FACTS YOU MAY NOT KNOW
Alaska & Polar Bears
- In the dead of winter, Alaska can get to 60 degrees below zero.
- In July there are 20 hours of sunshine.
- The scientific name of polar bear is Ursus maritimus.
- A polar bear cleans ifself on snow by pressing forward on its belly and rolls around on its back.
- About 40% of the world's polar bears live in Canada.
- One bear can devour 200 ground squirrels in one summer.
- When cub bears come out of their dens, they are 5 months old.
Severe Weather
- Nature's 3 most powerful storms are tornado, hurricane and thunderstorm.
- At any given moment there are 2200 thunderstorms ocurring on Earth.
- Most of them occur in tropical regions.
- Along with rain or other precipotation, a thunderstorm usually unleashes heavy winds, thunder and lightning.
- Worldwide there are about 100 lightning strikes every second.
- Lightning causes most forest fires and kills an average of 80 or more Amercians each year.
- You usually see the lightning before you hear the thunder because light travel faster than sound.
- The tornado is the most violent storm on Earth.
- Tornadoes may form from the powerful updrafts of a storm.
- Ninety percent of all tornadoes in the woorld occur in U.S.A.
- Of all the severe storms, the hurricane is the deadliest.
- About 6000 people are killed each year in the world by hurricanes.
- Hurricanes last about 10 days and are usually 300 to 400 miles wide.
- In hurricanes, warm, moist air from the ocean provides energy for the winds and moisture for the tremendous rains.
The Atmosphere
- The troposphere which is the lower 7 to 11 miles of the atmosphere is where we live and where all the weather occurs.
- Weather is driven by two things: the sun and moisture.
- About 10 to 30 miles above the Earth is the naturally occuring ozone layer which shields us from the Sun's ultra- violent radiation.
- The Earth is tilted on its axis at an angle of about 23.5 degrees.
- This tilt is responsible for our season and the temperature differences.
- At the equator, the Sun's rays are more direst than at other locations,
so the temperature near the equator are warm throughout the year.
- About 3/4 of the Earth's surface is covered by water.
- For billions of years the Earth's water has been recycling through a process called the water cycle.
- Weather conditions change from day to day because of the movement of air masses.
- Weather moves generally from the west to the east in the U.S.
Recycle