Transcripts

Matthys Levy:
For instance when Columbus discovered America he was really an awfully lucky guy because he happen to come during hurricane season and yet he missed the hurricanes. In effect you can say, "Well that's one way which weather has changed history."

Matthys Levy, author of the book Why the Wind Blows A History of Weather and Global Warming explains why the wind blows.

The earth is heated by the sun and the sun doesn't heat the earth uniformly but it heats the equator more than it does the artic. So what happens is there are temperature differences that are created. And those temperature differences want to ameliorate. The hot winds try to go to the cold, the cold tries to go to the hot and these create winds.

Ever wonder why it rains?

You know rain occurs when a cloud becomes so super saturated that is it has more humidity than it possibly can hold so then it begins to shed that humidity and that comes down in little droplets that finally fall as rain.

And why have hurricanes become more severe recently?

A hurricane generally forms over warm water because it gets its energy from the warm water. What's happening today is because the ocean is getting warmer, the hurricanes are becoming much more intense than they were in the past.

At somethingyoushouldknow.net I'm Mike Carruthers and that's Something You Should Know.