atmospheric

Have you ever wondered what would happen if the chain reaction in a nuclear fusion just went on ad infinitum? Well, this was apparently a concern of the scientists working on the Manhattan Project, and Christopher Nolan’s new film Oppenheimer will be depicting it in earnest. As you can even see in the trailers, there’s a scene where Cillian Murphy’s J. Robert Oppenheimer and Matt Damon’s Leslie Groves discuss the possibility of destroying the world with the Trinity Test. Oppenheimer says the chances are “near zero,”…

This figure represents three types of events on days -10 to 3, 300 hPa height anomalies and wave activity flux. It shows the circulation characteristics and energy propagation characteristics of the three types of events in the process of evolution. The different mechanisms of Siberian high pressure enhancement are highlighted. Credit: Jian Song Cold and unusual weather events in East Asia have significant adverse…

There are some spine-tingling moments in this film of what looks like a beguiling outdoor production staged last summer by the Cornish theatre group Wildworks (best known for working with Michael Sheen on The Passion in Port Talbot in 2011). The extraordinary atmospheric setting here is the beaches of Carlyon Bay near St Austell at dusk – the golden glow of the gloaming over a dark calm sea. Inside a circle of driftwood on the sand, a singing Greek chorus of Fates give us a content warning: they will be telling stories…

Credit: CC0 Public Domain A research team from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences has examined the performance of eight prominent reanalysis datasets in capturing regional Hadley Circulation (HC) responses to El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) events. The researchers found that while they…

A heat dome occurs when a persistent region of high pressure traps heat over an area. The heat dome can stretch over several states and linger for days to weeks, leaving the people, crops and animals below to suffer through stagnant, hot air that can feel like an oven.Typically, heat domes are tied to the behavior of the jet stream, a band of fast winds high in the atmosphere that generally runs west to east.Normally, the jet stream has a wavelike pattern, meandering north and then south and then north again. When these…

The Taihang Mountains have an adjusting effect on the meteorological conditions of the atmospheric boundary layer (ABL) in the North China Plain (NCP). For the thermal structure (figure b), the western part of the NCP near the mountains is significantly affected by drainage flow and subsidence warming, resulting in lower surface temperature, stronger elevated inversion layer, more stable atmospheric stratification, and worse conditions for vertical…

Deep-sea coral garden located in the Drake Passage seamount; image captured by a remotely operated vehicle (ROV). Credit: Laura F. Robinson Pioneering analysis of deep-sea corals has overturned the idea that ocean currents contributed to increasing global levels of carbon dioxide in the air over the past 11,000 years. The study,…

Last year, Rocket Lab announced that it would embark on an ambitious mission to send a small probe to Venus to hunt for organic molecules in its atmosphere. The launch was supposed to happen in May 2023, but now Rocket Lab has confirmed that it's "not imminent," TechCrunch has reported. While company didn't provide a new date, a research paper published in July 2022 states that a "backup launch window is available in January 2025."  News of the mission flew under the radar, as it were, but it's rather ambitious. Rocket…

Layers of Earth’s atmosphere are shown in a view looking across Earth’s surface from the International Space Station. Credit: NASANew research by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory scientists reveals that human activities are undeniably altering the thermal structure of Earth’s atmosphere. By expanding climate “fingerprinting” to the mid-to upper stratosphere, the team has improved the detection of human effects on the climate by a factor of five. The distinct patterns of CO2-driven temperature changes in these areas…

Naming and launching ceremony for Seiuchi-san in July, 2022. Credit: Left: Seiuchi-san; Right: OISTER. Credit: Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation and the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology have successfully conducted the world's first simultaneous marine and atmospheric measurements at multiple locations directly beneath a violent, Category 5, which is the strongest…