Earth Science
¨ What are four problems that might occur from too much or
too little rainfall in a city?
¨ What is the prediction for the future climate of the Earth?
¨ Why is a volcanic eruption sometimes accompanied by great
rains?
¨ How does the relief of a region influence the climate?
¨ How do deltas form and why do they form in the mouths of
rivers?
¨ I can't find any earth science questions for my science
report. Can you help me figure one out?
¨ Which form of electromagnetic radiation is absorbed by
carbon dioxide and water vapor in our atmosphere?
¨ Which came first, the rock or the sand?
¨ What special training do you have to get to become a meteorologist?
¨ How does sea water become salty?
¨ Accuracy of movie The Day After Tomorrow
¨ Information about the Río Tinto River
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QUESTION:
What are four problems that might occur from too much or too little rainfall
in a city?
ANSWER from Michelle Mock
on 26 January 2006:
This sounds like a homework question. Think about it. Many areas
suffer from droughts (lack of rain). What do you think that affects? Imagine
that you get too much rain. What problems might that cause? I can
think of many more than 4 problems for either scenario. Now... think
about something else. Imagine living in a place that rarely gets rain
(i.e., the desert). What happens in places like that if they get a heavy
storm? Also, imagine living in a place where rain is a frequent occurence. What
would happen if they went through a long stretch with no rain at all? Sometimes
the problems associated with weather are much more severe if the area is not
used to the specific type of weather. Extremes in weather (severe storms
or severe droughts) cause more extreme problems. Think about the situation. Imagine
these extremes in your city. I am guessing that you are expected to write
an essay type answer and not just list four problems. So... think about
it and come up with a great answer! We'd like to see it when you do! So...
when you answer the question, if you would like, send your answer to us. Reference
this question so we know why you are sending us your answer. Good luck
in your investigation!
Michelle Mock
Imagiverse Educational Consortium
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QUESTION:
What is the prediction for the future climate of the Earth?
ANSWER from Silvia Larocca
TRANSLATED by Michelle Mock on 18 November 2005:
"To predict is very difficult, especially when one is referring to the future" says
a Chinese proverb. And this is the dilemma in which scientists find themselves
at the moment with respect to the effects of global warming on future climate. Here
is a link [in Spanish] to ongoing studies on this subject: http://usuarios.netgate.com.uy/carlosfleitas/calglo.htm
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QUESTION:
Why is a volcanic eruption sometimes accompanied by great rains?
ANSWER from Silvia Larocca
TRANSLATED by Michelle Mock on 18 November 2005:
Because in a volcanic eruption great amounts of water steam are released. The
water steam is condensed, forming clouds, and these precipitate.
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QUESTION:
How does the relief of a region influence the climate?
ANSWER from Silvia Larocca
TRANSLATED by Michelle Mock on 18 November 2005:
The relief, according to its form and direction, acts on the temperatures and
precipitations. It works as a barrier to winds, produces insulation differences
according to the exposed slope and modifies the regime of precipitations, whether
that be on windward slopes (exposed to the action of the wind) or leeward slopes
(protected from the wind). When an air mass moves on a mountainous chain,
it is forced to ascend and flow over it. When ascending the air cools
off and the water steam that it contains condenses, forming clouds. The
clouds then precipitate the moisture in form of rain or snow. This happens
on the windward side (the side from where the wind blows). When the air
mass crosses the tops of the mountains, it loses a large percentage of the
moisture. As the air begins to descend on the opposite side, it is compressed,
warmed and dried out. For this reason that on the leeward side of mountains
(opposite side of where the wind blows) there are many deserts. This
is what it is known as the rain shadow effect.
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QUESTION:
How do deltas form and why do they
form in the mouths of rivers?
ANSWER from Silvia Larocca
TRANSLATED by Michelle Mock on 18 November 2005:
A delta is a group of islands (a triangular zone) which is formed by sediments
dragged by a river and deposited in its opening. As the sediments are
deposited in the opening, the river is forced to divide itself in diverse channels. It
is due to his triangular form (similar in shape to the Greek character) that
it is called a delta.
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QUESTION:
I can't find any earth science questions for my science report. Can you
help me figure one out?
ANSWER from Jenny Alvarez
on 6 November 2005:
The best way to get ideas and questions for your earth science report is to
first look to you text book. Flip through your book until you find something
that really interests you, and then look it up on the Internet. You can
go to google.com or askjeeves.com for some great websites. Finding a
question that you'll be able to really enjoy finding an answer for, starts
by finding a topic you really enjoy.
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QUESTION:
Which form of electromagnetic radiation is absorbed by carbon dioxide and water
vapor in our atmosphere?
ANSWER from Roger Herzler
on 31 October 2005:
This website has an extraordinary amount of information about what in our atmosphere
acts as a radiation filter:
http://hosting.soonet.ca/eliris/remotesensing/bl130lec3.html
It might help you find the information
you're looking for. I found that using google.com and putting
in a search for 'electromagnetic atmosphere filter' returned a terrific
set of results. You should try it:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&lr=&safe=off&q=electromagnetic+atmosphere+filter&btnG=Search
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QUESTION:
What came first the rock or the sand?
ANSWER from Vicky Hamilton
on 19 October 2005:
The rock came first. Sand
is made when rocks get broken down into smaller pieces in a process
called "weathering".
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QUESTION:
What special training do you have to take to become a meteorologist?
ANSWER from Imagiverse
on 4 October 2005:
Claire has also answered several questions which are archived under Earth Science,
Science and Careers in our Q&A archives. You can use the Google.com
search (which is located on our home page http://imagiverse.org/)
to search for Claire Martin to find answers from her.
If you understand Spanish, we have several
answers from meteorologist Silvia Larocca:
http://imagiverse.org/espanol/questions/archives/
Silvia's interview is at:
http://imagiverse.org/espanol/interviews/silvialarocca/silvia_larocca_01_06_03.htm
The requirements for a meteorologist vary
from one country to another. Depending on the job, different education,
training and experience may be required.
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QUESTION:
How exactly does sea water become salted?
ANSWER from Stephanie
Wong on 17 July 2005:
Sea water is salty because of all the salt (sodium chloride) that is dissolved
in it. The ground contains many minerals and salts, many of which are
soluble in water. Since all the water on the Earth eventually flows to
the sea, any salt (particularly sodium chloride) that is in the water will
flow out to sea, where it accumulates. If enough accumulates, the water
becomes salty.
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QUESTION:
I have recently watched the movie The
Day After Tomorrow, and I was amazed and somewhat scared about the
weather that can happen so fast. Can you give your profesional
opinion, can such weather happen? Is it realisitc that it can happen
that quickly, and can we expect something like that to happen in near
future?
ANSWER from Claire Martin
on 22 December 2004:
Movies like The Day After
Tomorrow are made to build on all of our fears. Luckily
movies are simply just that - movies, not generally factual.
Our climate is changing - and there are
many dramatic ramifications of global climate change - but the sheer
speed and absolute volume of weather changes shown in that movie
are simply not likely to happen. Our climate will change at
a much more manageable pace - we will notice longer, hotter summers,
later starts to the winter, etc. And we may see the number
of hurricanes gradually increasing over the next decade or so. All
this is not to say that we shouldn't stay on top of the situation,
and that we shouldn't try our hardest to mitigate the social and
economic damages to our world from the changes. But we will
not see the kind of change in the weather that is portrayed in the
movies.
Phew!
Claire Martin
Meteorologist
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QUESTION:
I am student of Geography, and am making a report on the Río Tinto River. I
would appreciate material sent to me on the physics and chemical characteristics
of this river.
ANSWER from Michelle Mock
on 29 October 2004:
Have you read the articles about the Río Tinto at Imagiverse?
English: http://imagiverse.org/resources/exploration/mars/articles/riotinto.htm
Spanish: http://imagiverse.org/resources/exploration/mars/articles/riotinto_es.htm
The articles contain links to archived
webcasts which likely contain the information that you are looking
for:
http://robotics.nasa.gov/courses/fall2003/webcast_info.php
http://robotics.nasa.gov/courses/fall2003/sp/webcast_info_sp.php
The material on those pages is excellent! Every
other broadcast was in Spanish and there is a Spanish transcription
of the broadcasts which were in English.
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