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Where on Earth does the temperature drop to -128 degrees Fahrenheit? What is a wind farm? And how does rain look from an ant's perspective? Combining remarkable time-lapse and slow-motion photography with news footage and diagrams, this program provides a thorough overview of the causes and effects of the Earth's weather. Sections one through three present temperature, wind, and precipitation, while sections four through seven focus on weather measurement,...
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Continuing their journey across the U.S. in one of the world's largest airships, the team questions how the atmosphere changes with altitude and how that has an impact on the life found there. Microbiologist Dr. Chris van Tulleken and former paratrooper Andy Torbet search for living microorganisms in the "death zone" of high altitude. Parachuting from 26,000 feet, Andy has to overcome sub-freezing temperatures and fatally low levels of oxygen to undertake...
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When a major storm threatens, we want to know where it will hit and how strong it will be. Current methods of flying planes into hurricanes to track storms are costly and can be dangerous. Now engineers are developing small, inexpensive drones that can fly through hurricanes to take necessary measurements.
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Earth’s diverse climate and weather patterns are predominantly governed by global atmospheric circulation and ocean currents. This program looks at different atmospheric phenomena, including the global circulation model and how heating and cooling is driven by wind, air pressure systems, the effects of differences between land and sea temperatures, and how atmospheric conditions at different latitudes interact and impact meteorological patterns....
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There is nothing anyone can do to control the weather. Over time we have learned to live with wild storms, searing heatwaves, merciless droughts, and prolonged periods of bitter cold. As this program explains, through a mixture of on-the-spot news reports and fascinating background information, they are all examples of extreme or unusual weather—nature at its deadliest and most destructive.
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Meteorologists studying the microphysical processes of clouds are learning more about what occurs naturally inside clouds. By increasing fundamental knowledge of complex cloud structure and the chemical and electrical mechanisms that trigger changes, weather and climate forecast models improve. Scientists and geophysicists are utilizing the newest technology to explore known and speculative information about cloud structures and mechanisms.
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Extreme weather events can cause widespread damage resulting in billions of dollars of losses. Recent events, such as blizzards, hurricanes, and droughts have been exceptionally devastating as a result of several environmental factors. The convergence of several weather systems and the right atmospheric conditions sometimes result in the “perfect storm.” This issue examines the factors behind catastrophic weather. It explains El Niño and La Niña,...
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Yellow clouds of nutrient-rich sand, iron particles and microscopic aerosols from the Sahara Desert blow north over Europe and west over the Atlantic Ocean to the Americas. Meteorologists research the impact of ‘desert clouds’ to changes in climates, weather patterns and ecosystems. Desertification of forest lands and fertile agricultural areas increases the size and number of desert storms.
10) Lightning
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The inside of a storm cloud is home to millions of ice particles rubbing against each other and generating static electricity, until the charge is so intense that it strikes down, or upward, in the form of lightning.
11) Energetic Earth
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How do you turn this thing off? Well, you can’t. This is Earth, and the power button is always switched on. The energy is always flowing. But where is the button? Where does this energy come from? You’re about to find out. Topics include: Energy and Heat, Solar Energy, Geothermal Energy, and Convection.
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Atmospheric phenomena directly influence the formation of different landscapes of our planet. In this program we’ll discuss the weather forecast, the atmosphere, the troposphere, meteorological observation stations, and more. Topics include: Rain, Hail, Lightning, Cloud Formation, Thunder Storms, Hurricanes, and Tornadoes.
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Throughout history, floods have killed more people and caused more widespread destruction than any kind of event other than war. A catastrophic flood in China in 1931 is believed to have resulted in four million deaths, making it the world's worst ever natural disaster. This program examines the causes of floods, the havoc they wreak and what, if anything, can be done to protect against them.
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Violent weather touches thousands of lives, homes and businesses around the world each year. Billions of dollars are spent on cleanup and reconstruction. Climatologists and meteorologists at the Meteorological Alpine Project (MAP) are using specialized computer technology to discover how hot winds in the African desert develop into a damaging hail storm in the Swiss Alps.
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Tropical cyclones, also called hurricanes and typhoons, cause catastrophic damage when they strike land. When a cyclone’s fury unleashes on population centers, death, injury, and wholesale destruction follow. This program explores the life cycle of cyclones: how atmospheric conditions, ocean temperatures, and the Earth’s rotation combine to create them and how, driven by winds, they eventually weaken after moving over land.
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Tropical cyclones devastate people, property, and infrastructure. This program outlines how cyclones are classified across the world and then examines the impact of Hurricane Matthew on the southeastern United States and Haiti in 2016. It compares the strategies that wealthy nations, like the U.S., employ to protect people and property to how the lack of resources in a poorer nation, like Haiti, leaves hurricane victims highly vulnerable to suffering...