Jan 22, 2009
The frozen interior of Antarctica had long been the counter-example to global warming, with some areas getting even colder as the rest of the world warmed rapidly.
But climate researchers have now proven this to be false. A study by Penn State University shows that the entire continent has actually been warming for the past 50 years. "Antarctica is warming, and it’s warming at the same rate as the rest of the planet," said study co-author Michael Mann.
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Dec 8, 2008
Weather is the set of all phenomena occurring in an atmosphere at a given time. Weather phenomena on Earth occurs in the hydrosphere and troposphere, the lowest 11km (7 mi) of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Weather refers to the current activity, as opposed to the term "climate," which refers to average atmospheric conditions over a long periods of time. When used without qualification, "weather" is understood to be the weather on Earth.
Weather occurs due to temperature and moisture differences between one place to another. These differences can occur due to the sun angle as it strikes different latitudes on the Earth at different angles. Temperatures on Earth’s surface usually range ±40 °C (-40 °F to 104 °F) annually.
The strong temperature contrast between polar and tropical air creates the jet stream. Weather systems in the mid-latitudes, such as extratropical cyclones, are caused by instabilities in the jet stream flow.
Adapted from Wikipedia
