Haze from Northern California wildfires has drifted as far east as Philadelphia. Wildfire smoke contains many potentially toxic substances, so anyone exposed to it should take basic precautions.
Many California wildfires spread from structure to structure, fed by the winds.
Cal Fire
Faith Kearns, University of California, Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources e Max Moritz, University of California, Santa Barbara
The dry, hot, downslope Santa Ana winds of Southern California fan late fall wildfires that have largely traveled through – and are fueled by – homes and other structures.
Wind turbines used to generate electricity on a wind farm in South Africa.
Shutterstock
Waves lap against the shore on the south coast of England and the North coast of France – but the answer to this puzzle is in the wind and the land, not the waves themselves.
Southern bull kelp can drift huge distances before washing ashore.
Ceridwen Fraser
A chance discovery of some kelp that floated for 20,000km before washing up on an Antarctic beach has opened up a new chapter in our understanding of the currents that swirl around the Southern Ocean.
Solar lowers prices and shifts when daily peak demand hours are.
Duke Energy
Joachim Seel, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Andrew Mills, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory e Ryan Wiser, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory
Large-scale solar and wind tend to push energy prices down, which sounds great as a consumer. But that makes keeping the grid in constant balance harder.
Solar photovoltaics are now the world’s leading source of new electricity generation.
US Air Force
Solar photovoltaics and wind power are on track to supplant fossil-fuel-based electricity generation by the 2030s. The only thing holding back the renewable revolution is politics.
Eskom’s pilot wind-farm facility at Klipheuwel. The utility must seriously consider in-house renewable projects.
Warren Rohner/Flickr
South Africa’s power utility would do well to consider swapping out expensive new coal-powered capability for renewables.
The air doesn’t like to be under pressure just like us. The wind is the result of the air trying to escape from high pressure.
Mami Kempe / The Conversation
Acacia Pepler, Australian Bureau of Meteorology; Andrew Dowdy, Australian Bureau of Meteorology; Eun-Pa Lim, Australian Bureau of Meteorology e Pandora Hope, Australian Bureau of Meteorology
The US was hit by a ‘bomb cyclone’ last week, bringing icy cold and driving snow. These storms develop very rapidly, forming outside the tropics, typically on continental east coasts in winter.
Managed in the right way, wind farms can actually help stabilise the grid, rather than disrupting it.
AAP Image/Lukas Coch
New modelling suggests that Australia could use renewable energy to hit its 2030 emissions reduction targets, without it costing any more overall than maintaining the status quo.
Hiscox and students practice for the big day with a weather balloon.
Joshua Burrack
Meteorology researchers across the country are prepping experiments for the mini-night the eclipse will bring on August 21 – two minutes and 36 seconds without the sun in the middle of the day.
Professor, School of Geography, Earth and Atmospheric Sciences; ARC Centre of Excellence for the Weather of the 21st Century; ARC Centre of Excellence for Climate Extremes, The University of Melbourne