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Climate change review for a scientist

I am a Ph.D student in Computer Science and Statistical Genetics. I recently became very interested in climate change, for obvious reasons. I would like to use my solid scientific and statistical background in order to get a good grasp of the models…
R S
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How to measure elevation above sea level

Elevation is often measured in terms of "[unit of length] above sea level." Considering that the oceans aren't a uniform height, how is this measured?
user6422
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The motion of tides

I found this animation from a satellite: which shows the motion and elevation of tides on a certain date. Can you find an animation of a date when there is a spring tide? my question is as follows: since the earth moves toward the East, tides…
user6402
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1 answer

Melting basalt on the lunar surface - what would the resulting material be like?

The idea is to melt the fine-grain portion of basalt regolith using a large Fresnel lens, and let it cool to a solid. The lens would track along a tamped bed of material leaving a molten puddle something like 2 cm thick. This would be done on top of…
kim holder
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Do winds behave like waves?

Like a sound wave, there are compressed and dilated regions in the air. But do compressed regions also occur in winds. If one considers squalls, they feel like a compressed region of air. Perhaps they are too great to be considered as a kind of…
Marijn
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Publicly available data set with ensemble forecasts and observations?

I am looking for a publicly available, easy to download, small data set of ensemble forecasts (or reforecasts), with corresponding observations or reanalysis. We are planning to illustrate some methods for a small software package, so ideally, the…
user3825755
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Is there a map that displays every country at its correct relative size?

I know that the standard Mercator projection is completely wrong when it comes to the relative sizes of countries (Greenland appears relatively much larger than in reality, for example). AFAIK they do this because the focus of Mercator isn't…
user6194
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Is Cape Canaveral really the lightning capital of the US?

Today's SpaceX webcast featured an interesting quote, that Cape Canaveral is the lightning capital of the US. Is that really the case? If not, how does it compare in lightning strikes to other areas in the US?
PearsonArtPhoto
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What's the difference between topography and orography?

Both seem to be a study of a planet's surface. Topography seems to have more to do with the graphical depiction of surface features, but there seems to be a lot of overlap...
naught101
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Clouds moving in opposite directions

Today driving to work I saw a small, isolated horse's mane cloud at about 2000 feet. Directly above it was a small strato-cumulous cloud at 4000 feet and and they were moving in opposite directions. The horse's mane was moving north and the…
Tyler Durden
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If I could drill a hole into the mantle, would it form a volcano?

Suppose I could drill a hole to mantle at any arbitrary point in the crust, will magma start to rise from the hole and finally become a volcano?
Gstestso
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Does the amount of energy released from burning of fossil fuels have a measurable impact on global warming?

I understand that the main issue of global warming is greenhouse gases that trap solar energy instead of allowing it to bounce back into space. That being said, I've always had this impression or idea that the amount of energy released from burning…
Sidney
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What is the difference between a "flood" and a "flash flood"?

Whenever weather warnings come up, I have heard of both a flood watch/warning and a flash flood watch/warning. What is the difference between a "flood" and a "flash flood"? Are there any specific meteorological/weather forecasting patterns that…
user402
8
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1 answer

Can earthquakes affect the atmosphere?

Recently an earthquake of magnitude 6.9 shook the northeastern region of India, where I live. After the earthquake, the climate has changed dramatically resulting in excessive hail showers, thunderstorms and heavy rain, continuously for 11 days…
Kushal Bhuyan
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Details on Ocean floor

Taking for example the attached image, when looking at the ocean floor, there appears to be areas (strips, some of which I have drawn red lines by) of greater detail. Is this accurate detail? From ships that have passed over the area?
Al Lelopath
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