Related papers: Water vapor and the dynamics of climate changes
Life is a planetary feature that depends on its environment, but it has also strongly shaped the physical conditions on Earth, having created conditions highly suitable for a productive biosphere. Clearly, the second law of thermodynamics…
There are four different stable climate states for pure water atmospheres, as might exist on so-called "waterworlds". I map these as a function of solar constant for planets ranging in size from Mars size to 10 Earth-mass. The states are:…
The size and composition distribution of an ensemble of aqueous organic droplets, evolving via nucleation and concomitant chemical aging, may be affected by the latent heat of condensation and enthalpy of heterogeneous chemical reactions,…
About 4000 exoplanets have been confirmed since the year of 1992, and for most of the planets, the main parameters that can be measured are planetary radius and mass. Based on these two parameters, surface gravity can be estimated. In this…
Heat flow is an important constraint on planetary formation and evolution. It has been suggested that Martian obliquity cycles might cause periodic collapses in atmospheric pressure, leading to corresponding decreases in regolith thermal…
The influence of the thermal expansion of the Earth's atmosphere on the stability of vertical stratification of fluid density and temperature is studied. We show that such an influence leads to the instability of incompressible flows.…
The ultimate climate emergency is a "runaway greenhouse": a hot and water vapour rich atmosphere limits the emission of thermal radiation to space, causing runaway warming. Warming ceases only once the surface reaches ~1400K and emits…
How phase transitions affect the motion of moist atmospheric air remains controversial. In the early 2000s two distinct differential equations of motion were proposed. Besides their contrasting formulations for the acceleration of…
We present three-dimensional numerical simulations of the atmospheric dynamics of close-orbiting planets such as HD209458b. Our simulations show that winds of several km/sec and day-night temperature differences reaching 500-1000 K are…
Scale invariance property in the global geometry of Earth may lead to a coupled interactive behaviour between various components of the climate system. One of the most interesting correlations exists between spatial statistics of the global…
Urban areas are known for their complex atmospheric environments, with the building morphology having a significant impact on local climate patterns, air quality, and overall urban microclimate. Understanding the heat transport and fluid…
The winter polar vortices on Mars are annular in terms of their potential vorticity (PV) structure, a phenomenon identified in observations, reanalysis and some numerical simulations. Some recent modeling studies have proposed that…
Condensed matter is thermodynamically unstable in a vacuum. That is what thermodynamics tells us through the relation showing that condensed matter at temperatures above absolute zero always has non-zero vapour pressure. This instability…
Understanding surface temperature is important for habitability. Recent work on Mars has found that the dependence of surface temperature on elevation (surface lapse rate) converges to zero in the limit of a thin CO2 atmosphere. However,…
Uranus provides a unique laboratory to test our understanding of planetary atmospheres under extreme conditions. Multi-spectral observations from Voyager, ground-based observatories, and space telescopes have revealed a delicately banded…
Transiting planets provide a unique opportunity to study the atmospheres of extra-solar planets. Radiative hydrodynamical models of the atmosphere provide a crucial link between the physical characteristics of the atmosphere and the…
Rotational dynamics of the Earth, over geological timescales, have profoundly affected local and global climatic evolution, probably contributing to the evolution of life. To better retrieve the Earth's rotational history, and motivated by…
The Sun's outer atmosphere is heated to temperatures of millions of degrees, and solar plasma flows out into interplanetary space at supersonic speeds. This paper reviews our current understanding of these interrelated problems: coronal…
We show that the atmospheric and magnetic height variations are coupled in general MHS equilibria with gravity when isolated thin non-force-free flux tubes are present. In gas-dominated environments, as in stellar photospheres, flux tubes…
The inner edge of the classical habitable zone is often defined by the critical flux needed to trigger the runaway greenhouse instability. This 1D notion of a critical flux, however, may not be so relevant for inhomogeneously irradiated…