Last year, the U.S. experienced a record-smashing 22 weather and climate disasters that killed at least 262 people and injured scores more. Damages exceeded $1 billion each and totaled approximately $95 billion for all 22 events. Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/record-number-billion-dollar-disasters-us-2020…
Tag: storms
Pioneering a way to keep very small satellites in orbit
A cubesat, largely built by undergraduate students and scheduled to launch on Sunday, will explore the feasibility of a new propulsion method that could enable very small satellites to move around Earth’s orbit without carrying fuel. This could pave the way for tiny satellites that stay in orbit for long periods and operate in swarms, monitoring storms and natural disasters, for…
Meet PitRanger: Tiny rover designed to probe the lunar underworld
Researchers have been busily building a prototype of a 33-pound (15 kg) lunar mini-robot, set to be the key instrument in a future mission aimed at capturing high-definition images of moon pits. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/meet-pitranger-a-tiny-rover-to-probe-lunar-underworld…
Dark storm on Neptune changes direction, escapes deadly fate
Astronomers used the Hubble Space Telescope to observe unusual weather on the planet Neptune, not observed until now. They saw a large, dark storm on Neptune unexpectedly changing direction, thereby saving itself from looming destruction and possibly producing a smaller companion storm. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/large-dark-storm-change-direction-neptune…
Neptune’s Weird Dark Spot Just Got Weirder
Neptune boasts some of the strangest weather in the solar system. The sun’s eighth planet holds the record for the fastest winds observed on any world, with speeds cutting through the atmosphere upward of 1,100 miles per hour, or 1.5 times the speed of sound. Scientists still don’t know exactly why its atmosphere is so tumultuous. Their latest glimpse of Neptune…
2020 in review: Extreme weather seen around the world as climate warms
Climate change is having a clear impact on the weather, as storms, floods and fires are all becoming more likely and records keep tumbling Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg24833130-100-2020-in-review-extreme-weather-seen-around-the-world-as-climate-warms/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
Powerful electrical events quickly alter surface chemistry on Mars and other planetary bodies
Thinking like Earthlings may have caused scientists to overlook the electrochemical effects of Martian dust storms. Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-12-powerful-electrical-events-quickly-surface.html…
Watch: 25 years of the sun
This video, merging more than 2 decades of footage from SOHO cameras, captures thousands of sunspots, flares, and coronal mass ejections breaking out from the sun. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/sun-25-years-video-solar-flare-cme-sunspot…
Mons Rumker in the Ocean of Storms
Mons Rumker in the Ocean of Storms Source: https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html…
Phew! Record-smashing 2020 Atlantic hurricane season is officially over
November 30 marked the official end of the record-breaking 2020 Atlantic hurricane season, although more storms are still possible. Why did 2020 have so many storms? And what does climate change have to do with it? Source: https://earthsky.org/earth/record-smashing-2020-atlantic-hurricane-season-official-end…