Abstract
IN NATURE for December 2, p. 436, Sir Napier Shaw remarks: “There can be no doubt, I suppose, that solar and terrestrial radiation are ultimately responsible for the kinetic energy of the winds.” If we include other possible radiations from space and the effects of high-velocity cosmic matter striking the upper limits of the atmosphere, few will fail to agree. Not many years ago the theory mentioned by Mr. J. R. Cotter (NATURE, November 25, p. 407), “that the energy of a cyclone is derived from the heat-energy of the earth's surface,” would have been considered as most probably correct. However, Mr. W. H. Dines, with the aid of about 250 soundings of the upper air with self-registering balloons, proved that the lower central parts of cyclones are actually cooler and denser than the surrounding parts. That his conclusion is of general application so far as western Europe is concerned the daily Upper-Air Temperature Charts issued by the Meteorological Office show.
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DEELEY, R. The Energy of Cyclones. Nature 106, 502 (1920). https://doi.org/10.1038/106502a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/106502a0
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