Epic Encounters: Aurora Borealis, Tornadoes, and the Astonishing Power of Nature
By Sophia Maddox | April 6, 2024
Hurricanes: The Most Powerful Storm Systems on Earth
Prepare to be enchanted as we explore the awe-inspiring wonders of our planet. From the spellbinding dance of the aurora borealis to the dramatic spectacle of a total solar eclipse, Earth's natural sights never fail to captivate. But amidst the beauty lies the raw power of nature, as hurricanes and tornadoes remind us of its relentless force. Yet, in the midst of chaos, there's also harmony – the gentle whispers of nacreous clouds and the ethereal glow of fogbows. Join us as we delve into the extraordinary, where every photo is a testament to the breathtaking marvels our world beholds. Let's embark on this journey together and marvel at the sheer magnificence of Earth's natural wonders!
Hurricanes generate incredibly powerful winds, which are in excess of 74 miles per hour. Some of these storm systems have winds that can reach speeds of over 157 miles per hour. They are also massive and can cover regions hundreds of miles across. In addition, the combination of high winds and low air pressure causes the ocean to swell in height as much as 25 feet.
Climate change has intensified hurricanes. They're formed by air rising over warm ocean water, and as the climate warms, ocean temperatures increase, leading to storms with more energy.
Luckily, scientists have gotten better at tracking hurricanes, although their paths are still significantly unpredictable. In addition, the lead time is often insufficient to make complete preparations for the hurricane's arrival.
While hurricanes are incredibly intense storm systems, there's a small eye in the center of each one, which is extremely calm and often free of clouds. You can see the eye clearly in this photo. While this small eye is overhead, the wind stops, and the skies often clear. This period is very short-lived, though, so it is dangerous to go outdoors during the eye of the hurricane.
Sinkholes: Sudden Openings of the Earth's Surface
Sinkholes are formed when the surface layer of the ground collapses into an underground tunnel or cavern as you can see in this image. These holes often fill with rainwater, which can cause a pond to form. There are different ways that sinkholes can be created, but erosion is the most common mechanism. Groundwater can erode rock beneath the surface, and this creates an opening under the surface that grows rapidly. This erosion can eventually cause a sinkhole to appear on the surface.
In other cases, sinkholes can be formed as surface water causes erosion and makes its way underground. The sinkhole is created after the surface water enters an underground tunnel or cavern.
However, sinkholes often do not open up into an underground cavern or tunnel. That's because the material leading to the collapse often blocks the tunnel. In some cases, there is actually an opening into a cavern or tunnel at the bottom of the sinkhole. Some examples of sinkholes that have an opening into a cavern are the Minye Sinkhole in Papua New Guinea and the Cedar Sink in Mammoth Cave National Park.
Lightning Strikes: One of the Most Powerful Forces on Earth
Lightning is an incredibly powerful force; a single lightning strike has enough electricity to power a small town for an entire day. While it is not practical to harvest this energy, the Earth's thunderstorms generate a vast amount of electrical energy. Lightning strikes somewhere on Earth approximately eight million times per day. This lightning event pictured here was captured in rural Lancaster County, NE, in 2015.
While lightning is quite commonplace, it can also be dangerous. While human injuries caused by lightning strikes are relatively rare, it's important to remain inside during a thunderstorm. Furthermore, lightning can damage structures and cause power outages. When it occurs without rainfall, it can cause wildfires, and these strikes are a common cause of fires in the American West.
While lightning is most common in warm-weather thunderstorms, it can also occasionally occur during strong winter storms. These lightning strikes are often reported to produce a longer-lasting thunderclap than lightning that occurs during summer storms.
The Destructive Power of Tsunamis
Tsunamis are extremely large waves created by earthquakes. They can reach heights of 40 feet or more and cause serious damage when they come ashore. However, the highest tsunamis have reached heights of several hundred feet. The highest tsunami actually reached a height of more than 1,700 feet. This one occurred in Lituya Bay, AK, following a large landslide.
In other cases, tsunamis are actually quite small. In some cases, they can be approximately a foot high or so. Even a small tsunami can be extremely forceful and easily knock someone over. That's because they travel very quickly; tsunamis can travel at speeds as high as 500 miles per hour over open water.
The ocean often withdraws before the tsunami arrives. The wave hits shortly after, typically giving people onshore only a small amount of lead time to get to higher ground.
Glaciers Break Apart in a Process Known as Glacial Calving
As glacial ice cracks due to thawing and refreezing or its motion forward, sections of the ice can sometimes crack off at the glacier's terminus. These chunks of ice can fall extremely rapidly. The cracks can travel across the surface of the ice at speeds as high as 80 miles per hour. If the ice falls off into a body of water, it can cause large, dangerous waves to form. In addition, glacial calving is the primary source of oceanic icebergs, which can be extremely dangerous to ships.
The Striking Beauty of Nacreous Clouds
live science/Ramunė Šapailaitė
Check out the unusual, rainbow-like appearance of nacreous clouds that form in the Earth's stratosphere. This is above the atmosphere's lowest layer, where weather events occur. These clouds are located at heights of 49,000-82,000 feet, meaning they're lit by the sun during the early twilight phase. If the sun hits these clouds at a low angle, it causes them to take on a rainbow-like appearance.
While their appearance is striking and beautiful, these clouds can also damage the Earth's ozone layer. Furthermore, scientists believe that climate change contributes to their formation. That's because the troposphere swells as the temperature warms. This pushes the air in the stratosphere upward, which causes water vapor to cool and condense. As a result, stratospheric (nacreous) clouds can be formed.
These clouds are typically visible at high latitudes. Most sightings occur at latitudes between 50 and 60 degrees. They're also being sighted at lower latitudes than they were in the past, which is thought to be due to climate change. Also, they're often seen in mountainous areas because mountain ranges tend to push air upward. This can lead to the formation of these clouds in the upper atmosphere.
Partial and Total Solar Eclipses
If the moon passes between the Earth and the sun, it causes a solar eclipse, which is when the sun is blocked by the moon. A partial solar eclipse, as shown in this photograph, occurs when the face of the sun is only partly behind the moon. To view a partial solar eclipse safely, you'll need eye protection like eclipse glasses or shade 13-14 welder's glass to view the sun safely.
In a total eclipse, the sun is completely hidden. The sky becomes dark during daylight hours when totality occurs. You can actually see stars in the darkened daytime sky. As with during a partial eclipse, it's safer to view a total solar eclipse through eclipse glasses or filters.
The period of time that the sun is covered by the moon during a total eclipse is quite brief. It only lasts a few minutes, whereas the eclipse's partial phases last much longer. The sun can be partially covered by the moon for approximately two hours.
Volcanic Eruptions From the Fiery Interior of the Earth
The material inside of the Earth is heated to thousands of degrees, which causes the Earth's rocky interior to be molten. This molten rock (magma) is under immense amounts of pressure and can erupt to the surface in volcanic eruptions as you can see here. Not only does molten rock come to the surface, but cooled magma turns into ash and small pieces of rock. This debris falls on areas near the volcano, and it can cause extensive damage.
Volcanoes are formed when one plate slides underneath another. The displacement of magma causes the molten material under the crust to come up through the surface.
Beautiful Displays of the Aurora Borealis
Vitaliy Novikov via Royal Meteorological Society / Natural History Museum
The aurora borealis is generated when charged particles from the sun reach the Earth's magnetic field. As the particles hit the field, they're funneled toward the poles, which leads them to the upper layers of Earth's atmosphere. This causes the air molecules to glow, and the glowing air can be observed from the surface of the Earth as an aurora. These displays include bands of color, which can be red, green, blue, and purple.
Auroras are typically visible between latitudes 60 and 75. If solar activity is especially high, though, they can be seen from significantly lower latitudes. If the sun is especially active, auroras can be seen from as far south as the mid-Atlantic states of the U.S.
The Incredible Power of Tornadoes
Tornadoes are powerful vortices of wind that are spawned by thunderstorms, and they can only form under certain conditions. In order for a tornado to form, upper-level winds must flow in a different direction than those near the surface. This causes columns of air that are lifted up by the thunderstorm to rotate.
The wind speeds inside a tornado commonly reach more than 100 miles per hour. The strongest ones have winds in excess of 300 mph. This photograph shows this powerful natural phenomenon up close.
Fortunately, scientists have gotten much better at predicting tornadoes ahead of time. Unfortunately, the lead time is typically relatively small. That's because meteorologists can only predict tornadoes approximately one to seven hours in advance. But, it often cannot be predicted exactly where they will travel. That's because their paths are quite unpredictable and can change rapidly.
Meteor Showers Create a Dazzling Spectacle in the Night Sky
This image shows the natural beauty of meteor showers. These occur when the Earth enters a stream of particles that come from a comet. These particles strike the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere and burn up. This causes them to streak through the skies. While the falling meteors can create quite a stunning display, they typically are only the size of a grain of sand. The reason why they create such a striking display is that they enter the atmosphere at an extremely high rate of speed. In fact, the meteors strike the Earth at speeds of 25,000-160,000 miles per hour.
Dust Devils Occur in Deserts All Over the World
Dust devils are small vortices that pop up in desert regions as shown here. They can also occur on an airport tarmac if conditions are dry. They occur when the wind forms eddies, which pick up small particles of dust. These small vortices typically have fairly low wind speeds, which means that they don't tend to cause damage.
They generally occur when the sun is highest in the sky. This is because they're formed by air rising off the heated ground. As a result, they typically develop on hot, sunny days.
Ordinary dust devils are between 10 and 300 feet wide and reach heights of 500-1,000 feet. They usually last for approximately 20 minutes. However, strong dust devils can cause some damage. In fact, wind speeds in the strongest dust devils can reach upward of 60-70 miles per hour. These dust devils can reach heights of several thousand feet and last for an hour or more.
Waterspouts: Tornado-Like Funnels That Appear Over Water
This picture shows a waterspout that popped up over Tampa Bay in 2013. While some waterspouts are tornadoes that have simply formed over water (or passed over a body of water), there are other ways that they can form. It's much more common for them to form as a weaker rotating column of water that is lifted into the air. These weakly rotating columns of air often form underneath a large cumulus or cumulonimbus (thunderstorm) cloud
These waterspouts tend to have wind speeds that are significantly weaker than tornadoes; they rarely reach speeds greater than 67 miles per hour. Thus, they tend not to cause severe damage. In most cases, they do not suck up water, either. Rather, the funnel cloud is typically caused by condensation. These waterspouts can occur over lakes or the ocean.
Waterspouts that are caused by a tornado that passes over water do suck up water. The winds within these vortices are much stronger and comparable to tornadoes passing over land. The winds within these waterspouts can often reach speeds in excess of 100 miles per hour.
Mudslides Cause Devastation in Mountainous Regions
Look upon the devastating power of a mudslide, which can occur in mountainous areas after heavy rainfall. They can also occur when there has been extensive snow melting or even due to a volcanic eruption. They cause large areas of the ground to slide down a slope. This can bury everything in their path with a layer of sediment, which can be quite deep.
They can also travel fairly rapidly at speeds of up to 5 meters per second, which is approximately five times faster than the average walking speed. Other mudslides can travel much more slowly at speeds of only 3 meters per minute. The speed of a mudslide is determined by the angle of the slope it's traveling on and the conditions that create it.
Mudslides are most likely to occur in regions that are not heavily forested. That's because trees' roots tend to hold them back. Also, channels formed by streams and rivers can be prone to mudslides, especially if they lack vegetation. In addition, human activity can also make them more likely to occur if trees and/or other forms of plant life are removed from a mountain slope.
Frost Quakes Cause Light Shaking of the Ground During Cold Weather
Frost quakes occur when the ground thaws and then refreezes during the winter. This process causes cracks in the ground to rapidly expand, which can generate a form of small-scale seismic activity. These quakes can cause loud sounds and shaking, but they do not tend to cause damage. In many cases, there's no visible evidence that they even occurred except for the cracks in the ground.
They only occur in regions of the world that experience extreme cold, such as the northeastern and upper midwestern states in the U.S. However, the temperature must drop from near the freezing point to 0 degrees or lower over a period of 16-48 hours.
Partial and Total Lunar Eclipses
This image shows a lunar eclipse, which occurs when the Earth passes between the moon and the sun, creating a shadow on the moon's surface. A lunar eclipse is a solar eclipse that occurs on the moon. This spectacular sight usually lasts for around two hours. While the moon is significantly darkened during this phase, it is not completely black. This is because light is bent by Earth's atmosphere, which allows some sunlight to reach the moon's surface. As a result, the eclipsed moon typically has an orange, red, or gold color. The specific color of the moon during a total lunar eclipse depends on conditions within Earth's atmosphere.
During a partial eclipse, the moon is partially covered by the Earth's shadow for longer. In fact, the partial phase of the eclipse can last for several hours. The partial phase typically appears as a small "bite" out of the lit surface of the moon. Then, it progresses to a crescent-like appearance before totality is reached.
Sandstorms Occur in Arid Regions
Not only do sandstorms come with intense winds, but fast-moving dust particles can also cause eye irritation and coughing. Exposure to dust for long periods of time can be dangerous to human health. Prolonged exposure without protection can even lead to blindness and asphyxiation. In addition, they can destroy topsoil, which can have detrimental effects on agriculture.
These storms are common in the Sahara, the Gobi Desert, the Australian Outback, the Middle East and Central Asia. However, they can occur in the deserts of North America as well, though less frequently. This crazy photo depicts a sandstorm hitting Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia.
The Intriguing Beauty of Fogbows
Scott Robertson via Royal Meteorological Society / Natural History Museum
Fog can cause rainbows to occur. This is because light is diffracted by the water vapor in the air. It's important to note that the appearance of fogbows is often different than rainbows that occur after a storm. Fogbows typically have a much more muted color as you can see in this picture. That's because the fog typically blocks a certain amount of sunlight.
If the layer of fog is relatively thin, they can still be somewhat dramatic. In most cases, red is the predominant color. The other colors of the rainbow can also be observed, but they typically cover a much smaller area. Most layers of fog are far too thick for sufficient sunlight to reach the ground to form a fogbow, though. As a result, they are relatively rare.
Fire Whirls Increase the Devastation of Wildfires
Wildfires generate tremendous amounts of heat, and intensely heated columns of air can be lifted into a tornado-like formation, which is called a fire whirl. Due to the fact that there is fire inside these vortices, they can spread wildfires and can destroy anything in their path. The strongest fire whirls have wind speeds that can reach more than 100 miles per hour.
These vortices can cause severe wind damage in addition to fire damage. Furthermore, they can spread fires. Some of the largest fire whirls can last for 20 minutes or longer, and this gives them enough time to cover a fairly large area.
Double Rainbows: A Rare and Beautiful Sight to Behold
Double rainbows exclusively occur after a heavy rainfall. As with other rainbows, they are formed as water on the ground evaporates when the sun comes out. The water vapor in the air causes sunlight to be diffracted, and this separates the colors within the sunlight.
Double rainbows do require a very specific angle of the sun to hit the water droplets in the air. This makes them an incredibly rare and spectacular sight. So, if you see one, be sure to take a photo!
