Preview

North American Monsoon

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
2905 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
North American Monsoon
Monsoon is traditionally defined as a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation,[1] but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with the asymmetric heating of land and sea.[2] [3] Usually, the term monsoon is used to refer to the rainy phase of a seasonally-changing pattern, although technically there is also a dry phase.
The major monsoon systems of the world consist of the West African and Asia-Australian monsoons. The inclusion of the North and South American monsoons with incomplete wind reversal may be debated.
The term was first used in English in British India (now India, Bangladesh and Pakistan) and neighbouring countries to refer to the big seasonal winds blowing from the Bay of Benhe English monsoon came from Portuguese monção, ultimately from Arabic mawsim (موسم "season"), "perhaps partly via early modern Dutch monsun".[6] The Arabic-origin word mausam (मौसम, موسم) is also the word for "weather" in Hindi, Urdu, and several other North Indian languages.[7]
History

An isolated thunderstorm rolls through Wah Wah Valley, Utah. This type of monsoonal pattern is very common in the late summer of the southwest US.
Strengthening of the Asian monsoon has been linked to the uplift of the Tibetan Plateau after the collision of the Indian sub-continent and Asia around 50 million years ago.[8] Many geologists believe the monsoon first became strong around 8 million years ago based on records from the Arabian Sea and the record of wind-blown dust in the Loess Plateau of China. More recently, plant fossils in China and new long-duration sediment records from the South China Sea led to a timing of the monsoon starting 15-20 million years ago and linked to early Tibetan uplift.[9] Testing of this hypothesis awaits deep ocean sampling by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program.[10] The monsoon has varied significantly in strength since this time, largely linked to global climate



References: al and Arabian Sea in the southwest bringing heavy rainfall to the area.[4][5]

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    2. In the lands around the Indian Ocean the rainy and dry seasons reflect the influence of alternating winds known as monsoons…

    • 1636 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Heavy downpours continue to cross northern India as the south-west monsoon travels across the Indian subcontinent. Commuters wade through flood water in Hyderabad, India, Tuesday, Aug. 26, 2008. India's monsoon season, which lasts from June to September, brings rain vital for the country's farmers but also massive…

    • 2394 Words
    • 10 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    the composite or generally prevailing weather conditions of a region, as temperature, air pressure, humidity, precipitation, sunshine, cloudiness, and winds, throughout the year, averaged over a series of years.…

    • 2081 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    -Further away from the equator, the influence on the on-shore Trade Winds gives rise to a modified type of equatorial climate with the Monsoon influences.…

    • 884 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Evaluating changes in synoptic patterns is tantamount to understanding regional climate change. To date, the synoptic evaluations that have been done regarding climate change output from General Circulation Models have been restricted mainly to examining changes in storm tracks across large areas.…

    • 750 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Severe thunderstorms are aided in their development by: random turbulent eddies that lift small pockets of air, unequal surface heating, uplift provided by features of the terrain (such as along mountain barriers, small hills, and gentle rises), diverging upper-level winds interacting with converging surface winds and rising air, and warm air rising along a frontal zone.…

    • 470 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Notes

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages

    · Winter Monsoon- Wind system that blows from the northeast across the Himalayas toward the sea from October through February.…

    • 466 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    References: Drag, Walter. (July 14 2000). A comparative retrospective on the Perfect Storm. In The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Retrieved March 14 2012. http://www.erh.noaa.gov/box/PS.htm…

    • 1710 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    - The Monsoon zone is a belt of low-pressure air currents that circle the Earth at the Equator. The Monsoon Zone is also known as the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ). The Monsoon Zone is…

    • 318 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Severe Weather In Canada

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages

    • • • • Ontario Storm Prediction Centre Forecasting Technology Watch/Warning Program A closer look at August 20th tornado outbreak…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Summary: On December 11 2014, California experienced a train of extreme storms. These storms left the San Francisco Bay Area with rainfalls of three inches in just one hour. Scientist looking for the reasoning for the extreme storms discovered that it was due to what they refer to as the “Pineapple Express”. The Pineapple Express is just a term used to express that moisture in the atmospheric river is begin whipped up over the Pacific’s tropical water and swept north with the jet stream. Due to all the rainfall that occur mudslides, power outages, and floods occurred across the state of California. These storms had such a huge impact the were noted to be the storm of the decade. Now in 2017, Scientist with help of technology have information…

    • 237 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Chapter 7 Questions

    • 586 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Explain what causes the "monsoon rain season". The summer season in southeast Asia experiences “monsoon rain seasons”. This occurs when a shallow thermal low develops over Asia’s continental interior, and the air within the low rises and begins to flow counter-clockwise. This motion results in moisture-bearing winds sweeping into land from the ocean. The humid air converges with dryer air from the continent, which has an additional lifting effect and brings the air to its saturation point. Heavy rains and thunderstorms result.…

    • 586 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The difference of climate and weather needs to be understood to comprehend this topic. Weather is defined as ‘The specific condition of the atmosphere at a particular place and time.’ Climate can be defined as ‘the statistics of weather over a set period of time, which is sufficient to determine the characteristics of the statistics’ (WMO) or in simpler terms ‘average meteorological conditions in a certain area over a certain period’ . The time interval selected to be analysed is 50-100 years, limited by the data available.…

    • 428 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Climate change concerns to a statistically momentous deviation in either the mean state of the climate or in its variability, remaining for an extensive period (normally decades or longer) (What is climate change, 2001). Climate change is term that adverts to any major and long-term change in average weather in a specified region or whole Earth. Fundamentally important variability of average weather over longer time period can be depicted as climate change. Climate change is due to natural internal procedures or external pressures, or to relentless anthropogenic alterations in the composition of the atmosphere or in land utilization.…

    • 1759 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    First, there is the doldrums located in the equatorial with a low atmospheric pressure. There are light winds, variable winds, abundant cloudiness, and much precipitation. They are also breeding grounds for hurricanes. Secondly, there are the Horse latitudes located at 30 with high atmospheric pressure. There are light and variable winds. Fair weather with little precipitation and goes across the major deserts of the world. Next, there are the Polar fronts located at the 60 with low atmospheric pressure. There are variable winds that cause stormy and cloudy weather all year round. Lastly, there are the Polar high pressure boundary located at the poles with high atmospheric pressure. There are variable winds with cold temperatures, cold deserts, and very low…

    • 1232 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics