Posted on 01/21/2007 5:45:40 PM PST by FLOutdoorsman
The old adage that "no two snowflakes are alike" might not hold true, at least for smaller crystals, new research suggests.
Snowflakes are created when snow crystals stick together. Some contain several hundred crystals [images]. Scientists investigate how snowflakes form because of the possible influence they may have on global climate. In addition, researchers now believe ice crystals in the atmosphere, which typically are snow crystals too small to fall to the ground, play a key role in ozone depletion, possibly by acting as a catalyst to break down ozone.
Ice crystals in the atmosphere are also believed to influence the production of lightning, by helping electric charges build up in clouds.
How many snowflakes?
The number of cubic feet of snow that falls on the planet each year is about 1 followed by 15 zeros, which is a million billion, estimates cloud physicist Jon Nelson at Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto, Japan, who has studied snowflakes for 15 years. Similarly, all this snow weighs about a million billion kilograms.
A typical snow crystal weighs roughly one millionth of a gram. This means a cubic foot of snow can contain roughly one billion crystals. A rough estimate of the number of snow crystals that fall to Earth per year is "about 1 followed by 24 zeros," Nelson told LiveScience. "If another scientist says that I'm off by one or two zeros, then I won't quibble."
(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...
That's it. Just destroy a girl's faith.<\sniff> How cruel.
I always suspected as much.
As far as my understanding of the process of ozone depletion, this is a little misleading. The "ice" which is theorized to deplete ozone is nitrogen ice, not water.
Ok how much of my tax dollars were spent?
Next they'll be telling us that there is no Santa, Elvis is dead and global warming is a hoax.
Snow has an influence on climate?! Who'd have guessed?!
Scientists will find that they had better find that snowflakes are part of the global warming problem or else the Liberals won't like them.
Do they have pictures of two identical snowflakes … junk science at it’s best. I will have faith in the old adage that no two snowflakes are the same until true science proves otherwise. Give me proof not just speculation. (Another science laugher).
You are correct. This article is written by someone who does not have a friggin clue as to what they are supposedly reporting. What a waste of time and space.
My definition of 'alike' is that the shapes are the same and they have every molecule of water (and any included dust) in the exact same position. That's tougher to do. By my rules, the old saying is still almost certainly true. Relax. Tell them I said so.
As much as possible.
Unless ice is NOT crystaline at all.. its just called crystaline..
In our dreams - about global warming being a hoax. Wait a minute! How do we know it's not a hoax?! Hmmm.
Wilson "Snowflake" Bentley of Jericho, VT only looked at and photographed a few thousand of them so how do they know for sure? You can look him up at snowflakebentley.com
It just gets stranger and stranger all the time, ehhh? What came first, the chicken or the egg? Can a cart draw the horse? What type of container can store a universal solvent?
We need more research funds to study these pressing issues ....
That pic was unnecessary, evil and just plain mean. I have to grin.
What a waste of time and space.
L0L
Doesn't auto exhaust produce ozone?
http://www.osti.gov/energycitations/product.biblio.jsp?osti_id=6438562
If true and the ozone is being depleted, it would seem more irradiation of vehicle exhaust is needed, not less.
That would tear a huge hole in GW theorists' reasoning.
Honestly, noting this - I don't follow the argument re: ozone and vehicle exhaust.
Leftist flakes are ALL alike!
( What type of container can store a universal solvent?)
A super-magnetized vacuum chamber will keep, contain and store anything. The upkeep is a little too high for an industrial electrician.
I often wondered about many such assumptions. Example: Given that there are 23 pairs of human chromosones and who knows how many gene sites and combinations of the basics...the point is however large the number is, it's not infinite no?? There for the same combination/sequence ,given enough time, should occur again. So yes...I'm sad to say...might there be another Helen in our future ??
And with that ...I need a drink
Yes, it does, and any ozone will absorb UV rays. However, ozone can cause lung damage, so it is best to not have more ozone than practical in the lower atmosphere that we breath.
Ozone in the upper atmosphere is continuously created by the sun's rays, and continnuously destroyed as well. In one very specific set of circumstances, nitrogen ice crystals, which form at about -80F, can be a catalyst in breaking apart ozone. The only place in the Earth's atmosphere where it gets this cold is over Antartica, at the end of a six month night. This, along with a temporary weather formation which starves Antartica of fresh ozone created in more equatorial latitutes, can create what is called an "ozone hole." When the atmosphere warms up, the ice dissolves, the weather pattern changes, and ozone flows into the stratosphere around Antartica.
Ironically, Global Warming, if it warms the Antartic winter a few degrees, can stop the ozone hole from forming.
"Most snowflakes are less than one-half inch across."
The first snowfall of the year in Canada had the biggest flakes I've ever seen. Frozen doilies. That was the only place I've lived in where I heard thunder during snowstorms, too. Winter in Florida is much nicer.
Ahhhh, but that doesn't meld well with liberal politics positioning. Ya see, Ozone produced up there is goooooood, while Ozone produced down here is baaaaaaad. Actually it goes more along the lines of anything produced by human activity is baaaaad, while anything produced by nature is goooood ... excepting of course, hurricanes, floods, earthquakes, lightning, mudslides, the election of GW Bush, locusts, dogs and cats living together, etc ect ... these are all baaaaaad and humans should harness all their powers to STOP these terrible infringements of nature! After all, once we stop nature's process, then we can fix all our problems and live in a wonderful Utopia :)
/sarcasm off
What if the Universal Solvent had properties which nullified magnetic polarities to zero? What then?
You're thinking of a matter/anti-matter container, but the whole point of a Universal Solvent is that it is, indeed, universal
Ya just ruined my skiing season :(
But Al Gore told me it was hydroflurocarbons that depleted the ozone layer. Could he have been wrong? ...No, never, must have lost my head there for a moment./sarc
first thing to pop into my mind too
This is the funniest title of thread on FR I have seen in years. Or maybe the one I remember from months ago which was something like: "Vatican says not certain about existence of purgatory" should take top honors. Both provided LOL moments.
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