Atmospheric thermodynamics

A new climate intervention strategy aims to decrease the amount of water vapor in the stratosphere by injecting it with ice-forming nuclei. The idea is that, by reducing the water content, more heat in the form of infrared radiation would leak out into space.Prepping the Sandworm Scenes in Dune: Part TwoScientists described the strategy a study published Wednesday in Science Advances. “It’s not a very complicated idea,” Joshua Schwarz, a researcher at National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Earth System Research…

Transmission towers are seen near the CenterPoint Energy power plant on July 11, 2022 in Houston, Texas. Photo: Brandon Bell (Getty Images)It is hot as hell in Texas at the moment, and the sky-high temperatures are straining the state’s grid. Excessive heat warnings and heat advisories are in effect for most of the state today, according to the National Weather Service.Lower Drought Conditions In California | Extreme Earth“The record breaking heat in Texas caused by a stationary upper-level ridge will continue for the…

The Caribbean archipelago of Puerto Rico is no stranger to hot weather, but record temperatures have worried meteorologists this week. The region is being battered by a heat wave and dust from the Saharan Desert which has created a dangerous combo for people stepping out of their homes.Lower Drought Conditions In California | Extreme EarthThis Monday the heat index throughout the island soared above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (37 degrees Celsius). The next day, most of the northern part of Puerto Rico and the nearby island of…

Frozen power lines are seen hanging near a sidewalk on February 01, 2023 in Austin, Texas. The freeze is moving on to northeastern states. Photo: Brandon Bell (Getty Images)The winter weather that left hundreds of thousands in Texas without power is moving north, and is set to bring wind chills as low as -50 degrees Fahrenheit (-45 Celsius) into New England.The cold front will bring temperatures to between 15 and35 degrees below average across a large section of the U.S. that includes the Ohio Valley, the Great Lakes,…

Photo: Mario Tama (Getty Images)When you think of getting freshwater from the ocean, you might imagine costly and environmentally damaging desalination plants. But one team of researchers thinks there could be a simpler strategy: collecting the water vapor that naturally occurs over the ocean’s surface.Scientists at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have proposed a device that would harvest water vapor from above the ocean, creating a supply of freshwater for arid communities. In a new paper, theyalso analyzed…

About 50,000 people registered for the New York City Marathon this year. It was the first time the race was at full capacity since 2019 and the beginning of the pandemic. Yet not all of those who started the marathon made it to the end. More than 2,000 runners did not cross the finish line before the cut-off time. That number is about two times as many non-finishers as in 2019, when there were even more starters in the race.One factor that likely accounts for part of the difference: the weather. On race day in 2019, it…

A Washington State resident arranges cardboard above an air conditioning unit during soaring temperatures on July 28, 2022. Photo: David Ryder (Getty Images)The U.S. has seen several waves of dangerous heat this year, and extreme high temperatures are set to become more regular by the middle of this century. Researchers are warning about a future “heat belt” that will stretch from Texas up to Wisconsin, where people will regularly be exposed to stretches of heat index above 100 degrees Fahrenheit (38 degrees Celsius) as…