it is much more accessible and allows a much greater range of measurements to be made. Earth analog studies are particularly common in planetary geology, geomorphology, and also in atmospheric science. The use of terrestrial analogs

7623-420: The U.S. that led to 620 deaths and 200 injuries. Since 1995, the number of major civil aircraft accidents caused by wind shear has dropped to approximately one every ten years, due to the mandated on-board detection as well as the addition of Doppler weather radar units on the ground. ( NEXRAD ) Many winter sports , such as skiing , snowboarding , snowmobiling , and snowshoeing depend upon snow. Where snow

7744-415: The abiotic constituents of their biotope . A more significant number or variety of species or biological diversity of an ecosystem may contribute to greater resilience of an ecosystem because there are more species present at a location to respond to change and thus "absorb" or reduce its effects. This reduces the effect before the ecosystem's structure changes to a different state. This is not universally

7865-566: The adventures of a young girl named Dorothy Gale in the Land of Oz , after being swept away from her Kansas farm home by a tornado. The story was originally published by the George M. Hill Company in Chicago on 17 May 1900, and has since been reprinted numerous times, most often under the name The Wizard of Oz , and adapted for use in other media. Thanks in part to the 1939 MGM movie , it is one of

7986-622: The areas that need it. Furthermore, the damage caused by tropical cyclones to buildings and dwellings can result in economic damage to a region, and to a diaspora of the population of the region. The storm surge , or the increase in sea level due to the cyclone, is typically the worst effect from landfalling tropical cyclones, historically resulting in 90% of tropical cyclone deaths. The relatively quick surge in sea level can move miles/kilometers inland, flooding homes and cutting off escape routes. The storm surges and winds of hurricanes may be destructive to human-made structures, but they also stir up

8107-425: The astronomy and physics or Earth sciences departments of universities or research centres, though there are several purely planetary science institutes worldwide. Generally, planetary scientists study one of the Earth sciences , astronomy , astrophysics , geophysics , or physics at the graduate level and concentrate their research in planetary science disciplines. There are several major conferences each year, and

8228-544: The best-known stories in American popular culture and has been widely translated. Its initial success, and the success of the popular 1902 Broadway musical which Baum adapted from his original story, led to Baum's writing thirteen more Oz books . Hollywood director King Vidor (8 February 1894 – 1 November 1982) survived the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 as a boy. Based on that experience, he published

8349-425: The biological manifestation of life is characterized by organization , metabolism , growth , adaptation , response to stimuli and reproduction . Life may also be said to be simply the characteristic state of organisms . In biology , the science of living organisms, "life" is the condition which distinguishes active organisms from inorganic matter , including the capacity for growth, functional activity and

8470-407: The case and there is no proven relationship between the species diversity of an ecosystem and its ability to provide goods and services on a sustainable level. The term ecosystem can also pertain to human-made environments, such as human ecosystems and human-influenced ecosystems. It can describe any situation where there is relationship between living organisms and their environment. Fewer areas on

8591-580: The cause of costly and deadly events throughout history. One of the earliest recorded incidents occurred around the 9th century in Roopkund , Uttarakhand, India. The largest hailstone in terms of diameter and weight ever recorded in the United States fell on 23 July 2010, in Vivian, South Dakota in the United States; it measured 8 inches (20 cm) in diameter and 18.62 inches (47.3 cm) in circumference, weighing in at 1.93 pounds (0.88 kg). This broke

8712-445: The cold period. Big terrestrial storms alter the oceanographic conditions that in turn may affect food abundance and distribution: strong currents, strong tides, increased siltation, change in water temperatures, overturn in the water column, etc. Storms do not only occur on Earth; other planetary bodies with a sufficient atmosphere ( giant planets in particular) also undergo stormy weather. The Great Red Spot on Jupiter provides

8833-425: The continual change preceding death. A diverse variety of living organisms (life forms) can be found in the biosphere on Earth, and properties common to these organisms—plants, animals , fungi , protists , archaea , and bacteria —are a carbon - and water-based cellular form with complex organization and heritable genetic information. Living organisms undergo metabolism , maintain homeostasis , possess

8954-655: The creation of the Weather Bureau (which came to known as the National Weather Service ) and that agency's fateful rivalry with the weather service in Cuba, and a number of other major storms, such as those which ravaged Indianola, Texas in 1875 and 1886 . The Great Storm of 1987 is key in an important scene near the end of Possession: A Romance , the bestselling and Booker Prize -winning novel by A. S. Byatt . The Great Storm of 1987 occurred on

9075-410: The current rate of innovation in research technology , exoplanetology has become a rapidly developing subfield of astronomy . Planetary science frequently makes use of the method of comparison to give a greater understanding of the object of study. This can involve comparing the dense atmospheres of Earth and Saturn's moon Titan , the evolution of outer Solar System objects at different distances from

9196-624: The direction of the rivers and water path. Dams can usefully create reservoirs and hydroelectric power. However, reservoirs and dams may negatively impact the environment and wildlife. Dams stop fish migration and the movement of organisms downstream. Urbanization affects the environment because of deforestation and changing lake levels, groundwater conditions, etc. Deforestation and urbanization go hand in hand. Deforestation may cause flooding, declining stream flow and changes in riverside vegetation. The changing vegetation occurs because when trees cannot get adequate water they start to deteriorate, leading to

9317-632: The effects of the Sun on the bodies of the Solar System, and astrobiology . There are interrelated observational and theoretical branches of planetary science. Observational research can involve combinations of space exploration , predominantly with robotic spacecraft missions using remote sensing , and comparative, experimental work in Earth-based laboratories . The theoretical component involves considerable computer simulation and mathematical modelling . Planetary scientists are generally located in

9438-409: The environment. Central to the ecosystem concept is the idea that living organisms are continually engaged in a highly interrelated set of relationships with every other element constituting the environment in which they exist. Eugene Odum , one of the founders of the science of ecology , stated: "Any unit that includes all of the organisms (i.e.: the "community") in a given area interacting with

9559-482: The extinction of natural habitats, which in turn leads to a reduction in wildlife population. The most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (the group of the leading climate scientists in the world) concluded that the earth will warm anywhere from 2.7 to almost 11 degrees Fahrenheit (1.5 to 6 degrees Celsius) between 1990 and 2100. Efforts have been increasingly focused on

9680-483: The familiar large rolling waves of the English seashore transforming into the sharper, choppy waves of a Dutch storm. A characteristic example of Turner's dramatic seascape is The Slave Ship of 1840. Aivazovsky left several thousand turbulent canvases in which he increasingly eliminated human figures and historical background to focus on such essential elements as light, sea, and sky. His grandiose Ninth Wave (1850)

9801-472: The features on planetary surfaces and reconstructs the history of their formation, inferring the physical processes that acted on the surface. Planetary geomorphology includes the study of several classes of surface features: The history of a planetary surface can be deciphered by mapping features from top to bottom according to their deposition sequence , as first determined on terrestrial strata by Nicolas Steno . For example, stratigraphic mapping prepared

9922-586: The five principal layers determined by temperature there are several layers determined by other properties. The dangers of global warming are being increasingly studied by a wide global consortium of scientists. These scientists are increasingly concerned about the potential long-term effects of global warming on our natural environment and on the planet. Of particular concern is how climate change and global warming caused by anthropogenic , or human-made releases of greenhouse gases , most notably carbon dioxide , can act interactively and have adverse effects upon

10043-408: The intervals between the ordered worlds are unequal, here more and there less, and that some increase, others flourish and others decay, and here they come into being and there they are eclipsed. But that they are destroyed by colliding with one another. And that some ordered worlds are bare of animals and plants and all water. In more modern times, planetary science began in astronomy, from studies of

10164-403: The laboratory, where a large suite of tools are available, and the full body of knowledge derived from terrestrial geology can be brought to bear. Direct samples from the Moon, asteroids and Mars are present on Earth, removed from their parent bodies, and delivered as meteorites . Some of these have suffered contamination from the oxidising effect of Earth's atmosphere and the infiltration of

10285-555: The latter produces winds of 17,700 km/h (11,000 mph) across the surface. The spin of the planet then creates giant swirling shock-wave storms that carry the heat aloft. Shipwrecks are common with the passage of strong tropical cyclones. Such shipwrecks can change the course of history, as well as influence art and literature. A hurricane led to a victory of the Spanish over the French for control of Fort Caroline, and ultimately

10406-415: The mantle which is heated by the decay of radioactive elements . The mantle though solid is in a state of rheic convection . This convection process causes the lithospheric plates to move, albeit slowly. The resulting process is known as plate tectonics . Volcanoes result primarily from the melting of subducted crust material or of rising mantle at mid-ocean ridges and mantle plumes . Most water

10527-633: The most comprehensive record of the composition of any Solar System body besides the Earth. The numbers of lunar meteorites are growing quickly in the last few years – as of April 2008 there are 54 meteorites that have been officially classified as lunar. Eleven of these are from the US Antarctic meteorite collection, 6 are from the Japanese Antarctic meteorite collection and the other 37 are from hot desert localities in Africa, Australia, and

10648-524: The natural environment is greatly changed into a simplified human environment. Even acts which seem less extreme, such as building a mud hut or a photovoltaic system in the desert , the modified environment becomes an artificial one. Though many animals build things to provide a better environment for themselves, they are not human, hence beaver dams and the works of mound-building termites are thought of as natural. People cannot find absolutely natural environments on Earth,naturalness usually varies in

10769-410: The natural environmental dynamics in contrast to environmental changes not within natural variances. A common solution is to adapt a static view neglecting natural variances to exist. Methodologically, this view could be defended when looking at processes which change slowly and short time series, while the problem arrives when fast processes turns essential in the object of the study. Climate looks at

10890-443: The natural world, or their surroundings. Specifically in the United States and Arabian countries many native cultures do not recognize the "environment", or see themselves as environmentalists. Planetary science Planetary science (or more rarely, planetology ) is the scientific study of planets (including Earth ), celestial bodies (such as moons , asteroids , comets ) and planetary systems (in particular those of

11011-582: The night of 15–16 October 1987, when an unusually strong weather system caused winds to hit much of southern England and northern France. It was the worst storm to hit England since the Great Storm of 1703 (284 years earlier) and was responsible for the deaths of at least 22 people in England and France combined (18 in England, at least four in France). Hurricane Katrina (2005) has been featured in

11132-409: The origin of life attempt to find a mechanism explaining the formation of a primordial single cell organism from which all life originates. There are many different hypotheses regarding the path that might have been taken from simple organic molecules via pre-cellular life to protocells and metabolism. Although there is no universal agreement on the definition of life, scientists generally accept that

11253-438: The physical environment so that a flow of energy leads to clearly defined trophic structure, biotic diversity, and material cycles (i.e.: exchange of materials between living and nonliving parts) within the system is an ecosystem." The human ecosystem concept is then grounded in the deconstruction of the human/nature dichotomy , and the emergent premise that all species are ecologically integrated with each other, as well as with

11374-400: The planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative. Wildlife can be found in all ecosystems. Deserts, rain forests, plains, and other areas—including the most developed urban sites—all have distinct forms of wildlife. While the term in popular culture usually refers to animals that are untouched by civilized human factors, most scientists agree that wildlife around

11495-415: The planet, its natural environment and humans' existence. It is clear the planet is warming, and warming rapidly. This is due to the greenhouse effect , which is caused by greenhouse gases, which trap heat inside the Earth's atmosphere because of their more complex molecular structure which allows them to vibrate and in turn trap heat and release it back towards the Earth. This warming is also responsible for

11616-567: The planetary bodies in the near vicinity of the Earth: the Moon , and the two neighboring planets: Venus and Mars . Of these, the Moon was studied first, using methods developed earlier on the Earth. Planetary geology focuses on celestial objects that exhibit a solid surface or have significant solid physical states as part of their structure. Planetary geology applies geology , geophysics and geochemistry to planetary bodies. Geomorphology studies

11737-584: The previous record for diameter set by a hailstone 7 inches (18 cm) diameter and 18.75 inches (47.6 cm) circumference which fell in Aurora, Nebraska in the United States on 22 June 2003, as well as the record for weight, set by a hailstone of 1.67 pounds (0.76 kg) that fell in Coffeyville, Kansas in 1970. Various hazards, ranging from hail to lightning can affect outside technology facilities, such as antennas , satellite dishes , and towers. As

11858-467: The rate of new discoveries is very high, partly due to the large number of interplanetary spacecraft currently exploring the Solar System. Planetary science studies observational and theoretical astronomy, geology ( astrogeology ), atmospheric science , and an emerging subspecialty in planetary oceans , called planetary oceanography . This is both an observational and a theoretical science. Observational researchers are predominantly concerned with

11979-443: The release of water stored in glaciers and snowpacks. Small rivers may also be called by several other names, including stream , creek and brook. Their current is confined within a bed and stream banks . Streams play an important corridor role in connecting fragmented habitats and thus in conserving biodiversity . The study of streams and waterways in general is known as surface hydrology . A lake (from Latin lacus )

12100-569: The remaining school days later into the afternoon, shorten spring break , or delay the start of summer vacation . Accumulated snow is removed to make travel easier and safer, and to decrease the long-term effect of a heavy snowfall. This process uses shovels and snowplows , and is often assisted by sprinkling salt or other chloride-based chemicals, which reduce the melting temperature of snow. In some areas with abundant snowfall, such as Yamagata Prefecture , Japan, people harvest snow and store it surrounded by insulation in ice houses. This allows

12221-488: The snow to be used through the summer for refrigeration and air conditioning, which requires far less electricity than traditional cooling methods. Hail can cause serious damage, notably to automobiles , aircraft, skylights, glass-roofed structures, livestock, and most commonly, farmers' crops . Wheat, corn, soybeans, and tobacco are the most sensitive crops to hail damage. Hail is one of Canada's most expensive hazards. Snowfall can be beneficial to agriculture by serving as

12342-502: The snow, such as skis , snowshoes , and sleds pulled by horses, dogs, or other animals and later, snowmobiles . Basic utilities such as electricity , telephone lines , and gas supply can also fail. In addition, snow can make roads much harder to travel and vehicles attempting to use them can easily become stuck. The combined effects can lead to a " snow day " on which gatherings such as school, work, or church are officially canceled. In areas that normally have very little or no snow,

12463-634: The spheres of the Earth, the cryosphere (corresponding to ice ) as a distinct portion of the hydrosphere, as well as the pedosphere (to soil ) as an active and intermixed sphere. Earth science (also known as geoscience, the geographical sciences or the Earth Sciences), is an all-embracing term for the sciences related to the planet Earth . There are four major disciplines in earth sciences, namely geography , geology , geophysics and geodesy . These major disciplines use physics , chemistry , biology , chronology and mathematics to build

12584-495: The statistics of temperature , humidity , atmospheric pressure , wind , rainfall , atmospheric particle count and other meteorological elements in a given region over long periods of time. Weather , on the other hand, is the present condition of these same elements over periods up to two weeks. Climates can be classified according to the average and typical ranges of different variables, most commonly temperature and precipitation. The most commonly used classification scheme

12705-480: The study of the small bodies of the Solar System: those that are observed by telescopes, both optical and radio, so that characteristics of these bodies such as shape, spin, surface materials and weathering are determined, and the history of their formation and evolution can be understood. Theoretical planetary astronomy is concerned with dynamics : the application of the principles of celestial mechanics to

12826-434: The sun angle at any particular spot, which varies by latitude from the tropics. The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air gives rise to the jet stream . Weather systems in the mid-latitudes , such as extratropical cyclones , are caused by instabilities of the jet stream flow. Because the Earth's axis is tilted relative to its orbital plane, sunlight is incident at different angles at different times of

12947-775: The surface of the earth today exist free from human contact, although some genuine wilderness areas continue to exist without any forms of human intervention. Global biogeochemical cycles are critical to life, most notably those of water , oxygen , carbon , nitrogen and phosphorus . Wilderness is generally defined as a natural environment on Earth that has not been significantly modified by human activity. The WILD Foundation goes into more detail, defining wilderness as: "The most intact, undisturbed wild natural areas left on our planet – those last truly wild places that humans do not control and have not developed with roads, pipelines or other industrial infrastructure." Wilderness areas and protected parks are considered important for

13068-420: The survival of certain species , ecological studies, conservation , solitude, and recreation . Wilderness is deeply valued for cultural, spiritual, moral , and aesthetic reasons. Some nature writers believe wilderness areas are vital for the human spirit and creativity. The word, "wilderness", derives from the notion of wildness ; in other words that which is not controllable by humans. The word etymology

13189-495: The technological improvements gradually produced more detailed lunar geological knowledge. In this scientific process, the main instruments were astronomical optical telescopes (and later radio telescopes ) and finally robotic exploratory spacecraft , such as space probes . The Solar System has now been relatively well-studied, and a good overall understanding of the formation and evolution of this planetary system exists. However, there are large numbers of unsolved questions, and

13310-409: The unresolved planets. In this sense, the original planetary astronomer would be Galileo , who discovered the four largest moons of Jupiter , the mountains on the Moon , and first observed the rings of Saturn , all objects of intense later study. Galileo's study of the lunar mountains in 1609 also began the study of extraterrestrial landscapes: his observation "that the Moon certainly does not possess

13431-440: The water molecules in precipitation, thus creating acid rain. Acid rain can damage infrastructures containing calcite or other solid chemical compounds containing carbon. In ecosystems, acid rain can dissolve plant tissues of vegetations and increase acidification process in bodies of water and in soil , resulting in deaths of marine and terrestrial organisms. Hail damage to roofs often goes unnoticed until further structural damage

13552-418: The waters of coastal estuaries, which are typically important fish breeding locales. Cloud-to-ground lightning frequently occurs within the phenomena of thunderstorms and have numerous hazards towards landscapes and populations. One of the more significant hazards lightning can pose is the wildfires they are capable of igniting. Under a regime of low precipitation (LP) thunderstorms, where little precipitation

13673-483: The wings, and leaving the aircraft in a low-power, low-speed descent. This can lead to an accident if the aircraft is too low to effect a recovery before ground contact. As the result of the accidents in the 1970s and 1980s, in 1988 the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration mandated that all commercial aircraft have on-board wind shear detection systems by 1993. Between 1964 and 1985, wind shear directly caused or contributed to 26 major civil transport aircraft accidents in

13794-411: The world is (now) impacted by human activities. It is the common understanding of natural environment that underlies environmentalism — a broad political , social and philosophical movement that advocates various actions and policies in the interest of protecting what nature remains in the natural environment, or restoring or expanding the role of nature in this environment. While true wilderness

13915-826: The world, there are many lakes because of chaotic drainage patterns left over from the last ice age . All lakes are temporary over geologic time scales, as they will slowly fill in with sediments or spill out of the basin containing them. A pond is a body of standing water , either natural or human-made, that is usually smaller than a lake . A wide variety of human-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens designed for aesthetic ornamentation, fish ponds designed for commercial fish breeding and solar ponds designed to store thermal energy. Ponds and lakes are distinguished from streams by their current speed . While currents in streams are easily observed, ponds and lakes possess thermally driven micro-currents and moderate wind-driven currents. These features distinguish

14036-465: The year. On the Earth's surface, temperatures usually range ±40 °C (100 °F to −40 °F) annually. Over thousands of years, changes in the Earth's orbit have affected the amount and distribution of solar energy received by the Earth and influenced long-term climate. Surface temperature differences in turn cause pressure differences. Higher altitudes are cooler than lower altitudes due to differences in compressional heating. Weather forecasting

14157-542: Was depicted in numerous other media (both fictional and in non-fiction), as well. Warner Bros. ' 2000 dramatic disaster film The Perfect Storm , directed by Wolfgang Petersen , is an adaptation of Sebastian Junger 's 1997 non-fiction book of the same title . The book and film feature the crew of the Andrea Gail , which got caught in the Perfect Storm of 1991 . The 1991 Perfect Storm, also known as

14278-417: Was exhaustively studied up close due to coincidental timing. When the first spacecraft to successfully orbit another planet, Mariner 9 , arrived and successfully orbited Mars on 14 November 1971, planetary scientists were surprised to find the atmosphere was thick with a planet-wide robe of dust , the largest storm ever observed on Mars. The surface of the planet was totally obscured. Mariner 9's computer

14399-525: Was on his way to England from Jamestown, Virginia . On Saint James Day , while he was between Cuba and the Bahamas , a hurricane raged for nearly two days. Though one of the small vessels in the fleet sank to the bottom of the Florida Straits , seven of the remaining vessels reached Virginia within several days after the storm. The flagship of the fleet, known as Sea Adventure , disappeared and

14520-500: Was presumed lost. A small bit of fortune befell the ship and her crew when they made landfall on Bermuda. The vessel was damaged on a surrounding coral reef , but all aboard survived for nearly a year on the island. The British colonists claimed the island and quickly settled Bermuda. In May 1610, they set forth for Jamestown, this time arriving at their destination. The children's novel The Wonderful Wizard of Oz , written by L. Frank Baum and illustrated by W. W. Denslow , chronicles

14641-421: Was reprogrammed from Earth to delay imaging of the surface for a couple of months until the dust settled, however, the surface-obscured images contributed much to the collection of Mars atmospheric and planetary surface science. Two extrasolar planets are known to have storms: HD 209458 b and HD 80606 b . The former's storm was discovered on 23 June 2010, and measured at 6,200 km/h (3,900 mph), while

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