Earth Science

A barometer measures air pressure. Because the movement of weather systems is strongly dependent on areas of high and low pressure, a barometer is very useful in weather prediction. Evanglista Torricelli invented the barometer in 1643. He was investigating the…
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Did you know that there are different types of snowflakes? Simple prisms are hexagonal and the most basic structured of all snowflakes. These can appear as flat and plate-like, slender columns or a variety of shapes in between the two….
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Bright and cheery that’s how you feel on a clear summers day. But when it’s pouring and cold you’re blue and gloomy, a mere coincidence?  Think again. Instinctively we know that weather influences are more than a feeling because we…
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You’re playing in the snow twirling around while watching the flakes fall as you catch them on your tongue. Building snowmen and making snow angels is a lot of fun in the winter but have you ever stopped to wonder…
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Cumulonimbus clouds are rain clouds that form when warm moist air evaporates as it rises. The older, larger, and heavier they become, forces their shape to change into the shape described as cumulonimbus. Nimbus, the second half of this compound…
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A barometer, which is an instrument that is used to measure air pressure of the Earth’s atmosphere, can create a pressure reading by utilising air, water, mercury and an aneroid setup. The first attempts to measure atmospheric pressures occurred in…
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In 1951, the body of scientists called the “International Commission on Snow and Ice” produced a system of classification for solid precipitation, which quickly became the standard system used in the field (though there have been other classification systems before…
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People have been trying to forecast the weather for thousands of years with varying degrees of success. Folksy stories about a green sky meaning a tornado may occasionally “work”, but until mankind had a proper understanding of the what the…
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It needs to be remembered that virtually all climate and weather on this planet comes from the sun. The earth does possess an internal energy source, and this can have an effect on weather patterns too, however the amount of…
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Hail forms when ice droplets, snowflake clusters, or floating debris enter thunderclouds and act as ice nuclei. Ice droplets form nuclei when collections of ice droplets group together. Snowflakes form nuclei when several snowflakes clump together. Debris forms nuclei when…
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