This is going to be an uphill battle (international teacher's guide on comparing Japanese and British climates):
> "In the British case, even though the southernmost point of England lies some 300 miles north of the northernmost point of Japan, the Isles have significantly warmer winters, thanks to the Atlantic Ocean and its Gulf Stream, which carries warm equatorial water up the eastern seaboard of North America and thence eastward toward Ireland. This warmer water raises the temperature of westerly surface winds enough so that the Isles experience ample cold, winter rain but very little snow."
The article doesn't go into the basics of gyre formation in the ocean basins, which is driven by the Coriolis force and the global atmospheric circulation, but western intensification boundary currents (e.g. Gulf Stream) arise from that physical phenomena, and thus the Gulf Stream wouldn't be 'shut down' by large glacial meltwater releases, at most it would just be pushed south.
P.S. Land permafrost likely sequesters at least as much carbon as the deep ocean does during ice ages, and the whole 'oceanic conveyor belt' theory of how atmospheric CO2 drops during ice ages isn't as solid as some claim.
Wouldn't this same effect also lead to more potential hurricanes in the Isles as oceans continue to warm? I'm thinking something like Acapulco where Hurricane Otis rapidly progressed from a mild storm to a Cat 5 hurricane due to warm waters.
Strangely, though, the UK hasn't had too many hurricanes in its history, which is why I'm curious.
Edit: I may have answered my own question. Even with a higher likelihood of storms, I think the mountainous and hilly topography makes it hard for storms to really hit the UK, which might be why there have been few hurricanes in the past.
Hurricanes need warm water to form and sustain themselves - not just relatively warm but absolutely warm. Like, 26 C. Minimum. Which doesn’t happen in the waters off the UK, Ireland, and France.
>Our conclusion was that the large difference in winter temperature between western Europe and eastern North America was caused about equally by the contrast between the maritime climate on one side and the continental climate on the other, and by the large-scale waviness set up by air flow over the Rocky Mountains.
Huh, when I started the article, the Rocky Mountains being the cause might have been the last thing I guessed.
I always thought it was due to the Sahara, I often read about how Sahara sands turn European cities Orange during sandstorms, you'd think the same could be said about the weather
We get the orange dump from time to time but its not like we get it often.
The one time last year? it fell on winter snow was the only time I recall in last decade+, and on glaciers this layer is still clearly visible. Not many others imprinted there, just few from past decades.
It's an interesting article but I have to say that I've come out of it without any clear answer other than "the gulf stream would give a few degrees difference at max"
The article explained that there are two roughly equal drivers: (1) Water is a better heat reserve than land, and winds tend to blow eastwards, so Europe gets air warmed by the sea and the US east coat gets colder air that's come from the land. (2) The joint effect of the altitude of the Rockies and the angular rotation of the earth mean that air currents are southeast over the Rockies and then northeast, so arctic air gets pulled down and then pushed back up over the US east coast.
Or in short: Western Europe's climate is what you would expect from a place close to an ocean. Especially when by Europe you mean the island that's Great Britain. It's the US East coast that's weird, with a climate that's a lot more continental than you would naively expect.
Does that mean that the air in Europe is warmed by the other seawater that is not part of the gulfstream myth and the cold arctic air gets pushed back to US while the warmer air stays in Europe? So in reality the mild weather in Europe is a result of the angular rotation of planet earth in combination with the Rockies altitude?
Yes, but the overall difference is more than a dozen degrees. Nearly all of it is accounted by the maritime weather (i.e. wind blowing from the water, which has more moderate variations in temperature than land) and by the "waving" of the prevailing winds caused by mountains in North America, which just so happens cause the winds to go south over land, and then turn Northeast over the Atlantic, bringing warm air to Europe... the relative contribution of the Atlantic Conveyor is much smaller than these other two.
I will not cease from Mental Fight,
Nor shall my Sword sleep in my hand:
Till we have built Jerusalem,
In England's green & pleasant Land.
The British, broadly speaking, are familiar with this quotation (the poem was set as a popular hymn); when they refer to the climate as pleasant, it's somewhat tongue-in-cheek.
England does have a pleasant climate, rather conducive to human life, both globally and especially among its peer latitude locations. Is your quip that it's dreary and rainy often?
Quebec is pretty big so this doesn’t tell the whole story. To picture it as an American, travel from dC to Boston (known for its cold winters). Then keep going the same direction for the same distance again. You’re deep into the northern wilderness, but at the same latitude as the UK, which has a comparably balmy climate.
Have you ever been to anywhere in North America at the same latitude as Amsterdam? Summer gets above 30 C and winter gets below -10 C, with frequent extreme weather events like thunderstorms, wildfires, "nor'easter" blizzards, even hurricanes once every few decades. European weather at the same latitude is comparatively much more moderate.
"9 meses de invierno y 3 de infierno" (9 months of winter and 3 of hell) - an old saying from my old city in Mainland Spain. -5C in winter, 40C in summer. Also thunderstorms, golf-ball sized hailstorms, prolongued droughs and quite a few wildfires.
Is this valid also for places in US directly next to oceans? IMHO ocean shores are pretty mild in places all over the world in those lattitudes I've visited.
We also have harsh dry continental weather in Europe, you just have to move a bit more east, Russia starts to have its meteorological say.
Ie my own Slovakia has generally much lower humidity compared to say Switzerland or France, summers and winters and everything in between. Younger back home I've skied in -30C, and also experienced above 30 regularly during summers.
This is coming from decade and a half spending here in the western Europe. Coming home say on Christmas is always quite a shock for my breathing aparatus, more humidity simplifies breathing and infections.
It's one reason why parts of California are so attractive to a lot of people. By their lights, no place else in the US (or Canada) has an acceptable climate year-round.
Readit News
> "In the British case, even though the southernmost point of England lies some 300 miles north of the northernmost point of Japan, the Isles have significantly warmer winters, thanks to the Atlantic Ocean and its Gulf Stream, which carries warm equatorial water up the eastern seaboard of North America and thence eastward toward Ireland. This warmer water raises the temperature of westerly surface winds enough so that the Isles experience ample cold, winter rain but very little snow."
The article doesn't go into the basics of gyre formation in the ocean basins, which is driven by the Coriolis force and the global atmospheric circulation, but western intensification boundary currents (e.g. Gulf Stream) arise from that physical phenomena, and thus the Gulf Stream wouldn't be 'shut down' by large glacial meltwater releases, at most it would just be pushed south.
P.S. Land permafrost likely sequesters at least as much carbon as the deep ocean does during ice ages, and the whole 'oceanic conveyor belt' theory of how atmospheric CO2 drops during ice ages isn't as solid as some claim.
Strangely, though, the UK hasn't had too many hurricanes in its history, which is why I'm curious.
Edit: I may have answered my own question. Even with a higher likelihood of storms, I think the mountainous and hilly topography makes it hard for storms to really hit the UK, which might be why there have been few hurricanes in the past.
In other words: In Hertford, Hereford and Hampshire, hurricanes hardly ever happen.
Huh, when I started the article, the Rocky Mountains being the cause might have been the last thing I guessed.
The one time last year? it fell on winter snow was the only time I recall in last decade+, and on glaciers this layer is still clearly visible. Not many others imprinted there, just few from past decades.
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Anyone know the answer?
Two sentences in and I already have a thousand questions.
Nobody (edit: here) would call it 'pleasant' right now
Fingers crossed for a 35c-40c heat wave in summer ... what with our uninsulated houses without AC !
After I moved there, I don't understand the trope. It's extremely windy and humid.
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Snowfall is fairly uncommon and the average is maybe 10-inches a year in Amsterdam. Summers are fairly moderate.
So, yes, I would say it had a mild climate compared to most places. If you're looking at Mediterranean climates, there are very few of those.
Is that extreme enough by your standards?
We also have harsh dry continental weather in Europe, you just have to move a bit more east, Russia starts to have its meteorological say.
Ie my own Slovakia has generally much lower humidity compared to say Switzerland or France, summers and winters and everything in between. Younger back home I've skied in -30C, and also experienced above 30 regularly during summers.
This is coming from decade and a half spending here in the western Europe. Coming home say on Christmas is always quite a shock for my breathing aparatus, more humidity simplifies breathing and infections.