Weather
On earth, temperatures usually range between ±40 °C. However, the wide range of climates and latitudes offer extremes of temperature well outside this range. The coldest air temperature ever recorded on Earth is -89.2 °C (-127.8 °F), at Vostok Station, Antarctica on 21 July 1983. The hottest air temperature ever recorded was 57.7 °C (135.9 °F), at Al 'Aziziyah, Libya, on 13 September 1922. The highest recorded average annual temperature was 34.4 °C (94 °F) at Dallol, Ethiopia. The coldest recorded average annual temperature is -50.6 °C (-59 °F) at Vostok Station, Antarctica. The coldest average annual temperature in a permanently inhabited location is at Resolute, Nunavut, in Canada.[citation needed]
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Extra-terrestrial weather
Studying how the weather works on other planets has been seen as helpful in understanding how it works on Earth.[6] Weather on other planets follows many of the same physical principles as weather on Earth, but occurs on different scales and in atmospheres having different chemical composition. The Cassini–Huygens mission to Titan discovered clouds formed from methane or ethane which deposit rain composed of liquid methane and other organic compounds. Earth's atmosphere includes about six latitudinal circulation zones, three in each hemisphere (see Hadley cell). In contrast Jupiter's banded appearance shows over a dozen such zones, Titan has a single cell covering its entire surface, and Venus appears to have no zones at all.
One of the most famous landmarks in the Solar System, Jupiter's Great Red Spot, is an anticyclonic storm known to have existed for at least 300 years. On other gas giants the lack of a surface allows the wind to reach enormous speeds: gusts of up to 400 metres per second (about 1440 km/h / 900 mi/h) have been measured on the planet Neptune. This has created a puzzle for planetary scientists. The weather is ultimately created by solar energy and the amount of energy received by Neptune is only about 1/900th of that received by Earth, yet the intensity of weather phenomena on Neptune is far greater than on Earth.[7] The strongest planetary winds discovered so far are on the extrasolar planet HD 189733 b, which is thought to have easterly winds moving at more than 9,600 kilometers per hour.
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Extra-planetary weather
Weather is not limited to planetary bodies. A star's corona is constantly being lost to space, creating what is essentially a very thin atmosphere throughout the Solar System. The movement of mass ejected from the Sun is known as the solar wind.
Inconsistencies in this wind and larger events on the surface of the star, such as coronal mass ejections, form a system that has features analogous to conventional weather systems (such as pressure and wind) and is generally known as space weather. The activity of this system can affect planetary atmospheres and occasionally surfaces. The interaction of the solar wind with the terrestrial atmosphere can produce spectacular aurorae, and can play havoc with electrically sensitive systems such as electricity grids and radio signals.
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See also
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References
- ^ O'Carroll, Cynthia M. (2001-10-18). Weather Forecasters May Look Sky-high For Answers. Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA).
- ^ American Meteorological Society
- ^ American Meteorological Society
- ^ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
- ^ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
- ^ Britt, Robert Roy (2001-03-06). The Worst Weather in the Solar System. Space.com.
- ^ Sromovsky, Lawrence A. (1998-10-14). Hubble Provides a Moving Look at Neptune's Stormy Disposition. HubbleSite.
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External links
- Ogimet - online data from meteorological stations of the world
- Weather at About.com
- Wunderground (Weather Underground) - online forecast and personal weather station network
- RainRadar - Worldwide radar directory
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