[Histonet] Hope you all aren't freezing in the east!

[Philip Oshel]

Nice, mid-twenties, skate-sailers out on the frozen Lake Mendota. No 
snow, though, rats.
But why so cold? Well, I think of a couple of  reasons ... one, 
naturally (all together now) is global  warming. The air heats up 
even more in the tropics and subtropics, especially over the oceans, 
and rises to the upper atmosphere, which is at lower pressure. The 
upper atmosphere is colder, and the air expands at the lower 
pressure, cooling it further. Global warming increases the amount of 
warm air rising to loose its heat. Looking at a  general global 
circulation map, we find a general flow of air from the tropics to 
the higher latitudes in the upper atmosphere. This air gets even 
colder as it moves north (or south), then sinks, and there we are! 
lots more cold air sinking in the temperate latitudes because there's 
lots more hot air in the subtropics and tropics.
Don't like that one? OK, how about basic physics.
Heat is molecular motion, right? At normal pressures, molecules move 
very little before bouncing off of another molecule. These collisions 
transfer energy from one molecule to another, and the molecule that 
lost energy moves slower or cools. But! Following the Second Law of 
Thermodynamics, we find that there cannot be a 100% efficient 
transfer of energy, some is always lost, so the energy-receiving 
molecule in the example above is not warmed as much as the 
energy-donating molecule is cooled. As a  result, the bulk 
temperature drops, and over time and all molecules, the population of 
molecules gets slower and slower, i.e. gets colder and colder.
So it's really cold in the eastern US basically because their 
molecules are fatigued from all the jostling.
Or how about ...
You're right, it's the bugs. Many species do freeze in the winter, 
depending on natural cryoprotectants to survive the freezing. But, 
recall that orange growers in Florida spray water on their crop 
during a frost advisory to prevent freezing. Why? Latent heat -- the 
freezing water in the spray  gives off heat as the water 
crystallizes, and this keeps the oranges above freezing. For the 
short while Florida gets freezing temperatures (which is why people 
in New Hampshire don't carry spray bottles outdoors in the winter). 
What does this have to do with bugs? After ice freezes, it's still 
water, with a high specific heat, and it takes up heat from the 
environment. Same with the bugs: Winter comes, they freeze, giving 
off latent heat   and briefly warming their surroundings  --  we call 
it Indian Summer -- and then, finally frozen, they suck all the rest 
of the heat out of things.
So take your choice: global warming, tired  molecules, or frozen bugs.

Phil
By the way, I've got this nice bridge in Brooklyn, if you're 
interested -- a bit icy, but only used by little old ladies on Sunday 
...
>Chicago is a balmy 25, with freezing rain and sleet predicted for this
>evening.  Perfect.  Why do we live here?
>
>Does anyone have a scientific reason for temps to get to -100F (windchill
>is what I heard for the East).  Don't bugs die when it's warmer?
>Don't some just stay frozen and pop back up again in the spring?  I don't
>see any reason for it to be this cold!!! (I don't see a scientific reason
>to support the existence of mosquitoes, either)
>
>Jacqueline M. O'Connor HT(ASCP)
>Abbott Laboratories
>Global Pharmaceutical Research and Development
>Discovery Chemotheraputics
>847.938.4919
>
>
>
>
>
>"Weems, Joyce" <JWEEMS <@t> sjha.org>
>Sent by: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
>01/16/2004 10:39 AM
>
>
>         To:     "'Morken, Tim - Labvision'" <tpmorken <@t> labvision.com>,
>Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
>         cc:
>         Subject:        RE: [Histonet] Hope you all aren't freezing 
>in the east!
>
>
>But in Hotlanta we are in the sun and shirt sleeves. Hopefully it will
>not
>blow down this way!
>
>j
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
>[mailto:histonet-bounces <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu]On Behalf Of Morken,
>Tim - Labvision
>Sent: Friday, January 16, 2004 11:36 AM
>To: Histonet <@t> lists.utsouthwestern.edu
>Subject: [Histonet] Hope you all aren't freezing in the east!
>
>
>I just want all of our collegues on the east coast (of US) to know we on
>the
>west coast empathize with your freezing cold weather and hope you get
>through it OK. We are having really bad weather here too. It's cloudy
>today.
>
>Tim Morken
>Pleasanton (as nice as it sounds), California
>
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-- 
Philip Oshel
Supervisor, BBPIC microscopy facility
Department of Animal Sciences
University of Wisconsin
1675 Observatory Drive
Madison,  WI  53706 - 1284
voice: (608) 263-4162
fax: (608) 262-5157 (dept. fax)