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  • Irish Chronicles Document Links Between Volcanoes and Weather
    A study of over 40,000 written entries in Irish Annals and ice core measurements shows a strong corr...Read more

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    Irish Chronicles Document Links Between Volcanoes and Weather

    A study of over 40,000 written entries in Irish Annals and ice core measurements shows a strong correlation between the occurrence of volcanic eruptions and extreme cold weather in Ireland over a 1200 year period. Data analyzed in this study cover the period from 431 to 1649, during which time up to 48 volcanic eruptions are identified in Greenland ice core records through deposition of volcanic sulfate in annual layers of ice. You can find the study (open access), published on 6 June 2013 in IOP Publishing's journal Environmental Research Letters, at http://iopscience.iop.org/1748-9326/8/2/024035/article. Find out more about how volcanoes can influence climate.
  • EF-5 Tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma Widest Ever Recorded in US
    The EF-5 tornado that hit El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31st was the widest ever recorded in the US, acco...Read more

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    EF-5 Tornado in El Reno, Oklahoma Widest Ever Recorded in US

    The EF-5 tornado that hit El Reno, Oklahoma on May 31st was the widest ever recorded in the US, according to the National Weather Service in Norman Oklahoma. The tornado, which remained on the ground for 40 minutes and reached 2.6 miles across (4.2 km), took the lives of 18 people including storm chasers Tim Samaras, Paul Samaras and Carl Young. For more information on the tornado, visit http://ow.ly/i/2hfDG.
  • Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm
    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm rep...Read more

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    Atmospheric CO2 Level Tops 400 ppm

    During the week of May 13th, the CO2 level at the Mauna Loa Observatory in Hawaii topped 400 ppm repeatedly. Daily levels of CO2 can vary due to weather, and there are seasonal trends as well. The level of atmospheric greenhouse gases continues to increase, now over 120 ppm since the Industrial Revolution began. For more on the Keeling Curve, see http://keelingcurve.ucsd.edu/. Find out more about greenhouse gases and warming.
This is a drawing depicting the motions in earth's atmosphere.

Motions in Jupiter's Interior

Motions in the interior of a planet help carry heat from the inside to the outside.

The drawing to the left illustrates a kind of global motion that is typical of motions in the atmosphere as well as the interior of a planet. Material rises from where is it warmest, and moves in a roiling motion like the boiling of a pot. In the dr awing, there are three different cells of activity in the atmosphere where the air turns over (depicted by red sheets).

In the interior of Jupiter, the liquid layers are warm enough to move in this fashion. Some scientists think, however, that the heat from within Jupiter causes different sorts of motions.

In any case, the enormous magnetosphere of Jupiter is produced by motions in the liquid metallic hydrogen layer inside Jupiter.

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The Source of Heat from Within Jupiter

The energy that Jupiter and Saturn make has been found be very high. There are several ways in which astronomical objects make energy from inside. The first is by thermonuclear fusion, the way a star makes...more

Motions in Jupiter's Interior, part 2

Motions, or currents in the interior of a gas-giant planet such as Jupiter may be very different from the motions typical of the earth's interior. A second idea for the motions in the interior of a gas-giant...more

How Jupiter's Magnetosphere is made

Magnetospheres are generated with 1.) magnetic materials and 2.) with motions within the magnetic material. The Earth-like planets generate magnetospheres from iron at the center. This leads to roundly-shaped...more

An Overview of Jupiter's Interior

The Giant planets do not have the same layered structure that the terrestrial planets do. Their evolution was quite different than that of the terrestrial planets, and they have less solid material. Jupiter's...more

Motions in Jupiter's Interior

Motions in the interior of a planet help carry heat from the inside to the outside. The drawing to the left illustrates a kind of global motion that is typical of motions in the atmosphere as well as the...more

A Diagram of Jupiter's Atmospheric Structure

This is the temperature profile of Jupiter's entire atmosphere. The horizontal lines indicate the boundaries between the troposphere, the stratosphere, the mesosphere, and the thermosphere. ...more

A Brown Barge in the Jovian Atmosphere

This is a picture of a brown barge. The accompanying clouds, next to the barge, look very similar to earth clouds. ...more

Jupiter's Cloud Decks

There are three different layer of clouds, or clouddecks, in Jupiter's atmosphere, as shown in this picture. The clouddecks are made of different molecules. The first clouddeck is made of ammonia clouds....more

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