Explanations – CLIMATE CHANGE RESEARCH, NEWS & SOLUTIONS

Natural Phenomena Explained

Logical explanations for the extraordinary events shaping our planet

Why ice is receding in Arctic but resurging in Antarctica

Recent satellite observations reveal a surge of ice in Antarctica contrary to other parts of the world. A little earlier it was also observed that the north pole is warming faster than the rest of the world. One may wonder why there is such disparity and apparent contradiction. To answer this question, we need to outline five issues:

a) Water occupies over 70% of the earth's surface and much of the land cover is in the northern hemisphere.
b) Heat comes through the crust on to the surface and eventually the atmosphere.
c) Land allows heat to be concentrated in particular regions unlike water which spreads out its heat rapidly due to fluidity.
d) Water has greater cooling effect than land.
e) Ocean depths vary with shallow water warming faster than deep water.

From the above we can discern that with equal or uniform heating, land surface will experience more heat concentration than water surface. The south pole being largely covered in water remains cooler with limited heat reaching the surface. Its atmospheric temperatures are much colder allowing condensation of much of the vapour from global warming in the north into snow. With a colder surface the snow doesn’t melt but accumulates.

Swelling lakes and flooding rivers

One other phenomenon observed in recent times which has received mythical explanations is the swelling of lakes and flooding of rivers in places that sometimes do not receive as much rainfall.

Global warming having vaporised excess water into the atmosphere has made it possible for highlands and mountainous areas to receive more water vapour which they condense into rainfall given their conducive atmospheric temperatures. This results in excess rain waters draining into river valleys which flood downstream as they pour their water into lakes some of which do not have distributaries and swell permanently while those with limited distributaries remain swollen much longer before their waters are eventually drained. contradiction. To answer this question, we need to outline five issues:

Flash floods and snow blizzards

Flash floods and snow blizzards have become frequent and widespread across the globe killing many people and causing damage to property and infrastructure. Flash floods and snow blizzards are occasioned primarily by two factors namely;

Once there is high amount of vapour in the atmosphere, all that is required for flash floods or snow blizzards to occur is a sudden fall in atmospheric temperatures. This is often achieved by wind action but can also be brought about by volcanic eruption. Flash floods and snow blizzards can occur any time of the year once the two conditions are met. But flash floods and snow blizzards can also occur during normal rainy seasons or in winter respectively when seasonal factors are at play as long as there is excess water vapour to be condensed into precipitation and seasonal temperatures provide favourable conditions.

Ocean tides

Ocean tides are classified as high or low. Eastward facing coastlines experience low tides from morning to evening while westward facing coastlines experience high tides from morning to evening.

Ocean tides can be accounted for under the two heat sources relationship between planet earth and the sun. In the morning when the sun is in the east, there is a longer cold air column in the west resulting in more cold air falling over earth’s west. At this time because the sun is overhead in the east, it warms the upper atmospheric air beneath meaning there is less cold air falling over earth thus allowing warm air over earth to ascend. This situation results in a circular air movement with cold air descending in the west and travelling over the surface to the east while warm air ascends in the east and travels westwards in the upper atmosphere.

The circular wind movement creates an air depression in the east and higher pressure in the west. This wind pattern generates pressure or sucking effect which pulls or pushes ocean or sea surface water eastwards in the morning. In the evening when the sun’s position above the planet has shifted from east to west, the air movement reverses and the pressure pushes or pulls sea surface water to the west.

El Nino

Like flash floods, El Nino occurs after prolonged global warming which vaporises a lot of water into the atmosphere followed by sudden cooling of atmospheric temperatures.

El Nino rains are usually triggered by a massive volcanic eruption like in the Mt. Tambora (1815) case or after a series of relatively small volcanic eruptions with cumulative significant cooling effect like the 1996-1997 El Nino rains. El Ninos last longer compared to flash floods because the planet takes considerable time to restore internal heat levels to those obtaining before eruptions. Again, El Ninos just like flash floods don’t follow seasons but seasonal variations exacerbate their intensity in cases of coincidence.

Earthquakes

Earthquakes have become more frequent and increased in their intensities. They have killed many people and caused significant damage to infrastructure in many parts of the world.

Earthquakes occur when there is an imbalance between upthrust and down thrust forces acting on crustal plates. Upthrust forces arise from pressures which develop inside the planet as a result of heating. Down thrust forces are the weights of the crustal plates on the mantle.

Down thrust forces are constant since the weights of the crustal plates do not change. Upthrust forces on the other hand vary as heat and pressure fluctuate inside the planet. It is the upthrust forces (basically expanding hot gases) which occasion earthquakes when they temporarily overwhelm the down thrust forces. Measurements have established higher concentrations of certain gases in water bodies like lakes and swamps after earthquakes including those blamed for global warming.

Extinction of species

Periodical mass extinction of species has characterised life on planet earth. Many species some considered to be ancestors to existing ones suddenly disappeared from the planet and others emerged later on. Dinosaurs cannot escape mention when talking about extinction of species.

Even though the phenomenon of mass extinction of species does not appear so mysterious, mythical explanations have been advanced to account for the same including by reputable institutions. Some scientists say that dinosaurs disappeared from earth’s surface after an asteroid hit our planet. They however do not proceed to explain what exactly happened after an asteroid hit the earth. They do not say whether or not the asteroid crushed all the dinosaurs or caused some effects whose consequences resulted in extinction of species.

A little imagination would help us understand why species have become extinct over time. Can we imagine what would happen to life on earth if an ice age were to occur? A planet covered in ice for thousands or even hundreds of years without vegetation and water cannot sustain life. That skeletons of dinosaurs have been found 65 million years after their extinction preserved in a manner that allows archeologists to make good picture of their size and structure strongly suggests they were frozen alive into extinction.

Hurricane Storms

Hurricane storms are a common occurrence for certain regions of the world during their summer periods. They make landfall on islands and coastal regions often with devastating consequences. But why this pattern in summer and making of landfall?

During summer the sun is overhead in regions concerned. The sun’s heating effect on upper atmospheric air reduces the amount of cold air falling over earth. This allows earth’s heat to manifest further by heating lower atmospheric air thereby causing low air depression on land.
Because of fluidity of water which enables heat to be distributed rapidly across the horizon, ocean water surfaces do not experience as much heat concentration over specific regions as is the case with land. Water also has greater cooling effect compared to land and doesn’t allow intense heating of lower atmospheric air like land.

Rising warm air from land causes low air pressure or depression over land. The air pressure imbalances between land and sea surfaces trigger cold air moving from water to land. Warm air from land ascends vertically to higher levels then moves into the oceans at upper atmospheric levels while cold air from oceans move towards land at lower atmospheric levels.

Volcanic eruptions

Volcanos erupt when heat and pressure beneath the crust accumulate to levels sufficient to forcefully blow up the crustal matter lying above to allow the hot gases to escape and molten lava to flow out.

Since the planet generates heat continually which generate more pressure, eruptions provide the breathers through which such heat and pressure are released. By allowing the planet to discharge heat and pressure, a more disastrous occurrence of the crust splitting with consequences of causing an ice age is averted. Global temperatures have been observed to fall after volcanic eruptions indicating the vital role they play in global cooling and regulation of temperatures.

Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes have a close relationship. Before eruptions earthquakes often occur due to the pressure inside the volcano. When volcanos remain silent over time, frequent high magnitude earthquakes occur. The scenario changes after powerful eruptions where earthquakes become less frequent following the release of excess heat and pressure.

Ice ages

Ice ages are those periods in earth’s history with extensive ice coverage due to extremely low temperatures. Our planet has experienced several ice ages some major and others minor but their causes have never been explained satisfactorily. occurrence of ice ages.

The two heat sources relationship between planet earth and the sun adequately accounts for the occurrence of ice ages.
We need to take note of the following to understand how ice ages are triggered;

a) Ice ages affect the outer crust which is the coolest of the three main layers of earth's mass.
b) The crust constitute just about one percent of the earth's mass with the inner layers constituting 99% and are extremely hot.
c) Heat inside the planet increases over time and is only lost through volcanic eruptions.
d) Heat generates pressure and more heat generates more pressure which often cracks the crust to escape.

An ice age occurs when planet earth looses substantial amounts of heat through volcanic activities thereby remaining unable to transmit sufficient heat to the surface to warm the surrounding air. Such substantial heat loss is occasioned by the splitting of the earth’s crust under high pressure in the process of which a lot of heat is lost in to open space and some sea water gets to enter inner earth causing further cooling. This causes the air temperatures to fall significantly with resultant cooling effect on earth’s surface. The process that triggers ice ages also creates additional sea or seas and continent or continents..

From Pangaea to many continents

Earth began as a one continent planet – the Pangaea, but has since split into several. Skeletons of ancient marine species have been found in some of todays deserts implying these lands were under the sea at one point in time. another split

It is important to reimagine how earth’s surface has mutated over time and to project how it would look like after another split.

Because earth’s mass remains the same and water on its surface also remains more or less the same, it is likely that much of its surface remained under water in the one continent scenario. As the crust splits further under pressure from within, oceans and seas emerged as water increasingly receded to the cracks and valleys thereby allowing more land to ‘rise’ above water. It therefore follows that in the event of another split resulting in a new sea and continent, more land will ‘rise’ above sea level as more water sinks into the new sea. Sea surface will then fall to less than the current 70%.

Drought and famine

Drought and famine are other natural occurrences resulting from climate change that have been misunderstood. Droughts have become more common and frequent around the world.

Hot deserts which are the epitome of droughts are known to be expanding. Famine which implies inadequate or lack of food has characterised the occurrences of droughts because droughts eliminate the primary source of food which is vegetation.

Droughts occur where and when rains fail for extended periods of time. But the challenge has been in explaining why rains fail over some regions for longer periods and mitigation measures suggested or provided. Humans and their actions have been blamed for droughts and expansion of deserts while the mitigation measures suggested include increasing vegetation cover and limiting greenhouse gases emissions.

Droughts are natural processes not man made and hot deserts have been expanding since before Industrial Revolution. They have been in existence much longer and many places under deserts today were habitable several years back. Earth’s temperatures always keep rising until such a time when internal heat generates sufficient pressure to cause volcanic eruptions in the process of which some of the heat escape. Low altitude areas are usually prone to droughts because they experience intense heating due to their proximity to earth’s inner heat.

For rainfall to occur, two primary conditions must obtain. First, there must be water vapour in the atmosphere which warm temperatures help to generate. Second, the atmospheric temperatures must be sufficiently cool to allow for condensation of vapour into precipitation. This second condition is what usually lacks in regions experiencing droughts because temperatures in those regions prohibit condensation. Such high temperatures are caused by intense heat coming through the crust on to the surface eventually warming the atmosphere and is not humanity’s fault.

The sun is known to determine seasonal variations over earth’s surface. But sometimes earthly conditions inhibit the sun’s effect from manifesting itself in climatic patterns. An example is when the ground is too hot thus preventing rain from falling even during seasons well known to be rainy. Another example is when a massive volcanic eruption causes the planet to loose much heat so it rains even in seasons traditionally known to be dry as is the case with flash floods and El ninos.

Fissures on earth's surface

Fissures often develop on earth’s surface across different places. In Kenya’s Rift Valley these have become frequent whereby houses are damaged, homes are split, villages are separated and sometimes roads are rendered impassable.

But the explanations offered for their occurrence and the casual manner in which they are viewed is perplexing.

To understand the causes of fissures we need to take note of certain facts;
a) The planet’s surface is round meaning it is curved outwards at any point from the inner earth.
b) There is a force in the form of pressure acting from inside pushing outwards.
c) There is a limit to the amount of pressure or force the crustal plates can withstand before collapsing.

When excess force is applied on a rigid object then it will crack and break. If force is applied on a curved object from inside the curvature, then it will break resulting in a gape at the top while the bottom surfaces remain in contact due to forces acting in opposite direction which in this scenario is the weight of the crustal plates. If the upward force exceeds the force of weight, then the two pieces may separate completely with certain consequences.

One possible consequence is the formation of a valley when two sides are pushed apart and whatever pieces remaining at the center drop to a lower ground. Another possibility is volcanic eruption which may occur when the fissures allow for lava to flow out as was witnessed in Iceland’s Reykjavik region in 2024. So the emergence of fissures anywhere implies greater force acting beneath the surface the consequences of which can be devastating and catastrophic.

Lapse rate

Lapse rate is best captured by the common saying ‘the higher you go the cooler it becomes’. This is a statement of fact but does not explain why temperatures over earth fall with rising altitude and vice versa.

Lapse rate may look like a peculiar or bizarre phenomenon in circumstances where it is assumed that earth’s surface temperatures are largely determined by solar radiation. Some explanation has been skirted around pressure variations but such is neither factual nor scientific.

Common experience shows that it gets hotter or warmer as one approaches a source of heat but gets cooler as we move away. That inside the planet is extremely hot and that it’s heat increases with depth is not news. Research has also established that sun’s heat has very little direct effect on earthly temperatures. Lapse rate is therefore another confirmation that the main source of heat on earth’s surface is actually the inner earth.

Heatwaves and cities

Heatwaves have become more frequent, widespread and intense. These are some of the manifestations of global warming which is an aspect of climate change. A puzzle with heatwaves is why it appears to affect cities more than other places.

This observation has served to reinforce the notion that CO₂ emissions from industries in cities is responsible for global warming in general and heatwaves in particular.
While it is not in dispute that heatwaves are becoming more intense, frequent and widespread, the explanations given for the causes sound more mythical than scientific for three reasons. First, CO₂ or any other gases cannot act like heat valves by trapping heat and preventing it from travelling in certain directions. Second, cities are often built in low altitude zones as such areas are largely plain allowing for the development of infrastructure cities require. The third reason is that sun’s heating effect on earth is insignificant and climate change cannot be attributed to solar activity.

Because temperatures on earth’s surface are mainly determined by heat from inside the planet, it must be appreciated that at times heat seems more intense on certain zones resulting in heatwaves. This is one more reason why it is necessary to develop a new science and set of technologies to help us understand how geological occurrences affect temperatures in particular and climate in general.