1. Describe how the use of a tall smoke stack might improve air quality near a large industrial facility. The smoke from a shorter smokestack can become trapped by a temperature inversion and not be able to rise above this inversion. Thereby forcing the smoke to spread out horizontally and cover the area. The smoke from a taller smokestack, at least 500 ft., is more likely able to able to clear the inversion and be dispersed by the wind. However, the pollutants from the tall smokestacks are carried away from the local area and dispersed to other areas downwind (Ahrens 2015, p446). 2. How can topography contribute to pollution in a city or region? Human habitation is commonly built in valleys and plains, not on hillsides. The valleys tend to have a layer of cold air with a layer of warm air above that. Pollution is trapped by the cold air layer and carried back down the slopes of surrounding hills or mountains. The situation is compounded by the hills or mountains surrounding a valley which serve as barriers that prevent the winds from blowing the pollution clear of the valley (Ahrens 2015, p448). 3. …show more content…
From where do hurricanes derive their energy? What factors tend to weaken hurricanes? Would you expect a hurricane to weaken more quickly if it moved over land or over cooler water? Hurricanes derive their strength from warm water at the ocean’s surface. Some of the factors that weaken hurricanes are strong wind shears which can tear a hurricane apart. Land, especially mountainous terrain results in a rapid weakening of a hurricane. Colder water also tends to slow the movement and weaken a hurricane. Land tends to weaken a hurricane quicker due to the terrain breaking up the wind movements and moisture being dumped over land and the hurricane unable to replace that moisture as rapidly as it can over warm
water. 4. Where is the Bermuda high located during the summer and fall? How might the path of a hurricane, moving toward the west from Africa, be affected by the Bermuda High as the hurricane approaches the United States? Due to the sun being overhead of the Northern Hemisphere during the summer and fall seasons, “the zone of maximum heating shifts” toward the north (Ahrens 2015, p.207). A hurricane approaching the US mainland from Africa during this time will be held to a southerly route toward the Caribbean or southeastern US. The hurricane may swing to the north once it has cleared the western side of the Bermuda high if it is later in the season and the Bermuda high has again begun to shift south. 5. How do you think pollutants are removed from the atmosphere? Does this occur quickly or slowly? Pollutants are removed in a number of ways. Wind dilutes pollution, but how fast or how far the pollutants are spread depends on wind speed, this is termed as dispersion (Ahrens 2015, p.445). Rain and snow remove many pollution particles from the air by using the pollutants as the nuclei for cloud droplets and ice crystals (Ahrens 2015, p.436). Another method of removal are microorganisms in the soil that quickly remove carbon monoxide from the atmosphere. Plants and trees serve as scrubbers for cleaning pollutants from the air as well. Plants consume carbon dioxide and release oxygen thereby using a pollutant to create clean air for us.
Tropical waters serve as the perfect breeding and growing place for a hurricane. Storms, such as Katrina, are able to develop because of the availability of water vapor over tropical oceans. This creates the ideal environment for the growth of a hurricane (Ahrens & Sampson, 2011).
City of Los Angeles Environmental Affairs Department. “L.A. Made a Difference!” Los Angeles, CA: US. 1998. www.cityofla.org/EAD/article3.htm
It is truly one of hurricane lore’s greatest storms. Such greatness had innocuous and humble beginnings. Like all hurricanes that have existed, is existing, and will exist, the hurricane originated within the waters of the world and from the winds of the world. The temperate waters of the eastern North Atlantic Ocean gave rise to the storm upon August 31, 1900. Its birthplace is roughly 400 miles west of Africa’s Cape Verde Islands (Longshore).
Hurricane Betsy developed east of the Windward Islands. This means that Betsy occurred in the Atlantic Basin, which includes the North Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea. Many hurricanes form in this area since it is near the equator and warm water, which is a requirement to form a hurricane is always available. In fact, hurricanes or tropical cyclones can only form if they meet four conditions. First, the temperature of ocean waters must be 82 degrees F or warmer in order. Moreover, low air pressure is needed. Furthermore, you need tropical winds located near the equator. Lastly, you need moist ocean air. The most important part is the warm air since it serves as energy for the storm. The air then rises into the low pressure are and cold air replaces it; this is what then produces what is called a disturbance, which is an area of heavy rainfall, thunder clouds and powerful winds. From here a hurricane can only get stronger and its wind speed is measured and depending on how powerful the storm is it is then assigned into one of five categories.
Hurricanes form over the ocean. Easterly waves, what hurricanes develop from, are long, narrow regions of low pressure which occur in ocean winds called trade winds. At first, these easterly waves can grow into something called, a tropical depression. A tropical depression occurs when winds are up to 31 mph. Then tropical depressions can be upgraded into a tropical storm if the winds reach speeds of 74 mph or less. Then finally a the storm can be bumped up into a hurricane if the winds reach 75 mph.
Hurricanes are born over the warm waters of tropical oceans and are formed by a low-pressure system caused by the heating of water. The heat causes the air to rise and form lower pressures in a feedback loop, making the hurricane stronger. Heavy rain results from a condensation of water and strong winds develop from warm air rushing to the eye of the hurricane. Essentially, greater storms and winds occur when the hurricane feeds of the rising temperature of the water. In addition, researchers studied disturbances and intense thunderstorms in the atmosphere over Western Africa and believe they are partly to blame for extreme hurricanes affecting the United States and Canada. While these are all the main ingredients of a perfectly natural process, they were not the primary causes of the damage done by Hurricane
Hurricanes, also known as cyclones or typhoons, are huge, devastating tropical storms that can be up to 600 miles wide. They have strong, forceful winds that spiral inward and upward circling around the “eye” of the storm. Inside the eye, there are clear skies and light winds, however, surrounding the eye wall there are bands of wind and rain that spread out for over hundreds or thousands of miles. Hurricanes begin as tropical disturbances over warm ocean water (27°c or 80°F) and gathers heat and energy as it moves across the ocean. As evaporation from the ocean water increases its power, it changes into a tropical depression (wind speeds of less than 38 mph), then tropical storm (wind speeds of 39-73 mph) to finally a hurricane (wind speeds greater than 75mph). Hurricanes can last two weeks or more over open water and moves about 10-20 miles per hour. The safety of millions of people depends on the meteorologists and their ability to track these storms. Hurricanes may not be dangerous over open water, but are devastating when they hit land. They can cause torrential rains, high winds and storm surges as well as tornadoes, flash floods and land slides. Without warning of these hurricanes approaching, millions could die. The most effective tools meteorologists use are satellite images, radar and aircraft reconnaissance to study and warn people of approaching hurricanes.
In the hurricane the mixture of the water and winds can be extremely damaging. The winds are extremely dangerous and usually don’t go faster than about 75 miles per hour but have been documented to go as fast as 85 miles per hour. Due to the fact that hurricanes need water to survive they cannot go too far on land, but that does not stop them from causing billions of dollars in damages. Hurricanes are so dangerous that they were listed number 1 on the Department of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Hazard and Disasters list.
Hurricanes begin as tropical disturbances in warm ocean waters with temperatures of at least 80 degrees Fahrenheit. These low pressure systems are served by energy from the warm seas. If a storm reaches wind speeds of 38 miles an hour, it is known as a tropical depression. A tropical depression becomes a tropical storm, and is given a name, when its sustained wind speeds top 39 miles an hour. When a storm’s sustained wind speeds reach 74 miles an hour, it becomes a hurricane and earns a category rating of 1 to 5 on the Saffir-Simpson scale.
One of the most dangerous environment issues Southern California is facing today is air pollution. This includes the burning of fossil fuels and natural disasters. Los Angeles is one of the most polluted cities in the world, and the most polluted city in the United States. I will research information about the causes, the effects, and the history of air pollution in the Los Angeles. For my research, I have relied mostly on, the school’s database and library, as well as current events.
Air pollution is caused by many things such as car fumes, burning of fossil fuels,
Air pollution has become very costly environmental problem in terms of both human lives and in terms of billions of dollars lost for health-care expenditure and crop damage.
A hurricane can be defined as than 64 knots (74 miles per hour; 119 kilometers per hour), originating in the equatorial regions of the Atlantic Ocean or Caribbean Sea or eastern regions of the Pacific Ocean, traveling north, northwest, or northeast from its point of origin, and usually involving heavy rains. Hurricanes are a natural disaster with far reaching consequences. It takes away the lives of millions of people and causes damage to almost all of human creation. It can cause extensive damage to coastlines and several hundred miles inland due to heavy rainfall. It takes away the lives of millions of people and causes damage to almost all of human creation.
Air Pollution is when a poisonous or a harmful substance is released in the air. There are many form of pollution but air is one of them, it only occurs when dust, harmful gases or smoke enters into the atmosphere and makes it hard for species like plants, animals and humans to live in a difficult situation because of the dirty air.Air Pollution is classified in two sections, invisible air pollution and visible air pollution.. Hence any substance that makes it difficult for the living things that need the atmosphere is air pollution.Humans have been undergoing air pollution ever since the industrial revolution.In order to understand the causes of Air pollution, it is divided into divisions. Primary air pollutants and secondary air pollutants:
A hurricane is a type of natural disaster that can be harmful and destructive to anything in its way. Every year five to six hurricanes are formed, damaging and destroying people’s homes, landmarks, and anything in its path (“Hurricane”). Before a hurricane is developed it is known as a tropical storm. To be a tropical storm wind speed must be at least thirty eight miles per hour (“Hurricane”). Once wind speeds reaches seventy four miles an hour it can then be classified as hurricane (“Hurricane”). Large scale storms, like hurricanes have a variety of ways to measure the sev...