Page 248 - NS-2 Textbook

Meteorology

The men and women who" go down to the sea in ships" • The defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588 by Sir
fight a continuous battle with the elements. At sea the Francis Drake's small fleet was helped greatly by a
safety of a ship and her crew can depend on evasive ac- bad storm in the English Channel.
tion taken to avoid the full fury of a storm. Extra mea- • The brutal Russian ·winter was instrrunental in
sures are taken well in advance of approaching bad defeating Napoleon's invasion of that country in
weather to minimize damage to the ship, her gem; and 1812 and Hitler's invasion during World War II.
her cargo. • In 1941 gales and poor visibility in the North Pa-
We have all heard the statement "Everybody talks cific helped the Japanese fleet move lmobserved to
about the weather, but nobody does anything about it." within striking distance of Pearl Harbor.
In the past, this statement may have been true, but it is • The D Day landings on Normandy's coast in
not today. Meteorology-the science of weather-is June 1944 were delayed due to storm warnings.
helping to make our lives safer and easier. Storm fore- W1101e artificial harbors were created to protect
casts and weather warnings are much more accurate ships that were off-loading supplies from the fury
than they have been before. A network of weather sta- of storms expected during the early phases of the
tions provides information for safe commercial and mili- invasion.
tary flights. • The wet and dry monsoons of Southeast Asia de-
Today weather satellites in orbit above Earth provide termined, to a large extent, the active military op-
worldwide meteorological information used in weather erational areas during the Vietnam War.
prediction and scientific research. Agricultural weather • The dry and rainy seasonal patterns in Iraq,
services help farmers plan for planting, harvesting, and Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia greatly influenced the
marketing. Meteorology enables aircraft to take advan- timing and conduct of Operations Desert Shield
tage of all- currents, and this improves fuel conservation and Desert Storm in 1990-91.
and flight time. There have even been successful experi-
ments in causing rain. Also, meteorologists are exploring The first meteorological instrument, developed by
ways to break up dangerous tropical cyclones and torna- Leonardo da Vinci in the 1400s, was a crude hygrometer,
does before they can reach populated areas. Yes, some- which measured nl0isture in the air. Gallieo Galilei, an
thing is being done about the weather! Italian scientist, invented the first sin1ple thermometer in
the late 1600s. This invention may be regarded as the first
step in the development of meteorology as a science.
METEOROLOGY AND HISTORY
Later in the 1600s, barometers, V\Tind-measuring devices,
The importance of weather in history cannot be overem- and in1proved thermometers and hygrometers were
phasized. Weather has influenced the struggles of hu- developed.
manity, in peace and "var} since earliest times. Most peo- A major advance in meteorology occurred in
ple are well aware of the damage weather can do to the 1854 -56. During this time a French astronomer named
economy, transportation, and housing. The study of any U. J. Leverrier developed a system for organizing
war will show that the weather has been critical in major weather observations in the Black Sea area. He found
battles and campaigns, on both land and sea. Some ex- that he could locate and trace various storms from one
amples of the influence of weather on warfare are listed map to another, predict their future positions, and thus
below; many more could be given: make a weather forecast. This was the forerunner of

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