Science Discussion

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Question 5: Why is Antarctica considered a desert? The real question is why does Antarctica receive so little precipitation? The coastal areas do receive more precipitation than the interior but even the coastal areas would be considered very dry by most everyone around the world.

[NewApp]

Question 5: Why is Antarctica considered a desert? The real question is why does Antarctica receive so little precipitation? The coastal areas do receive more precipitation than the interior but even the coastal areas would be considered very dry by most everyone around the world.

Why? Easy one. Severe lack of non-salt potable water. Hard frozen water doesn't count.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Question 5: Why is Antarctica considered a desert? The real question is why does Antarctica receive so little precipitation? The coastal areas do receive more precipitation than the interior but even the coastal areas would be considered very dry by most everyone around the world.

Why? Easy one. Severe lack of non-salt potable water. Hard frozen water doesn't count.

Go a bit deeper, why is there no water in the atmosphere? There is very little precipitation in Antarctica, why?

[Mjohn1988]

I believe that “property” would be waters high heat capacity.

By what factor is liquid water higher than most metals? (There is a range for metals but many metals have values that sorta group together a bit.)

We moved on to question 5. So was my answer correct?

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

I was really looking for specific heat but you are close enough that I would give you full credit. Heat capacity is for the entire object while specific heat is per 1 gram of the substance. In SI units water has a specific heat of 4180 J/(g • °C) while metals are under 1000 J/(g • °C). This is why swimming pools stay warmer than the air when the sun goes down and are cooler than the air after the sun rises. Also works for beach water temps in the late fall and early spring to make the water warmer that air (fall) or not as warm as the air (spring). It takes a lot of energy to raise the temperature of water (hot water heaters are likely the number 2 user of energy in a house.) but it also takes a lot of energy to be lost to lower a temperature. The Gulf Stream carries a lot of energy to northern Europe.

Thanks for caring enough to prompt me for the detailed answer.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Answer to question 5. Antarctica receives about 2 inches of precipitation a year. I have read numbers up to about 6 inches a year. Death Valley receives around 2 inches a year as the driest location in the US. The reason Antarctica is so dry is that cold air holds less water than warm air. The air is so cold in Antarctica that there is just very little water in the air that can from into precipitation.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Question 6: What has happened to the pH of the oceans over the last 200 years?

[Cro-Magnon App]

Well, I just read the entire thread. Interesting.

A few things. We need to keep eating beef. We cattle farmers encourage it. Lay off the chicken. 🥴 And Angus beef is not the most healthy, by far. The American Angus Association just does a great job of marketing their beef. And beef - it’s good!


About too many humans on the planet. “And the Lord said, Go forth, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” So humankind did that. Is it time to stop?

When the water gets too high, start bailing or get a sump pump. 🤪 Just joking.

[Cro-Magnon App]

I want to insert a question. A flight to Japan is about 12 hours. Japan is roughly halfway around the world. Flying takes fuel, a lot of flights go N toward Alaska and come back down to Japan. Something about riding the air currents?
Would it not be cheaper to build hover crafts, go straight up and hover and conserve fuel as the earth rotates, then when Japan rolls underneath, drop down on it? A few adjustments may be needed to hit the target.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

About too many humans on the planet. “And the Lord said, Go forth, be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth.” So humankind did that. Is it time to stop?

If humans did not consume so much, at least in the G20 countries population would not be as a big of a concern.

The book you reference also mentions about wealth redistribution and forgiving debt and turning the other cheek, but I am not trying to make this a thread about religion.

Are you getting the questions correct? I am curious what people know about basic science (what I would consider mostly basic physics and chemistry) that connects at some level to climate science (which is more interdisciplinary.)

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

I want to insert a question. A flight to Japan is about 12 hours. Japan is roughly halfway around the world. Flying takes fuel, a lot of flights go N toward Alaska and come back down to Japan. Something about riding the air currents?
Would it not be cheaper to build hover crafts, go straight up and hover and conserve fuel as the earth rotates, then when Japan rolls underneath, drop down on it? A few adjustments may be needed to hit the target.

Planes fly the shortest distance when they can to save fuel and time. On a gnomic map projection if you draw a straight line you are drawing the shortest path between two points on a sphere. This is called a great circle route. From the east cost to Japan a straight line takes one over Alaska. I believe the flag of the United Nations is a gnomic projection.

For hovering, when the hovercraft takes off it will have the same speed as the earth rotating so it is going to rotate with the earth. It is going to take a lot of energy to lose that momentum. That will need to happen to get the hovercraft to let the earth rotate underneath it. If this could be done I am sure it would be done by someone.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

Finally getting around to answering question 6:
pH of the oceans is about 8.1, which is a bit basic, but the pH is lowering due to more CO2 in the air being absorbed by the oceans. This absorbed CO2 is turned into carbonic acid, H2CO3.

Question 7: What is the largest contributor of oxygen for the planet we live on?

[NewApp]

The Rain Forest or the oceans?

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

The Rain Forest or the oceans?

Go with one or the other and commit.

[appdaze]

What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow, European breed.

[AppfaninCAALand]

I want to insert a question. A flight to Japan is about 12 hours. Japan is roughly halfway around the world. Flying takes fuel, a lot of flights go N toward Alaska and come back down to Japan. Something about riding the air currents?
Would it not be cheaper to build hover crafts, go straight up and hover and conserve fuel as the earth rotates, then when Japan rolls underneath, drop down on it? A few adjustments may be needed to hit the target.

A while back, I was listening to a podcast discussing commercial space travel and they were arguing you could get the travel time between NYC and Tokyo down to less than an hour by flying up to the edge of space, going into a low Earth orbit, and coming back down again.

[appst89]

What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow, European breed.

Are you suggesting that coconuts migrate?

[BTK2000]

I want to insert a question. A flight to Japan is about 12 hours. Japan is roughly halfway around the world. Flying takes fuel, a lot of flights go N toward Alaska and come back down to Japan. Something about riding the air currents?
Would it not be cheaper to build hover crafts, go straight up and hover and conserve fuel as the earth rotates, then when Japan rolls underneath, drop down on it? A few adjustments may be needed to hit the target.

[McLeansvilleAppFan]

What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow, European breed.

11 m/s.

[appdaze]

What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow, European breed.

Are you suggesting that coconuts migrate?

If they be made of wood and float like a duck, then possibly.