RECENT CHANGES IN THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IN VASLUI
Journal Title: Present Environment and Sustainable Development - Year 2010, Vol 4, Issue 4
Abstract
A thunderstorm (also called an electrical storm) is a form of weather characterized by the presence of lightning and its attendant thunder, produced from a cumulonimbus cloud. Thunderstorms form when significant condensation (resulting in the production of a wide range of water droplets and ice crystals) occurs in an atmosphere that is unstable and supports deep, rapid upward motion. This appears in the presence of three conditions: sufficient moisture accumulated in the lower atmosphere, reflected by high temperatures; a significant fall in air temperature with increasing height (steep adiabatic lapse rate); and a force such as mechanical convergence along a cold front to focus the lift. The process to initiate vertical lifting can be caused by: (1) unequal warming of the surface of the Earth, (2) orographic lifting due to topographic obstruction of airflow, and (3) dynamic lifting created by the presence of a frontal zone. As an intricate part of the global climatic system, thunderstorms pattern and activity are highly susceptible to anthropogenic climate change, and recent observation concerning thunderstorms in Vaslui seems to support this connection. But even if this is only a temporary period of anomaly, a cyclic variation or the beginning of a trend prone to continue in the future, the period spanning more than 22 years analyzed in this paper (1985-2006), deserve some more in depth research, because of the significant and rapid developments in thunderstorm activity, and also considering the ackground: this interval contains the top 17 hottest years ever recorded in the instrumental meteorology era. In addition, the fact that the changes in thunderstorm activity can be clearly linked to the significant changes in the way precipitations fall in the warm season, opens a new way in which the ferocity and destructive force of recent extreme weather phenomena can be explained, and ultimately predicted .
Authors and Affiliations
Mihai Florin Necula
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP150187
- DOI -
- Views 105
- Downloads 0
VULNERABILITY TO WATER SCARCITY IN MOLDOVA: LIKELY THREATS FOR FUTURE DEVELOPMENT
The present paper analyses vulnerability to water insufficiency for population and economy in the republic of Moldavia, taken into consideration through its impact on the aquatic resources. The worsening of the present s...
THE COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE THERMAL REGIME IN THE RUCĂR-BRAN CORRIDOR AND THE PRAHOVA-TIMIŞ CORRIDOR
Comparative analysis of thermal regime in the Rucăr-Bran Corridor and the Prahova-Timiş Corridor. The authors analyze the thermal regime of two close corridors – one in the mountains and one in a valley; the first one –...
RAMAT HOVAV INDUSTRIAL PARK IN THE NEGEV DESERT– ISRAEL
La principale direction dans le développement industriel de l`Israël est représente par la mise en scène des parcs industriels, ayant plusieurs entreprises dotées avec des technologies modernes et en respectant les no...
DEFINING CRITICAL AREAS THROUGH DISPERSION AND DENSITY OF VEGETATION INDEX IN RELATION TO POPULATION. STUDY CASE: IAŞI CITY
In this study the spatial distribution of green areas and the correlation of these with population density in the built up area of Iasi city have been investigated and evaluated. In order to do so, interconnections betwe...
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE FOREST FUND IN IASI COUNTY, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO THE FOREST WARDS OF IASI AND CIUREA
In the forest wards in Iasi County, several management units are differentiated: regular forest, gardening forest, poplar and willow crops selected for furniture, poplar and willow crops selected for pulp and timber, for...