Reading the weather

2024-04-04 - Vasudevan Mukunth Please send in your answers to science@thehindu.co.in

◣ QUESTION 1

When water evaporates from a surface, it takes away some heat, leaving the surface cooler. In some given ambient conditions, what is the lowest temperature to which a surface can be cooled by the evaporation of water from it called?

◣ QUESTION 2

Measuring this temperature is easy; it’s equal to the temperature reading on a thermometer that is exposed to air but shielded from direct sunlight. Its value is also used to assess whether an individual is psychologically comfortable in their thermal environment. What is this temperature called?

◣ QUESTION 3

The warmer the air is, the more humid it can be. This is one way global warming is producing wetter cyclones. What is the name for the amount of moisture in air adjusted to the maximum amount it can hold at that temperature?

◣ QUESTION 4

Cooler air can hold less moisture. So if you take some air at a given temperature, say 50% filled with moisture, cooling it to a certain point will automatically make it 100% filled with moisture. What is this point called?

◣ QUESTION 5

The World Health Organisation and the World Meteorological Organisation adopted ◣ in 1994. ◣ is typically measured using a scale. Low values on the scale indicate a level of solar radiation that can be good for the skin, whereas higher values indicate a risk of sunburn, DNA damage, and cataracts. What is ◣?

Answers to April 2 quiz:

1. Highly geologically active Jovian moon with a warm surface – Ans: Io

2. Solar System’s largest asteroid with potential presence of brine on its surface – Ans: Ceres

3. Planetary body aside from the earth with liquid cycle on its surface – Ans:

Titan

4. Neptunian moon with retrograde rotation – Ans: Triton

5. Saturnian moon that ejects plumes through its ice shell – Ans: Enceladus

Visual: Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE)

First contact: P.N. Moorthy | K.N. Viswanathan | Nitin Das

?? NASA ?? Visual: Name the weather phenomenon shown above, where a band of cool water spreads from east to west across the equatorial Pacific Ocean. — NASA Visual: Name the weather phenomenon shown above, where a band of cool water spreads from east to west across the equatorial Pacific Ocean.