Abstract
ACCORDING to the views of Dr. Hann, as explained in a previous number of this journal, (Nov. 6, p. 15) the storms of the temperate zone originate, not in the convective ascent of warm damp air (an explanation, however, which he appears to admit in the case of tornadoes), but in great vortical movements of the upper air-currents, which commence over the equator as the anti-trades, and set continuously towards the poles, being gradually diverted eastwards in consequence of the earth's rotation. Owing to the spherical form of the earth's surface, these currents become irregularly congested as they necessarily converge on reaching higher latitudes, and thus give rise to anticyclones, or tracts of excessive accumulation and pressure, and to cyclonic vortices in the intervals. Admitting this view as at least highly probable, the question now to be considered is how far similar conditions hold good in low latitudes. Do the cyclones of the tropical zone originate in like manner, or are they not rather primarily due to the conditions of the lower atmosphere, to the production and condensation of vapour over a calm region, and the creation of an upcast current?
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BLANFORD, H. The Genesis of Tropical Cyclones. Nature 43, 81–83 (1890). https://doi.org/10.1038/043081b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/043081b0
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