Tuesday 10 March 2015

Day 129 - Complex Clouds Part 2

Hi all today's Day 129 and yesterday I started a short series called Complex Clouds. Today is part 2 and I just wanted to mention the support I got yesterday about my cloud post. Lots of people were 'Tweeting' me saying how they like to watch clouds and seeing the shapes form in the clouds. I myself like doing this on a long drive somewhere.

So, let's get on with the facts;

  • Yesterday I talked about the different main types of clouds that there are , Cumulus, Cirrus and Stratus. They are named appropriately as you can see in the facts below but before that I will remind you that Cumulus are the Cotton in the sky, Cirrus are the short, wispy ones and Stratus are the large, featureless ones.
  • As I said above, each main cloud type is very aptly named, Cumulus means pile or heap, Cirrus means ringlet which is something in someone's hair and Stratus means layer.
  • As I said in my last post, all planets with an atmosphere have clouds. I also said that Venus has clouds of Sulphur Dioxide, well, it turns out that both Jupiter and Saturn have clouds of ammonia or NH3.
  • A good way to tell what the weather will be is by looking for any white Cirrus clouds. If you see one it means that there won't be any rain or snow.
  • In my last post on clouds I didn't mention what Earth's clouds were made up of. Most people will probably know this but clouds are made up of water.
  • There is something called the water cycle which is how it rains and how clouds are formed it goes like this:
  • A: Evaporation, the water heats up and floats into the atmosphere B: Evapotranspiration, the water from soil and plants goes into the atmosphere C: Condensation, the water vapour created in the previous stages liquefies and turns into rain or snow depending on the temperature. You can see a NASA video on this below:
  • Have you ever hated working days? Well now you have a good reason to! Working days cause more clouds because of different gas-creators such as cars and trucks. These clouds then cause rain which can put a dampener (get it?) on your weekend.
Here are some links to some more information:



Hope you enjoyed,

Z.

4 comments:

  1. Really interesting, more gorgeous photos and I really enjoyed the video you added too. Great post! - Tasha

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  2. Zach,


    I'm so glad you've had such a good response on Twitter to your postings on clouds.


    Really wanted to say how much I enjoy your nature blog, especially the latest ones on clouds - I knew there was a reason I hated workdays so much :-) Another reason is that I don't get enough time to sit and read your blog, I usually have to wait until the weekend when I have to cram all sorts of other things in.


    I think you've really got into your stride here and your blog just keeps on getting better. Your blogs are never too long (some bloggers do go on a bit), you have a good balance between facts and comments, and they are well illustrated. Oh, the jokes are really dreadful, and there just aren't enough of them!

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    Replies
    1. That's very kind Roy I'm glad you enjoy my posts and you like the style. I'll try harder to include more bad jokes :-)

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