4 ms·
The article seems to presuppose that being near a big amount of salt water will cause frequent rain, but the coastline of most of North Africa and the Arabian p
by petesergeant 3y ago
The article seems to presuppose that being near a big amount of salt water will cause frequent rain, but the coastline of most of North Africa and the Arabian peninsula suggests otherwise.
- lproven 3y agoOcean currents are often cold. Cold water doesn't evaporate so readily. Small, relatively shallow inland seas will be relatively warm; as such, they will evaporate readily.
- petesergeant 3y agoPersian Gulf gets up to 32-34C in summer. How hot exactly are your proposed inland seas?
- lproven 3y agoIt is also quite small, though... hardly open ocean, and almost isolated by the Straits of Hormuz (?) from the ocean, so probably not much affected by deep sea currents, no?
- petesergeant 3y agoYes, but I'd say this further supports my assertion, given that rain is unusual on the Arab peninsula despite it being surrounded by warmer water
- lproven 3y agoThat is a fair point. :-) The topography might be an issue, but still... touché.
- rtpg 3y agoI do not know much but a guess: air currents over oceans mean evaporated water doesn’t stick around as much as with rivers or lakes? Though I share your skepticism with the hand-wavy “mo water mo rain”
- petesergeant 3y agoThere are several factors, as I understand it, including which way the wind normally blows, the Hadley cell, and the location of mountains. All of these are applicable to the Qattara basin project.