The shell of gas that surrounds our planet Earth, known as the atmosphere, is made up of five main layers. These layers originate on the surface of the planet, from sea level (sometimes below) and rise to outer space in the following sequence:
- Troposphere;
- Stratosphere;
- Mesosphere;
- Thermosphere;
- Exosphere.
Diagram of the main layers of the Earth's atmosphere
In between each of these basic five layers are transition zones called "pauses" where changes in temperature, composition and density of air take place. Together with the pauses, the Earth's atmosphere includes a total of 9 layers.
Troposphere: where the weather happens
Of all the layers of the atmosphere, the troposphere is the one with which we are most familiar (whether you realize it or not), since we live at its bottom - the surface of the planet. It envelops the surface of the Earth and extends upwards for several kilometers. The word troposphere means "changing the globe." A very apt name, since this layer is where our daily weather takes place.
Starting from the surface of the planet, the troposphere rises to a height of 6 to 20 km. The lower third of the layer, closest to us, contains 50% of all atmospheric gases. it only part the whole composition of the atmosphere that breathes. Due to the fact that the air is heated from below by the earth's surface, which absorbs thermal energy The sun, with increasing altitude, the temperature and pressure of the troposphere decrease.
At the top is a thin layer called the tropopause, which is just a buffer between the troposphere and stratosphere.
Stratosphere: home of the ozone
Stratosphere - next layer atmosphere. It stretches from 6-20 km to 50 km above the earth's surface. This is the layer in which most commercial airliners fly and hot air balloons travel.
Here, the air does not flow up and down, but moves parallel to the surface in very fast air currents. The temperature rises as you go up, thanks to the abundance of natural ozone (O 3), a byproduct solar radiation and oxygen, which has the ability to absorb the sun's harmful ultraviolet rays (any rise in temperature with altitude in meteorology is known as "inversion").
Since the stratosphere has more warm temperatures below and cooler above, convection (vertical movement of air masses) is rare in this part of the atmosphere. In fact, you can view a storm raging in the troposphere from the stratosphere, as the layer acts as a convection “cap” through which storm clouds cannot penetrate.
After the stratosphere, there is again a buffer layer, this time called the stratopause.
Mesosphere: middle atmosphere
The mesosphere is located approximately 50-80 km from the Earth's surface. Upper area The mesosphere is the coldest natural place on Earth, where temperatures can drop below -143 ° C.
Thermosphere: upper atmosphere
The mesosphere and mesopause are followed by the thermosphere, located between 80 and 700 km above the planet's surface, and contains less than 0.01% of all air in the atmospheric envelope. Temperatures here reach up to + 2000 ° C, but due to the strong rarefaction of the air and the lack of gas molecules for heat transfer, these high temperatures are perceived as very cold.
Exosphere: the border of the atmosphere and space
At an altitude of about 700-10000 km above the earth's surface, there is an exosphere - the outer edge of the atmosphere, bordering on space. Here meteorological satellites revolve around the Earth.
How about the ionosphere?
The ionosphere is not a separate layer, but in fact the term is used to refer to the atmosphere at an altitude of 60 to 1000 km. It includes the uppermost parts of the mesosphere, the entire thermosphere and part of the exosphere. The ionosphere gets its name because in this part of the atmosphere, the radiation of the Sun is ionized when it passes magnetic fields Land on and. This phenomenon is observed from the ground like the northern lights.
It was about the main weather processes directly influencing us. Including the jet stream Jet Stream, which is considered by meteorologists to be a generator of cyclones and anticyclones and a delimiter of climatic zones.
Unfortunately, domestic forecasters rarely remember about it, more and more in terms of derivative factors and momentary manifestations of weather changes. Hence, there are serious flaws in forecasting, including.
The adherence to the old methods is understandable, especially among the elderly, but science does not stand still and opens up new connections and reasons, new methods of high-quality forecasting.
In previous articles, I promised to tell you how Jet Stream affects not only the weather, but also the more frequent cataclysms around the world.
Here is what Colonel Andrei Shalygin, an expert in the field of advanced weapons, Ph.D., says on the topic of current climate change and weather disasters:
The main thing that is now happening with the climatic conditions on the planet, and what needs to be discussed, regardless of the formulation of the causes that gave rise, is the weakening of the global latitudinal transport and the strengthening of the meridian.
First of all, for us this means a weakening of the traditional trade winds and monsoons, as well as the appearance, activation and strengthening of breakthrough stagnant (blocking) anticyclones. This is associated with some discomfort and possible damage for the residents of Russia.
Let's try to understand the unfamiliar terms. What does latitudinal and meridian transport mean?
Latitudinal - from West to East, and meridian - in the direction from one pole to another, along the meridians.
If the movement of atmospheric masses from west to east, in latitude, is carried out within one climatic zone, then from south to north, and vice versa, they collide air masses with different temperatures, humidity. That can lead not only to abundant precipitation, but also to catastrophic consequences.
A striking example of such processes is the "Tornado Alley" in North America. It is famous for the fact that huge tornadoes, called tornadoes, constantly arise on the territory of the plain, fenced by mountains from the west:
Tornadoes form when two collide air currents- warm wet and cold dry. In Oklahoma, warm humid air comes from Gulf of Mexico, and the cold one descends from the north, from the side of Canada. Air masses fall into a corridor formed by mountains stretching across the American continent from north to south, "tornado alley", and collide in it, forming powerful vortices.
This is a typical meridian transfer of air masses, with characteristic consequences.
Thinking - it seems so even good, warm humid air comes to the plain, irrigates it, heats it up, creates conditions for the growth of plants ... Only now by-effect in the form of a tornado, sweeping away everything in its path. Its pluses and minuses.
At the same time, the latitudinal transfer prevailing on the planet contributed to the maintenance of separate climatic regions: Arctic, zone temperate climate, subtropics ...
What happens if you take and mix air with different temperatures like a mixer? In the Arctic it will get warmer, and in other places it will get colder ... Plus, there are regular cataclysms, for the reasons described above.
(rain - rain, snow - snow, severe t-storms - severe thunderstorms, showers - precipitation, colder - colder, cool - cool, milder - average weather, heavy rainfall - heavy rain, humid - moisture, windy - windy, ice - ice, frigid - cold)
I suppose you will now take a different look at this example from the American weather portal Accuweather.
Jet Stream, its direction and properties of the air masses carried by it, have key value... Atmospheric fronts collide along its "watershed":
In Russia, as you know, the occurrence of a tornado is extremely a rare event... It was, until recently.
Because the weather was determined by a powerful flow of air masses from the Atlantic, 600-800 km wide. It is he who warms the Russian Plain, and not the notorious Gulf Stream:
From the article "What Happened to the Gulf Stream".
One more important point which I would like to emphasize: the average seasonal anomalies atmospheric circulation v temperate latitudes to a very small extent depend on anomalies of the ocean surface temperature, including such large ones that were observed in the summer of 2010 European Russia... Experts in seasonal weather forecast argue that only 10-30% of deviations from the "norm" of the average seasonal temperature at any point in Russia are caused by anomalies in the ocean surface temperature, and the remaining 70-90% are the result of natural variability of the atmosphere, the root cause of which is unequal heating. high and low latitudes, and it is almost impossible to predict which for a period of more than two or three weeks (see also Science and Life, No. 12, 2010).
Therefore, all sorts of hurricanes come to Russia, mainly from places where atmospheric currents mix - from the Atlantic.
On the example of the recent storm that captured the capital of Germany, Poland, Vilnius, Moscow and many settlements smaller, it is interesting to see the participation of different weather factors.
Images - wind maps on different heights, temperature, pressure and precipitation are taken from a public service.
Cyclone in in full swing, spins over Germany. Cold air enters it from the north, hot air is pumped from the south, from Africa. So the weather forecasters of the Hydrometeorological Center would say.
And here is the reason for the sudden mixing of air masses:
Pronounced meridian transfer. Jet Stream, instead of the usual direction from west to east, turned to the north. Height is about 10 km.
Here some streams can be seen better, the height is 2 km.
Having formed, this cyclone with its "blades" - thunderstorm fronts, covered the Baltic states and the European part of Russia.
Since by this time the territory of the Russian Plain was cooled by the "cold summer of the 17th", the hot air masses, moving eastward, caused violent thunderstorm activity.
So you see how easy it is to use different terminology without mentioning the significant factors of the weather kitchen.
The storm front is to blame. And where did it come from, why such a coating? So the cyclone is to blame that produced it. And where did the cyclone come from? Nervousness of the climate, sir ... Such a shitty summer ...
In fact, we witnessed a process similar to what is happening on the "Tornado Alley".
You listen to the analysis from Phobos, and you hear: an anticyclone breaks through from the north, Atlantic cyclones bring a lot of moisture and heat ... An anticyclone from the south helps to pump Atlantic heat into Russia ...
The impression is that there are enemies everywhere, and there is no explanation of the reasons for what is happening. Where does all this come from and, most importantly, why?
The presenters talk about abnormal heat in Greece and Eastern Europe, and abnormal coolness with rains in the Russian Plain. Any conclusions, even the slightest, can be drawn from this? As they tell in America, they explain it in 2 minutes in such a way that even blacks understand what is happening today, and what to expect in a few days!
The most interesting thing is that forecasters use the same interactive maps - in any case, they appeared in forecasts in recent times:
But! As you can see, there is no Jet Stream on them. Because these are surface wind maps)) On which only local details are visible, but God forbid, no large-scale process.
Otherwise, the audience will have questions - what a huge vortex, and why its bends so suspiciously coincide with the places of cyclones and anticyclones!
We cannot assume that meteorologists do not know how to switch the map in height. Then why do they stubbornly continue to ignore the main weather factor - Jet Stream?
It is possible that this is sabotage through the use of backward technologies.
After all, not only viewers of TV channels receive a blizzard about the struggle and unity of atmospheric phenomena.
As follows from interviews with people from Roshydromettsentr, founders of the Gismeteo company, they supply their software not only to Roshydromet, but also to the army, special services ... Do you understand?
In 1984, the businessmen, together with Yuri Yusupov, left their jobs at the main computing center of Roshydromet and created their own project. Shmelkin says that they are engaged in similar tasks almost all the time - finding software solutions for professional meteorologists.
The state has become an important client of the company. Map Maker sold the GIS Meteo software package to Roshydromet and other organizations (for example, the military). The complex includes software and computer systems- a pair of servers and a number of automated workstations (computers with installed programs). The cost of one workplace for a customer is about 50 thousand dollars.
At the moment, Roshydromet has purchased about 150 sets of GIS Meteo, military structures - more than 100. The FSB, railroad workers, aviation and other organizations use software packages from Map Maker.
However, this is not enough for enterprising businessmen ...
Over the past seven years the lion's share profit is generated by the site Gismeteo.
RBC offered to post links to their articles on the website. “They promised absolutely incredible money for those times - 500 thousand rubles a month, - says Shmelkin. - We ourselves did not always earn so much then. The contract with RBC made it possible to immediately increase the salaries of employees several times. "
it turned out that the site began to bring in more profit than the development and implementation of programs. The technological component is developing further, however, in terms of sales revenue, GIS Meteo cannot now be compared with the Gismeteo website.
As you can see, Gismeteo is more interested in selling advertising platforms on its Ukrainian and Belarusian websites. Where news regularly appears about "militants from Russia, who in again are being detained by the brave cyborgs are coming out "and" Donetsk gangs. "It is time to raise the question of what kind of power the suppliers of the Russian army work for. It looks like the Ukrainian one!
More information about the Gismeteo website and the placement of anti-Russian propaganda there - for good money, of course.
And in such an environment, when all services use software and models from one campaign, how can meteorologists from Phobos, whether from Hydromet, suddenly "discover" for viewers and customers who have been fed one thing for 20 years that in fact, everything is not at all so. This is fraught not only with shame, but also with lawsuits of considerable magnitude. Plus, professional pride does not allow us to admit the correctness of Western colleagues, who have not hidden from society for a long time the role and scale of influence of high-altitude jet currents (jet stream) on the weather.
However, given the anti-Russian activities of Gismeteo on their Ukrainian and Belarusian domains, one can expect direct sabotage.
But let's digress from the Ukrainian topic and return to the abnormal weather in Russia. Rains, cold, and sometimes snow, got the inhabitants of many regions of the country.
The mixing of cold and hot air masses during the meridian transfer provided active education cyclones and heavy rainfall.
But how is Jet Stream connected with this?
We turn again to interactive maps, a little earlier:
This is the reason for the cold May and June. Bend of the Jet Stream, along the eastern edge of which Arctic air masses entered Russia.
Therefore, in the Urals and Siberia, it was abnormally warm, because along the lower edge of the Jet Stream, hot air was actively supplied from the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.
And since, I repeat again, the process proceeds in a pronounced meridian direction, the collision of air masses of different quality forms gigantic eddies - cyclones, with precipitation volumes unusual for place and time.
Here are the areas of increased and reduced pressure, exactly where the jet stream turns, to the right (clockwise, an anticyclone is formed), or to the left (counterclockwise, a cyclone is formed):
That is, this yellow anticyclone in Europe, it is not "blocking" at all, which supposedly interferes with the passage of the jet stream along the usual route from west to east. It is formed due to the turbulence of the Jet Stream! And it was abnormally warm there, yes. Fires in Portugal, that's all. The air moves from south to north, hot from Africa is sucked in.
Here is the temperature map of that period, so as not to be unfounded. Evaluate the heating of Europe, and admire the influx of Arctic air into the Russian Plain, while heated masses enter Siberia from the southwest.
Clearly along the boundaries of the Jet Stream.
Those who have carefully read the article will certainly have a question: what is the reason for such a change in the behavior of high-altitude jet currents, why did they begin to bend so strongly to the north? There are only assumptions here. For example, the rotation of the Earth slows down, the speed of the Jet Stream decreases, it begins to behave more freely. Whether this is so or not is difficult to judge.
We can only state facts and accumulate observations.
Can high-altitude jet currents be influenced by experiments and the directional influence of American military stations on the atmosphere? Unambiguously, they affect - as well as the large-scale dispersion of various substances in the atmosphere. Otherwise, in the absence of results, the Pentagon and the US government would not have approved the budget for the construction of new and new stations, which, in fact, cover the entire Earth.
Millions of copper needles, sprayed into the upper layers of the atmosphere, to improve the reflection of powerful pulses from these stations, have changed its properties and serve as a "mirror" for the further application of military technologies not limited by any arms treaty.
At the same time, the military is a special, separate caste, which may not give a damn about the fact that their experiments are reflected in their own civilian population. After all, their goal is a superweapon.
And she justifies any sacrifice, as we know from history ...
Supplement for those who actively deny the existence of the above factors. Forecasters, apparently, have already received a scolding for poor-quality coverage of the situation, and were forced to crawl into textbooks to somehow explain the reasons. It's even funny how they try with all their might not to mention the "white elephant"!
Causes of the cold second half of spring and early summer
For the third month in a row, the atmospheric situation in Eurasia is determined by the large Rossby waves. Having increased in amplitude and become sedentary, they form large weather waves with different signs in adjacent regions. So, over Eastern Europe the trough of this wave is located, which determines a prolonged period of unstable cool weather, and above Western Europe and Siberia - ridges (in these regions it is dry and very warm since April). When the large Rossby waves collapse, or their amplitude decreases, the atmosphere will begin to move, and the weather will become normal for this time.
© Gismeteo Rossby Waves
The main driving force of the atmosphere is the energy of the Sun. However, its rays fall on the Earth at different angles. Because of this, large temperature contrasts arise between the equator and the poles. While at the equator, the Sun is almost all year round at the zenith, the polar regions receive light and heat only at summer season... But as the atmosphere tends to heat balance, then warm air from the equatorial regions towards the poles. This leads to the formation of regions in the temperate and high latitudes of the planet low pressure.
Typically, they occur on the polar front, where cold polar air masses from the north meet warm subtropical air from the south. The zone of separation of air masses is a narrow wavy ribbon, which was named Rossby waves after the name of the scientist who described it.
Rossby waves are several thousand kilometers long. Around the circumference the globe usually 3-6 such waves fit.
V common system circulation on the planet Rossby waves play an important role. They correspond to the axis of tropospheric and stratospheric jet currents, which control the location of cyclones and anticyclones and thereby provide heat transfer between low and high latitudes.
Under certain conditions, Rossby waves can become stationary, blocking the usual westerly transport due to the Coriolis force, and even forming opposite - easterly waves. In this case, cold air from the polar regions flows to the subtropics, and the subtropical - to the pole. As a result, large weather anomalies with different signs appear in the adjacent regions of the planet.
And although cold summer months and snowy winters, remember those who are over 30 years old, there were not so many records then.
Of course, the media are also to blame for the fact that heavy rain turns into an "Old Testament flood", and the temperature, 1.5-2 degrees below the long-term average, is "the beginning of the ice age" ... A significant part of the records refers to the "records of the day" - when the weather indicators of that particular day are compared. Within 20, in best case- hundreds of years. That is, there was hail on the neighboring days - but it is no longer included in the comparison set. We have new record and a reason to cry out to one about the upcoming "Maunder minimum" and a new ice age; others - about global warming. Third to announce the arrival of Nibiru.
Meteorologists just shrug their shoulders and try not to become extreme, in the conditions of clearly changed climatic and weather patterns.
So what happened, what global changes cause climatic instability and frequent weather extremes?
To begin with, it would be nice to understand how it was before, to see what has changed.
And before there were stable climatic zones the contents of which did not mix very well. The Arctic itself, the North of Eurasia is already being heated by the "Gulf Stream" - as far as its air currents are enough ... Yes, you heard right. Water warm current The Gulf Stream transfers heat very slowly. The heated water from the Gulf of Mexico will reach the shores of Normandy in a few years, and not before.
Can she not cool down during this time? Could this critically affect the climate? Yes, and it will do warm water to the frozen mainland, only wash the shores. As is the case in Alaska and Greenland.
The main heat transfer occurs with air masses that circulate from heated Africa to the Gulf of Mexico, and then join the masses of a high-altitude jet stream that carries air from west to east. T.N. "western transfer". High-altitude jet stream is called differently, Jet Stream (jet stream). It crosses the Atlantic and brings warm air from the latitudes of Texas and South Carolina.
And it brings quickly! Storms on east coast USA, move eastward and reach Europe in 3-5 days.
Jet Stream divides climatic zones. From the north, it draws in and carries cool air, from the south, it carries away warm streams.
So scientists confirm this:
Another important point that I would like to emphasize: the average seasonal anomalies of atmospheric circulation in temperate latitudes depend to a very small extent on anomalies of the ocean surface temperature, including such large ones that were observed this summer in European Russia. Experts in seasonal weather forecast argue that only 10-30% of deviations from the "norm" of the average seasonal temperature at any point in Russia are caused by anomalies in the ocean surface temperature, and the remaining 70-90% are the result of natural variability of the atmosphere, the root cause of which is unequal heating. high and low latitudes, and it is almost impossible to predict which for a period of more than two or three weeks (see also Science and Life, No. 12, 2010).
That is why it is erroneous to consider the observed weather anomalies in Europe in the summer of 2010 or in some other season as the result of only the influence of the ocean. If this were the case, seasonal or monthly deviations of the weather from "normal" would be easily predicted, since large anomalies in ocean temperature are usually inertial and last for at least several months. But so far not a single forecast center in the world succeeds in a good seasonal weather forecast.
Largely, thanks to him, the cold remains in the Arctic, and hot in the subtropics. If there was no Western Transport (and it depends on the rotation of the Earth), the temperature difference would tend to equalize.
One of the most large-scale links general circulation the atmosphere is a circumpolar vortex. Its formation is due to cold foci in polar region and hotbeds in tropical zone... The circumpolar movement and its manifestation - the western transfer - are stable and characteristic feature general atmospheric circulation.
the concept of high-rise frontal zone(VFZ), and the associated strong westerly winds began to be called jet streams or jets. The VFZ usually includes one or several fronts and is the place of occurrence of mobile frontal cyclones and anticyclones moving in the direction of the main (leading) flow. During periods of strong development of the meridionality of the processes, the VFZ "wriggles", as it were, bending around the high-altitude ridges from the north and hollows from the south.
As you can see, these are the foundations of modern knowledge about the atmosphere. Key factors, which determine the weather, are the cause of cyclones and anticyclones.
And yet when you're in last time heard about the impact of Jet Stream (high-altitude jet stream) on the weather in your area? :)
If you read weather news portals Western countries, then every week you will see maps in videos, where their meteorologists popularly explain about the impact of the Jet Stream on the weather in the region. We do not have this. As if thunderstorm fronts and cyclones arise by themselves, out of the blue!
An animated explanation of the jet stream from the Met Office (British School of Meteorology, considered one of the best in the world for forecast accuracy): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=huweohIh_Bw
According to the announcer, Jet Stream experiences seasonal fluctuations, rising north or sinking south; together with it, the cold air masses of the Arctic air invade the territories of Europe and America, or the hot air of the subtropics rises to latitudes unusual for it.
The direction of movement of winds from west to east is called latitudinal; direction from north to south, or from south to north - meridional.
So everything is in Russian:
But back to Jet Stream and its displacement. What happens when this huge atmospheric river of air masses bends far north or south?
Actually, the process is interdependent, air masses can move a jet stream (Jet), and it serves as a watershed between them, dividing climatic zones:
As you can see, hot air pushes the Jet stream up, cold air - down.
As a result, when cold air masses come to a heated place, it rains:
(green indicates the rain zone, dark green indicates heavy rainfall)
And when on the contrary, then too. The mixing of heated and cold air leads to precipitation and violent atmospheric activity, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, accompanied by the emergence of strong winds, mixing of atmospheric layers with hail.
Familiar from the weather reports? :)
Let's take a look at how it looks on the maps of Western weather forecasters:
(rain - rain, snow - snow, severe t-storms - severe thunderstorms, showers - precipitation, colder - colder, cool - cool, milder - average weather, heavy rainfall - heavy rain, humid - moisture, windy - windy, ice - ice, frigid - cold)
So, you see what a variety of critical weather phenomena generates a shift and mixing of atmospheric masses of different quality!
Simplicity and clarity of explanations did not arise in America by themselves, but under the pressure of necessity.
They came to the idea long ago that any instruction should be as clear as possible. Not for the one who composes it, but for the one who will use it ...
Well, here meteorologists make a product for themselves, apparently, and do not condescend simple explanations... Or maybe they themselves do not understand, judging by the complete disregard for such a weather-determining factor as a high-altitude jet stream.
Let's see if it influenced in recent events, when it flooded Berlin, walked across Poland, flooded Vilnius and hit Moscow?
And some facts ... Weather digest:
A tornado was observed on the Volga
In the Verkhneuslonsky district of Tatarstan, vacationers on the banks of the Volga on July 2 witnessed the formation of a tornado. They managed to shoot a water tornado on video, which swept right in front of their eyes in the immediate vicinity of the pleasure boat.
Tornado in the steppes of Khakassia
Large hail dropped out in Bashkortostan
On the night of July 3, a hail the size of egg... Damage to rooftops and damaged agricultural land have been reported.
Spain was flooded with hail
An abnormal amount of hail fell in the city of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. In just 30 minutes, the streets were covered with snowdrifts from hail, which reached a height of up to half a meter.
Car traffic stopped, then the hail began to melt and real rivers flowed through the streets, rescuers to their waist in water evacuated people from cars jammed in snowdrifts and water.
A series of tornadoes hit Tatarstan https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-ZE3T01tUpo
On the evening of June 1, a hurricane swept across Tatarstan and the appearance of several powerful tornadoes was recorded in different places. ...
Melting permafrost accelerates climate change
Monitoring changes in the number of wetlands in regions where melting occurs permafrost, should occupy one of the most important places in the complex of efforts to predict the future rate of climate change, new research shows.
Melting permafrost caused by global warming, which heats northern high latitudes faster than other parts of the Earth. The release of permafrost carbon into the atmosphere could accelerate the rate of climate change. If even a small fraction of the carbon is emitted as methane (CH4), a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, then Feedback becomes even more significant.
And here is the weather forecast for July ...
Ministry of Emergency Situations warns of natural disasters in July.
Russians are expected in July natural disasters- sharp temperature changes, strong wind, abnormal precipitation, said the head of the RF Ministry of Emergency Situations Vladimir Puchkov.
"June was difficult and tense. The weather forecast for July indicates that we will have cataclysms," he said at a conference call.
Puchkov explained that "somewhere there may be regular temperature highs, somewhere sharp temperature drops, high wind speeds, precipitation."
"We must professionally work out all the issues to protect the life and health of people, the safety of citizens in this summer period", - stressed the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations.
The atmosphere is the gaseous envelope of our planet, which rotates with the Earth. The gas in the atmosphere is called air. The atmosphere touches the hydrosphere and partially covers the lithosphere. But the upper bounds are difficult to define. It is conventionally assumed that the atmosphere extends upward for about three thousand kilometers. There it flows smoothly into an airless space.
The chemical composition of the Earth's atmosphere
The formation of the chemical composition of the atmosphere began about four billion years ago. Initially, the atmosphere consisted only of light gases - helium and hydrogen. According to scientists, the initial prerequisites for the creation of a gas shell around the Earth were volcanic eruptions, which, together with lava, emitted great amount gases. Later, gas exchange began with water spaces, with living organisms, with the products of their activity. The composition of the air gradually changed and in modern form was recorded several million years ago.
The main constituents of the atmosphere are nitrogen (about 79%) and oxygen (20%). The remaining percentage (1%) falls on the following gases: argon, neon, helium, methane, carbon dioxide, hydrogen, krypton, xenon, ozone, ammonia, sulfur and nitrogen dioxide, nitrous oxide and carbon monoxide included in this one percent.
In addition, the air contains water vapor and particulate matter (plant pollen, dust, salt crystals, aerosol impurities).
Recently, scientists have noted not a qualitative, but a quantitative change in some of the ingredients in the air. And the reason for this is man and his activities. Only in the last 100 years content carbon dioxide has increased significantly! This is fraught with many problems, the most global of which is climate change.
Formation of weather and climate
The atmosphere is playing crucial role in the formation of climate and weather on Earth. Much depends on the amount of sunlight, on the nature of the underlying surface and atmospheric circulation.
Let's consider the factors in order.
1. The atmosphere allows the heat of sunlight to pass through and absorbs harmful radiation. That the rays of the sun fall on different areas Lands at different angles, the ancient Greeks knew. The very word "climate" in translation from ancient Greek means "slope". So, at the equator, the sun's rays fall almost vertically, because it is very hot here. The closer to the poles, the greater the angle of inclination. And the temperature goes down.
2. Due to the uneven heating of the Earth, air currents are formed in the atmosphere. They are classified according to their size. The smallest (tens and hundreds of meters) are local winds... This is followed by monsoons and trade winds, cyclones and anticyclones, planetary frontal zones.
All these air masses are constantly moving. Some of them are pretty static. For example, the trade winds that blow from the subtropics towards the equator. The movement of others is largely dependent on atmospheric pressure.
3. Atmospheric pressure is another factor influencing the formation of the climate. This is the air pressure on the surface of the earth. As is known, air masses move from an area with increased atmospheric pressure towards an area where this pressure is lower.
There are 7 zones in total. The equator is a low pressure zone. Further, on both sides of the equator up to the thirties latitudes - the region high pressure... From 30 ° to 60 ° - low pressure again. And from 60 ° to the poles - a high pressure zone. Air masses circulate between these zones. Those that go from the sea to the land bring rains and bad weather, and those that blow from the continents - clear and dry weather. In places where air currents collide, zones are formed atmospheric front characterized by precipitation and inclement, windy weather.
Scientists have proven that even a person's well-being depends on atmospheric pressure. By international standards normal Atmosphere pressure- 760 mm Hg. column at a temperature of 0 ° C. This indicator is designed for those land areas that are almost level with sea level. The pressure decreases with height. Therefore, for example, for St. Petersburg 760 mm Hg. is the norm. But for Moscow, which is located above, normal pressure- 748 mm Hg
The pressure changes not only vertically, but also horizontally. This is especially felt when passing through cyclones.
The structure of the atmosphere
The atmosphere is reminiscent layered cake... And each layer has its own characteristics.
. Troposphere- the layer closest to the Earth. The "thickness" of this layer changes with distance from the equator. Above the equator, the layer extends upward for 16-18 km, in temperate zones- by 10-12 km, at the poles - by 8-10 km.
It is here that 80% of the total mass of air and 90% of water vapor are contained. Here clouds form, cyclones and anticyclones appear. The air temperature depends on the height of the terrain. On average, it drops by 0.65 ° C for every 100 meters.
. Tropopause- the transitional layer of the atmosphere. Its height is from several hundred meters to 1-2 km. The air temperature is higher in summer than in winter. So, for example, above the poles in winter -65 ° C. And above the equator at any time of the year it keeps -70 ° C.
. Stratosphere is a layer upper bound which runs at an altitude of 50-55 kilometers. Turbulence is low here, the content of water vapor in the air is negligible. But there is a lot of ozone. Its maximum concentration is at an altitude of 20-25 km. In the stratosphere, the air temperature begins to rise and reaches + 0.8 ° C. This is due to the fact that the ozone layer interacts with ultraviolet radiation.
. Stratopause- low intermediate layer between the stratosphere and the mesosphere following it.
. Mesosphere- the upper boundary of this layer is 80-85 kilometers. Complex photochemical processes involving free radicals take place here. They provide that gentle blue glow of our planet, which is seen from space.
Most comets and meteorites burn up in the mesosphere.
. Mesopause- the next intermediate layer, the air temperature in which is at least -90 °.
. Thermosphere- the lower boundary begins at an altitude of 80 - 90 km, and the upper boundary of the layer runs at approximately 800 km. The air temperature rises. It can vary from + 500 ° C to + 1000 ° C. Temperature fluctuations are hundreds of degrees during the day! But the air here is so rarefied that understanding the term "temperature" as we imagine it is not appropriate here.
. Ionosphere- unites the mesosphere, mesopause and thermosphere. The air here consists mainly of oxygen and nitrogen molecules, as well as quasi-neutral plasma. Sun rays getting into the ionosphere strongly ionize air molecules. In the lower layer (up to 90 km), the degree of ionization is low. The higher, the more ionization. So, at an altitude of 100-110 km, electrons are concentrated. This contributes to the reflection of short to medium radio waves.
The most important layer of the ionosphere is the upper one, which is located at an altitude of 150-400 km. Its peculiarity is that it reflects radio waves, and this contributes to the transmission of radio signals over long distances.
It is in the ionosphere that such a phenomenon as the aurora occurs.
. Exosphere- consists of oxygen, helium and hydrogen atoms. The gas in this layer is very rarefied, and hydrogen atoms often escape into space... Therefore, this layer is called the "scattering zone".
The first scientist who suggested that our atmosphere has weight was the Italian E. Torricelli. Ostap Bender, for example, in the novel "The Golden Calf" lamented that an air column weighing 14 kg presses on each person! But the great combinator was a little wrong. An adult is under pressure of 13-15 tons! But we do not feel this heaviness, because atmospheric pressure is balanced by the internal pressure of a person. The weight of our atmosphere is 5,300,000,000,000,000 tons. The figure is colossal, although it is only a millionth of the weight of our planet.
Against the background of abnormal weather, when it snows and hails in June, and the temperature is more typical for the beginning of May, many people have a question about the causes of these phenomena.
And although the cold summer months and snowy winters are remembered by those over 30 years old, there were not so many records then.
Of course, the media are also to blame for the fact that heavy rain turns into an "Old Testament flood", and the temperature, 1.5-2 degrees below the long-term average, is "the beginning of the ice age" ... A significant part of the records refers to the "records of the day" - when the weather indicators of that particular day are compared. For 20, at best, hundreds of years. That is, there was hail on the neighboring days - but it is no longer included in the comparison set. We have a new record and a reason to cry out alone about the upcoming "Maunder minimum" and a new ice age; others - about global warming. Third to announce the arrival of Nibiru.
Meteorologists just shrug their shoulders and try not to become extreme, in the conditions of clearly changed climatic and weather patterns.
So what happened, what global changes cause climate instability and frequent weather excesses?
To begin with, it would be nice to understand how it was before, to see what has changed.
And before there were stable climatic zones, the contents of which did not mix very much. The Arctic itself, the North of Eurasia is already being heated by the "Gulf Stream" - as far as its air currents are enough ... Yes, you heard right. The warm water of the Gulf Stream transfers heat very slowly. The heated water from the Gulf of Mexico will reach the shores of Normandy in a few years, and not before.
Can she not cool down during this time? Could this critically affect the climate? And warm water will approach the frozen mainland, it will only wash the shores. As is the case in Alaska and Greenland.
The main heat transfer occurs with air masses that circulate from heated Africa to the Gulf of Mexico, and then join the masses of a high-altitude jet stream that carries air from west to east. T.N. "western transfer". High-altitude jet stream is called differently, Jet Stream (jet stream). It crosses the Atlantic and brings warm air from the latitudes of Texas and South Carolina.
And it brings quickly! Storms on the east coast of the United States move eastward and reach Europe in 3-5 days.
Jet Stream divides climatic zones. From the north, it draws in and carries cool air, from the south, it carries away warm streams.
So scientists confirm this:
Another important point that I would like to emphasize: the average seasonal anomalies of atmospheric circulation in temperate latitudes depend to a very small extent on anomalies of the ocean surface temperature, including such large ones that were observed this summer in European Russia. Experts in seasonal weather forecast argue that only 10-30% of deviations from the "norm" of the average seasonal temperature at any point in Russia are caused by anomalies in the ocean surface temperature, and the remaining 70-90% is the result of natural variability of the atmosphere, the root cause of which is unequal heating. high and low latitudes and it is almost impossible to predict which for a period of more than two or three weeks (see also Science and Life No. 12, 2010).
That is why it is erroneous to consider the observed weather anomalies in Europe in the summer of 2010 or in some other season as the result of only the influence of the ocean. If this were the case, seasonal or monthly deviations of the weather from "normal" would be easily predicted, since large anomalies in ocean temperature are usually inertial and last for at least several months. But so far not a single forecast center in the world succeeds in a good seasonal weather forecast.
Largely, thanks to him, the cold remains in the Arctic, and hot in the subtropics. If there was no Western Transport (and it depends on the rotation of the Earth), the temperature difference would tend to equalize.
One of the largest-scale links in the general circulation of the atmosphere is the circumpolar vortex. Its formation is due to hot spots in the polar region and hot spots in the tropical zone. Circumpolar movement and its manifestation - western transport - are a stable and characteristic feature of the general atmospheric circulation.
The concept of a high-altitude frontal zone (VFZ) was introduced, and the strong westerly winds associated with it began to be called jet streams or jets. The VFZ usually includes one or several fronts and is the place of occurrence of mobile frontal cyclones and anticyclones moving in the direction of the main (leading) flow. During periods of strong development of the meridionality of the processes, the VFZ "wriggles", as it were, bending around the high-altitude ridges from the north and hollows from the south.
As you can see, these are the foundations of modern knowledge about the atmosphere. Key factors that determine the weather are the cause of cyclones and anticyclones.
However, when was the last time you heard about the impact of Jet Stream (high-altitude jet stream) on the weather in your area? :)
If you read the weather news portals of Western countries, then every week you will see maps in videos, where their meteorologists popularly explain about the impact of Jet Stream on the weather in the region. We do not have this. As if thunderstorm fronts and cyclones arise by themselves, out of the blue!
An animated explanation of the jet stream from the Met Office (British School of Meteorology, considered one of the best in the world for forecast accuracy):
According to the announcer, Jet Stream experiences seasonal fluctuations, rising north or sinking south; together with it, the cold air masses of the Arctic air invade the territories of Europe and America, or the hot air of the subtropics rises to latitudes unusual for it.
The direction of movement of winds from west to east is called latitudinal; direction from north to south, or from south to north - meridional.
So everything is in Russian:
But back to Jet Stream and its displacement. What happens when this huge atmospheric river of air masses bends far north or south?
Actually, the process is interdependent, air masses can move a jet stream (Jet), and it serves as a watershed between them, dividing climatic zones:
As you can see, hot air pushes the Jet stream up, cold air - down.
As a result, when cold air masses come to a heated place, it rains:
(green indicates the rain zone, dark green indicates heavy rainfall)
And when on the contrary, then too. The mixing of heated and cold air leads to precipitation and violent atmospheric activity, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, accompanied by the emergence of strong winds, mixing of atmospheric layers with hail.
Familiar from the weather reports? :)
Let's take a look at how it looks on the maps of Western weather forecasters:
(rain - rain, snow - snow, severe t-storms - severe thunderstorms, showers - precipitation, colder - colder, cool - cool, milder - average weather, heavy rainfall - heavy rain, humid - moisture, windy - windy, ice - ice, frigid - cold)
So, you see what a variety of critical weather phenomena give rise to the shift and mixing of atmospheric masses of different quality!
Simplicity and clarity of explanations did not arise in America by themselves, but under the pressure of necessity.
They came to the idea long ago that any instruction should be as clear as possible. Not for the one who composes it, but for the one who will use it ...
Well, our meteorologists make a product for themselves, apparently, and do not condescend to simple explanations. Or maybe they themselves do not understand, judging by the complete disregard for such a weather-determining factor as a high-altitude jet stream.
Let's see if it influenced in recent events, when it flooded Berlin, walked across Poland, flooded Vilnius and hit Moscow?
And some facts ... Weather digest:
A tornado was observed on the Volga
In the Verkhneuslonsky district of Tatarstan, vacationers on the banks of the Volga on July 2 witnessed the formation of a tornado. They managed to shoot a water tornado on video, which swept right in front of their eyes in the immediate vicinity of the pleasure boat.
Tornado in the steppes of Khakassia
Large hail fell in Bashkortostan
On the night of July 3, hail the size of a hen's egg fell on the village of Mrakovo, Kugarchinsky District. Damage to rooftops and damaged agricultural land have been reported.
Spain was flooded with hail
An abnormal amount of hail fell in the city of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia. In just 30 minutes, the streets were covered with snowdrifts from hail, which reached a height of up to half a meter.
Car traffic stopped, then the hail began to melt and real rivers flowed through the streets, rescuers to their waist in water evacuated people from cars jammed in snowdrifts and water.
A series of tornadoes hit Tatarstan
On the evening of June 1, a hurricane swept across Tatarstan and the appearance of several powerful tornadoes was recorded in different places. ...
Melting permafrost accelerates climate change
Monitoring changes in the number of wetlands in regions where permafrost is melting should be at the forefront of efforts to predict future rates of climate change, new research suggests.
The melting of permafrost is caused by global warming, which heats northern high latitudes faster than other parts of the Earth. The release of permafrost carbon into the atmosphere could accelerate the rate of climate change. If even a small fraction of the carbon is released as methane (CH4), a more potent greenhouse gas than CO2, then the feedback becomes even greater.
And here is the weather forecast for July ...
Ministry of Emergency Situations warns of natural disasters in July.
Natural disasters await Russians in July - sudden temperature changes, strong winds, abnormal precipitation, said the head of the RF Ministry of Emergency Situations Vladimir Puchkov.
"June was difficult and tense. The weather forecast for July indicates that we will have cataclysms," he said at a conference call.
Puchkov explained that "somewhere there may be regular temperature highs, somewhere sharp temperature drops, high wind speeds, precipitation."
"We must professionally work out all the issues of protecting people's life and health, safety of citizens during this summer period," the head of the Ministry of Emergency Situations emphasized.
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