#rossby

[spacenutspod]

Welcome to Astronomy Daily, your friendly and engaging source for all things space and Astronomy. I'm your host, Anna, here to guide you through the latest cosmic headlines. Whether you're a casual stargazer or an astrophysics enthusiast, we've got news that will spark your curiosity and keep you informed about the universe. - **Planetary Influences on the Sun's Magnetic Cycles**: Researchers at the Helmholtz Zentrum Dresden, Rossendorf, and the University of Latvia have unveiled a groundbreaking physical model supporting the planetary hypothesis. This model proposes that vortex-shaped currents on the sun, named Rossby waves, act as intermediaries between the gravitational influences of planets like Venus, Earth, and Jupiter, and the sun's magnetic activities. By revealing how Rossby waves mediate the planet's tidal forces, researchers can now predict and understand even longer-term solar cycles, offering new insights into the sun's behavior and its interactions with the rest of our solar system. - **Exploring Neptune's Moon Triton**: Steve Olson and Jeffrey Landis have proposed the Triton Hopper mission to explore Neptune's largest moon, Triton. The innovative mission aims to use a cryogenic pump to extract propellant directly from Triton's icy surface, enabling the hopper to cover significant distances by hopping across the moon. Loaded with scientific instruments, this mission could unlock a wealth of data about Triton's geology and potential for biological activity. - **Redefining What Makes a Planet**: The definition of what constitutes a planet is back up for debate. Researchers like Jean-Luc Margot of UCLA have proposed new criteria focusing on dynamical dominance and mass. This refined classification aims to provide clarity and consistency, aiding both the astronomical community and the public's understanding of what exactly constitutes a planet. The IAU is expected to discuss these proposals further at their next general assembly in Rome in 2027. - **Space Sustainability Collaboration**: Airbus Defense and Space and Astroscale Limited have partnered to advance in-orbit servicing and space debris removal. Their collaboration focuses on space debris removal, in-orbit servicing, precise navigation and docking technologies, in-orbit space assembly and manufacturing, and satellite refueling and life extension. This partnership aims to enhance the longevity and efficiency of space assets, contributing significantly to building a circular economy in space. For more Astronomy Daily, including our continually updating newsfeed, visit our website at astronomydaily.io. Follow us on social media at AstroDailyPod on Facebook, X, YouTubeMusic, and TikTok. We love engaging with our community, so be sure to drop us a message or comment on your favorite platform. For more Space and Astronomy News Podcasts, visit our HQ at www.bitesz.com.

[kp777]

By George Monbiot

The Guardian

July 15, 2023

Climate breakdown and crop losses threaten our survival, but the ultra-rich find ever more creative ways to maintain the status quo

According to Google’s news search, the media has run more than 10,000 stories this year about Phillip Schofield, the British television presenter who resigned over an affair with a younger colleague. Google also records a global total of five news stories about a scientific paper published last week, showing that the chances of simultaneous crop losses in the world’s major growing regions, caused by climate breakdown, appear to have been dangerously underestimated. In mediaworld, a place that should never be confused with the real world, celebrity gossip is thousands of times more important than existential risk.

The new paper explores the impacts on crop production when meanders in the jet stream (Rossby waves) become stuck. Stuck patterns cause extreme weather. To put it crudely, if you live in the northern hemisphere and a kink in the jet stream (the band of strong winds a few miles above the Earth’s surface at mid-latitudes) is stuck to the south of you, your weather is likely to be cold and wet. If it’s stuck to the north of you, you’re likely to suffer escalating heat and drought.

In both cases, the stuck weather, exacerbated by global heating, affects crops. With certain meander patterns, several of the northern hemisphere’s major growing regions – such as western North America, Europe, India and east Asia – could be exposed to extreme weather at the same time, hammering their harvests. We rely for our subsistence on global smoothing: if there’s a bad harvest in one region, it’s likely to be counteracted by good harvests elsewhere. Even small crop losses occurring simultaneously present what the paper calls “systemic risk”.

Already, regional climate shocks have helped cause a disastrous reversal in the trend of global chronic hunger. For many years, the number of hungry people fell. But in 2015 the trend turned and has been curving upwards since. This is not because of a lack of food. The most likely explanation is that the global food system has lost its resilience. When complex systems lose resilience, instead of damping the shocks that hit them, they tend to amplify them. The shocks amplified across the system so far have landed most heavily on poor nations that depend on imports, causing local price spikes even when global food prices were low.

If this happens when harvests are affected in just one country or one region, we can only imagine the results if extreme weather simultaneously hits several major growing regions.

Other papers have been published with similar themes, showing, for example, the impacts of the rising frequency of “flash droughts” and concurrent heatwaves in grain-producing regions, and how global heating hits food security. All have been largely or entirely ignored by the media.

We face an epochal, unthinkable prospect: of perhaps the two greatest existential threats – environmental breakdown and food system failure – converging, as one triggers the other.

There are plenty of signs, some of which I’ve tried to explain in the Guardian and, with a sense of rising urgency, in a presentation to parliament, suggesting that the global food system may not be far from its tipping point, for structural reasons similar to those that tanked the financial sector in 2008. As a system approaches a critical threshold, it’s impossible to say which external shock could push it over. Once a system has become fragile, and its resilience is not restored, it’s not a matter of if and how, but when.

So why isn’t this all over the front pages? Why, when governments know we’re facing existential risk, do they fail to act? Why is the Biden administration allowing enough oil and gas drilling to bust the US carbon budget five times over? Why is the UK government scrapping the £11.6bn international climate fund it promised? Why has Labour postponed its £28bn green prosperity fund, while Keir Starmer is reported to have remarked last week “I hate tree huggers” (a pejorative term for environmental campaigners)? Why are the Sun, the Mail, the Telegraph and the Express competing to attack every green solution that might help to prevent climate chaos? Why does everything else seem more important?

The underlying problem isn’t hard to grasp: governments have failed to break what the economist Thomas Piketty calls the patrimonial spiral of wealth accumulation. As a result, the rich have become ever richer, a process that seems to be accelerating. In 2021, for example, the ultra-rich captured almost two-thirds of all the world’s new wealth. Their share of national income in the UK has almost doubled since 1980, while in the US it’s higher than it was in 1820.

The richer a fraction of society becomes, the greater its political power, and the more extreme the demands it makes. The problem is summarized in one sentence in the resignation letter of the UK environment minister Zac Goldsmith: instead of attending a crucial environment summit, Rishi Sunak went to Rupert Murdoch’s summer party. We cannot work together to solve our common problems when great power is in the hands of so few.

What the ultra-rich want is to sustain and extend the economic system that put them where they are. The more they have to lose, the more creative their strategies become. As well as the traditional approach of buying media outlets and pouring money into the political parties that favour them, they devise new ways of protecting their interests.

Corporations and oligarchs with massive fortunes can hire as many junktanks (so-called thinktanks), troll farms, marketing gurus, psychologists and micro-targeters as they need to devise justifications and to demonise, demoralise, abuse and threaten people trying to sustain a habitable planet. The junktanks devise new laws to stifle protest, implemented by politicians funded by the same plutocratic class.

It could scarcely be more screwed up. The effort to protect Earth systems and the human systems that depend on them is led by people working at the margins with tiny resources, while the richest and most powerful use every means at their disposal to stop them. Can you imagine, in decades to come, trying to explain this to your children?

Looking back on previous human calamities, all of which will be dwarfed by this, you find yourself repeatedly asking “why didn’t they … ?” The answer is power: the power of a few to countermand the interests of humanity. The struggle to avert systemic failure is the struggle between democracy and plutocracy. It always has been, but the stakes are now higher than ever.

[importantwomensbirthdays]

Inez Fung

Atmospheric scientist Inez Fung was born in Hong Kong in 1949. Fung is one of the world's foremost experts on climate and the carbon cycle. She is currently a professor of atmospheric science at UC Berkley. Fung has won numerous awards, including NASA's Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, and the Carl Gustaf-Rossby Research Medal, the American Meteorological Society's highest honor for atmospheric scientists. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and was a contributor to the Nobel Prize-winning Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

Image source: Whitehouse.gov

[magnetic-red-giants]

Magnetic activity of F stars observed by Kepler

The first measure of magnetic activity I will be looking into is known as Sph. This paper introduces this concept in a very understandable way, however the measure itself is limited in its capabilities due to a number of factors which I will talk about in another post.

Context. The study of stellar activity is important because it can provide new constraints for dynamo models when combined with surface rotation rates and the depth of the convection zone. We know that the dynamo mechanism, which is believed to be the main process that rules the magnetic cycle of solar-like stars, results from the interaction between (differential) rotation, convection, and magnetic field. The Kepler mission has already been collecting data for a large number of stars during four years allowing us to investigate magnetic stellar cycles.

Aims. We investigated the Kepler light curves to look for magnetic activity or even hints of magnetic activity cycles. Based on the photometric data we also looked for new magnetic indexes to characterise the magnetic activity of the stars. Methods. We selected a sample of 22 solar-like F stars that have a rotation period shorter than 12 days. We performed a time-frequency analysis using the Morlet wavelet yielding a magnetic proxy for our sample of stars. We computed the magnetic index Sph as the standard deviation of the whole time series and the index ⟨ Sph ⟩, which is the mean of standard deviations measured in subseries of length five times the rotation period of the star. We defined new indicators, such as the contrast between high and low activity, to take into account the fact that complete magnetic cycles are not observed for all the stars. We also inferred the Rossby number of the stars and studied their stellar background. Results. This analysis shows different types of behaviour in the 22 F stars. Two stars show behaviour very similar to magnetic activity cycles. Five stars show long-lived spots or active regions suggesting the existence of active longitudes. Two stars in our sample seem to have a decreasing or increasing trend in the temporal variation of the magnetic proxies. Finally, the last group of stars shows magnetic activity (with the presence of spots) but no sign of cycle.

[lemonsunset-bookshop]

The Strange Courtship of Mike Ross

by Skara_Brae

Mike Ross has been arrested for drug running, but because of his Omega status he cannot be thrown in jail. So he and his partner in crime have been turned over to the National Commission for Omega Rehabilitation, where they will be force-bonded to upstanding Alphas. Harvey Specter was just doing a favor for a friend, but when a frightened Omega (literally) crashes into his life, he steps into a role he never expected.

This was my first wrap cover, so the front wraps to the back making the spine. It was a great technique, but part of me wishes I hadn't wrapped it front to back. Still it came out very nice and I like it. Oh, and the title was printed and then cut out with a crafting paper cut die (if you know, you know)

This is a really interesting story. The premise is a little medieval, won't lie, but it leads to a great story. The world building is great and the relationships are wonderful. It's a wonderful story I will always enjoy. Also, if you notice it's Skara_Brae again, that's because they have written some of my favorite Suits fics and you should go check them out, they're amazing!

[nanas-45]

Cyclone Freddy: A Deep Dive into Its Meteorological Milestones

Cyclone Freddy is etched into the annals of meteorological history as the longest-lived tropical cyclone ever recorded, enduring an extraordinary five weeks and three days. This unparalleled storm not only eclipsed the previous longevity record held by Hurricane John in 1994 but also set new benchmarks for tropical cyclone activity, including the highest accumulated cyclone energy ever documented worldwide. Freddy’s relentless strength was marked by a record seven separate rounds of rapid intensification during February and March 2023, kedai168 slot,highlighting its formidable and persistent nature.

Genesis and Initial Intensification

Cyclone Freddy’s story began on 4 February 2023, when it formed as a tropical low south of the Indonesian archipelago. This low-pressure system quickly gained momentum, and by 6 February, it had intensified into a Category 1 tropical cyclone on the Australian scale, officially receiving the name Freddy from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. As Freddy moved westward across the Indian Ocean, its strength rapidly increased. By 11 February, the cyclone had escalated to a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone and eventually reached Category 4 intensity on the Australian scale.

A Record-Breaking Force

Freddy's peak intensity was a sight to behold. The cyclone reached Category 5-equivalent intensity on the Saffir-Simpson scale, boasting 1-minute sustained winds of 270 km/h (165 mph) and a central barometric pressure of 927 hPa (27.37 inHg). These figures marked Freddy as one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. The storm maintained its ferocity as it continued its westward journey towards the northern Mascarene Islands.

Landfall and Devastation

On 21 February, Freddy made its first significant landfall near Mananjary, Madagascar, as a strong Category 2-equivalent cyclone, with winds reaching 175 km/h (110 mph). This made Freddy the most intense storm to hit Madagascar since Cyclone Batsirai a year earlier. The cyclone caused substantial damage as it crossed the island nation, weakening upon landfall but quickly regaining strength as it moved over the Mozambique Channel.

By 24 February, Freddy made its second landfall near Vilankulos, Mozambique, as a moderate tropical storm. The cyclone’s journey did not end there; it re-entered the Mozambique Channel and intensified once again, making its final landfall near Quelimane, Mozambique, on 11 March. Freddy’s impact was devastating, with significant damage reported across multiple countries in its path.

Formation and Evolution

The origins of Cyclone Freddy can be traced back to 4 February 2023, when a tropical low formed in the active Madden–Julian oscillation phase, combined with an equatorial Rossby wave. The system was located in a favorable environment with low wind shear and warm sea surface temperatures of 29–30 °C (84–86 °F), which facilitated its rapid development. Freddy’s early intensification saw it progress from a tropical low to a Category 1 cyclone by 6 February.

Over the next few weeks, Freddy underwent several cycles of rapid intensification and weakening. The cyclone’s structure evolved from a minimal tropical storm to a powerful Category 5 system, demonstrating its capacity to undergo significant changes in strength and size. Freddy’s eyewall displayed a symmetrical appearance with a pinhole eye, which contributed to its high intensity and record-breaking status.

Redevelopment and Final Dissipation

After its final landfall in Mozambique, Cyclone Freddy's remnants continued to impact the region with heavy rains and strong winds. By late February, forecasts indicated that Freddy might redevelop due to a large low-pressure circulation influenced by atmospheric conditions over the southern Mozambique Channel. On 1 March, Freddy re-emerged into the channel and began to regain tropical characteristics, strengthening into a moderate tropical storm by 4 March.

Freddy’s final intensification phase saw it reach tropical cyclone status once again, but it rapidly weakened as it approached the coast of Mozambique. The cyclone made its last landfall near Quelimane on 11 March with estimated winds of 175 km/h (110 mph). The storm’s eye soon dissipated, and by 14 March, Freddy had fully dissipated, leaving behind a legacy of intense meteorological activity and substantial impacts on the regions it affected.

Legacy and Lessons

Cyclone Freddy’s record-breaking duration and intensity serve as a stark reminder of the increasing power and persistence of tropical cyclones in the face of changing global climate conditions. The storm's impact on Madagascar and Mozambique underscores the need for improved disaster preparedness and resilience strategies in vulnerable regions. Freddy’s saga will continue to be a crucial subject of study for meteorologists and climate scientists, offering insights into the behavior and intensity of tropical cyclones.

Cyclone Freddy’s epic journey through the Indian Ocean stands as a powerful testament to nature’s raw force and the ongoing challenges posed by extreme weather events in our rapidly changing world.

[andronetalks]

Rethinking solar cycles: New physical model reinforces planetary hypothesis

Strange Sounds May 29, 2024 Researchers at the Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) and the University of Latvia have posited the first comprehensive physical explanation for the sun’s various activity cycles. It identifies vortex-shaped currents on the sun, known as Rossby waves, as mediators between the tidal influences of Venus, Earth as well as Jupiter and the sun’s magnetic…

[skycrorg]

Un nuevo modelo físico solar refuerza la hipótesis planetaria

Aunque el Sol, al estar cerca de nosotros, es la estrella mejor investigada, muchas preguntas sobre su física aún no han sido completamente respondidas.

Investigadores del Helmholtz-Zentrum Dresden-Rossendorf (HZDR) y de la Universidad de Letonia han propuesto la primera explicación física integral de los distintos ciclos de actividad del sol. Identifica corrientes en forma de vórtice en el Sol, conocidas como ondas de Rossby, como mediadoras entre las influencias de las mareas de Venus, la Tierra y Júpiter y la actividad magnética del Sol. Por…

[firstbuzz]

Study says warming may push more hurricanes toward US coasts

Changes in air patterns as the world warms will likely push more and nastier hurricanes up against the United States’ east and Gulf coasts, especially in Florida, a new study said.

While other studies have projected how human-caused climate change will probably alter the frequency, strength and moisture of tropical storms, the study in Friday’s journal Science Advances focuses on the crucial aspect of where hurricanes are going.

It’s all about projected changes in steering currents, said study lead author Karthik Balaguru, a Pacific Northwest National Laboratory climate scientist.

“Along every coast they’re kind of pushing the storms closer to the U.S.,” Balaguru said. The steering currents move from south to north along the Gulf of Mexico; on the East Coast, the normal west-to-east steering is lessened considerably and can be more east-to-west, he said.

Overall, in a worst-case warming scenario, the number of times a storm hits parts of the U.S. coast in general will probably increase by one-third by the end of the century, the study said, based on sophisticated climate and hurricane simulations, including a system researchers developed.The central and southern Florida Peninsula, which juts out in the Atlantic, is projected to get even more of an increase in hurricanes hitting the coast, the study said.Climate scientists disagree on how useful it is to focus on the worst-case scenario as the new study does because many calculations show the world has slowed its increase in carbon pollution. Balaguru said because his study looks more at steering changes than strength, the levels of warming aren’t as big a factor.The study projects changes in air currents traced to warming in the equatorial eastern Pacific Ocean, just off the coast of South America. Climate change is warming different parts of the world at different rates, and models show the eastern Pacific area warming more quickly, Balaguru said.That extra warming sets things in motion through Rossby waves, according to the study — atmospheric waves that move west to east and are connected to changes in temperature or pressure, like the jet stream or polar vortex events.“I like to explain it to my students like a rock being dropped in a smooth pond,” said University of Albany atmospheric scientist Kristen Corbosiero, who wasn’t part of the study. “The heating is the rock and Rossby waves are the waves radiating away from the heating which disturbs the atmosphere’s balance.”

[baliportalnews]

Siap Siaga! BMKG Sebut Ada Potensi Cuaca Ekstrem Terjang di Wilayah Ini 

BALIPORTALNEWS.COM, JAKARTA  - Badan Meteorologi, Klimatologi, dan Geofisika (BMKG) merilis adanya potensi cuaca ekstrem di sebagian wilayah Indonesia selama dua hari kedepan (28-30 Desember 2022). Cuaca ekstrem tersebut berpeluang menimbulkan dampak bencana hidrometeorologi berupa banjir, genangan, dan tanah longsor. Berdasarkan prakiraan berbasis dampak Impact-Based Forecast (IBF), daerah yang ditetapkan berstatus ‘Siaga’ pada periode tanggal tersebut yaitu sebagian Provinsi Banten, Jawa Barat, DKI, Jawa Tengah, Jawa Timur, NTB, NTT. "Wilayah tersebut diprakirakan dapat mengalami hujan lebat yang berpotensi menimbulkan bencana hidrometeorologi," ujar Dwikorita di Jakarta, Rabu (28/12/2022). Dampak yang dapat terjadi, kata Dwikorita, diantaranya adalah volume aliran sungai berpotensi meningkat drastis sehingga dapat mengakibatkan potensi banjir dan banjir bandang. Selain itu, besar kemungkinan hujan lebat tersebut mengakibatkan potensi tanah longsor, guguran bebatuan, atau erosi tanah, terutama di daerah-daerah dataran tinggi dan lereng-lereng perbukitan dan gunung. Maka dari itu, lanjut dia, BMKG mengimbau kepada pemerintah daerah setempat dan masyarakat yang bermukim di sepanjang daerah aliran sungai dan wilayah perbukitan untuk lebih waspada dan meningkatkan kesiap-siagaan. Terutama jika hujan lebat terjadi dalam intensitas yang cukup lama. "Mohon kepada masyarakat untuk berhati-hati jika beraktivitas di luar rumah. Jika tidak ada keperluan mendesak, maka sebaiknya di rumah saja menunggu cuaca kembali normal," imbuhnya. Sementara itu, Deputi Meteorologi BMKG, Guswanto menerangkan bahwa potensi ekstrem ini dipicu oleh aktifnya sejumlah fenomena dinamika atmosfer di sekitar wilayah Indonesia yang berpotensi signifikan terhadap peningkatan curah hujan di beberapa wilayah. Diantaranya, peningkatan aktifitas Monsun Asia yang dapat meningkatkan pertumbuhan awan hujan secara signifikan di wilayah Indonesia bagian barat, tengah dan selatan. Selain itu, kata dia, meningkatnya intensitas fenomena 'cold surge' atau seruakan dingin yang disertai dengan potensi arus lintas ekuatorial sehingga aliran massa udara dingin dari Asia memasuki wilayah Indonesia juga dapat meningkatkan pertumbuhan awan hujan terutama di wilayah Indonesia bagian barat dan tengah. Dinamika atmosfer lainnya, lanjut Guswanto, yaitu adanya indikasi pembentukan pusat tekanan rendah di sekitar wilayah Australia yang dapat memicu peningkatan pertumbuhan awan konvektif yang cukup masif dan berpotensi menyebabkan hujan dengan intensitas tinggi, peningkatan kecepatan angin permukaan, serta peningkatan tinggi gelombang di perairan sekitarnya. Dan fenomena lainnya yang signifikan, tambah dia, yakni terpantaunya fenomena Madden Julian Oscillation (MJO) yang aktif bersamaan dengan fenomena gelombang Kelvin dan Rossby Ekuatorial, dimana kondisi tersebut berkontribusi signifikan terhadap peningkatan curah hujan di beberapa wilayah Indonesia terutama di bagian tengah dan timur. "Kepada masyarakat, kami imbau untuk tidak panik tetapi tetap waspada, dan terus memonitor informasi perkembangan cuaca dan peringatan dini cuaca ekstrem dari BMKG. Pangkas dahan dan ranting pohon yang rapuh serta menguatkan tegakan/tiang agar tidak roboh tertiup angin kencang," pungkasnya.(bpn) Read the full article

[currentclimate]

Rossby waves are an atmospheric and oceanic phenomenon where giant meanders warp the flow of currents in a wave-like pattern. They don't only occur on Earth, but when they do, they're known to influence our planet's weather.

Now, the extent of that influence is becoming clearer. In a new study, researchers have found that when certain amplified wavelengths take shape in jet streams – fast-flowing air currents that course through the sky at high altitudes – the phenomenon is linked to the emergence of concurrent heatwaves that devastate food-producing regions.

"We found a 20-fold increase in the risk of simultaneous heatwaves in major crop-producing regions when these global-scale wind patterns are in place," says Earth systems researcher Kai Kornhuber from Columbia University.

[ovnihoje]

Misterioso som no Mar do Caribe pode ser escutado do espaço

Misterioso som no Mar do Caribe pode ser escutado do espaço

No Mar do Caribe é gerado um som similar a um “apito” agudo e tão intenso que chega às “estrelas”. Isso é ouvido no espaço sem ser gerado lá. Como é possível? Mapa do Mar do Caribe. (Wikimedia Commons) O que é esse som e por que é tão alto? Para responder a essas perguntas, você deve aprender mais sobre o misterioso som vindo do Mar do Caribe. O que é o som misterioso vindo do Mar do…

[evolving-science]

What is the Saturnian north polar hexagon? Did Cassini send any new information on it?

[baliwakenews]

La Nina dan Gelombang Rossby Dukung Timbulnya Cuaca Ekstrem Waspada Ini dalam 3 Hari ke Depan

La Nina dan Gelombang Rossby Dukung Timbulnya Cuaca Ekstrem Waspada Ini dalam 3 Hari ke Depan

Kuta, baliwakenews.com Bali saat ini hingga Februari mendatang berada di puncak musim hujan. Bersamaan dengan itu ada beberapa faktor-faktor lain yg mendukung penambahan curah hujan. Seperti La Nina, gelombang Rossby, belokan angin dan konvergensi serta juga suhu muka laut yg mendukung pembentukan awan hujan. Hal inilah yang berpotensi menimbulkan cuaca ekstrem yang harus diwaspadai oleh…

[geography4u]

Jet Streams are the fast-flowing winds. They are narrow and meandering air currents in the atmosphere. They flow in narrow cores due to the strong pressure gradient.