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Essays on the Main/About Tornados

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About Tornados

In the old days in the USSR, a song for children was often heard on the radio with the words: “Wind of spring will scatter black clouds — and sun will rise above the world!” It was a really beautiful allegory that created an optimistic emotional mood!

But I met then and at the present time adults who believed that if a breeze suddenly appears among the prolonged rain, it means that this breeze “will scatter the black clouds”…

But the wind does not have such a function — to disperse black clouds!…

… When I was about five or six years old, my grandmother, who worked almost all her life as a schoolteacher, was puzzled by my question: “Why does wind blow?” She pondered for a long time, and then answered: “This is because trees are waving with branches…”.

… Also from my childhood, I remember such a case: during a lesson of geography at school, one of my classmates could not answer the teacher’s question about where Australia is. She drove a pointer on the map… across Europe, trying to find the word “Australia” there…

Why did I just remember this now? Simply, this is an example to the topic of people’s differences — in terms of levels of their intellectual development…

… Still, probably, in very old times in some tribes, people fantasized about the causes of wind, believing that this is “god of the wind” blowing from its mouth…

… Even in recent years, adults (by age of their bodies), whom I met, sincerely believed that our planet Earth had married another planet with a male (in Russian) name. So — now everything will be fine for us!…

… And even now in Russia, on radio and in television programs, you can hear how “in full earnestness” adults admire the fact that the Russian tsars (kings) “are married (in church) on the throne” — in contrast to the presidents elected by voting. Therefore the king is from God… And his acts, it means, are perfect…

If, my readers, when you were reading the last paragraphs, the absurdity of such points of view became obvious for you, then you are reasonable people!

In my opinion, the spreading of absurdities of this level is a case-study of dementia in people — on the scale of a huge country…

Let us recall the history of the last Russian tsar that was not so remote in time… He started two wars: against Japan and then against Germany… Russian Empire had lost both these wars… And millions died from wounds, other millions remained to live till death being cripples… And how many other woes and sufferings were brought to people by those wars!…

… Once, journalists interviewed a well-known at that time Russian scientist-astronomer. He, in particular, was asked a question similar in stupidity to that level: “Do you believe that…?” He replied that he is a Jew by nationality, so he cannot believe in such things.

The author of this essay is a Russian by nationality scientist. But I also do not take anything important on faith: I rely not on faith, but on knowledge.

And the belief in the absolute significance of ritualism… — what is it based on? If any reasonable person will look back — then he or she will see that no rites, regardless of how they are called, make people either more protected, or healthier, or smarter, or more honest, or better by any other qualities of the soul before God!

Exceptions are rare: only when the Holy Spirits — on the background of people’s rituals — prompt something to the worthy souls, who have begun their spiritual search and rush in love to God.

* * *

The wind blows at latitudes far from the equator, primarily due to the uneven heating by the Sun of different parts of the Earth’s surface.

For example, large natural reservoirs are heated up more slowly, than land. But they also — keep the heat in themselves in the fall longer.

… In the spring and summer, the heat of the Sun warms up the land, and, from it, the air above — more quickly. And — the heated air rushes upwards. In its place, the colder air from the surrounding regions moves, including from the sea or oceanic expanses, which warm up much more slowly.

In the autumn, there is an opposite phenomenon: large water volumes are the keepers of summer heat, the air above them remains warmer, it rises upwards — and cool air, cooled over the land, rushes to the vacant space.

Thus, air flows are formed — both on a scale of many hundreds and thousands of kilometers, and local, for example, in the coastal areas. In the latter cases, the direction of the wind can change to the opposite stereotypically during each day, unless these areas are covered by the movement of other large air masses.

(There are, of course, other factors influencing the formation of weather, for example, vortexes generated from trade winds, but we already talked about this in another article.) The mountain ranges also have a big influence on the movements of air masses and, accordingly, on the weather.

In the photographs taken from Earth satellites, it can be seen that huge masses of air, moving, often tend to curl. Such phenomena are called cyclones.

Why there is a tendency to twist? — The reasons can be different.

But a simple illustration of this phenomenon is that, for example, water often spirals when it is drained from a bath or kitchen sink through a hole at the bottom.

Like water, the air is twisting. But in cases of cyclones its flow is directed from below — upwards.

… The air currents can be horizontal; they are usually called as winds.

But the current may also be vertical: for example, either warm or hot air massively rises to the upper layers of the atmosphere, or large amounts of cold air are descending to the surface of the Earth.

Tornado — this is a huge force stream of heated rising air. Its width usually remains within a kilometer. The speed of such a vertical wind can reach hurricane force, it raises and tosses cars, destroys houses and other constructions.

Most often, tornados are formed over intensively warmed by the Sun deserts or steppe landscapes.

I happened to observe a tornado over the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea — on the day of the putsch in 1991. Putsch was an attempt to revive Stalinism in the USSR. The first decree of this group of criminals was a total removal from the population of the whole country of radio receivers, tape recorders, typewriters, etc., martial law was imposed, troops were moved to the cities…

By efforts of heroes — the country was saved from that gang. But the result was the disintegration of the USSR: all the national republics that were former parts of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics did not want to live in the "fraternal union” headed by such a Moscow, from which it was possible to expect putsches and other such troubles.

… We, on the day of that putsch, went to the seashore. There was a strong wind. And over the sea, about a kilometer from the shore, a column of sea water a few hundred meters wide, rose and hid in the black clouds. And the tornado slowly approached us. I rushed to the child playing in the water: “Look — the tornado is approaching! Run quickly home — and warn everyone!” The boy ran home.

And where can we hide ourselves? I led my companions to the tall trees: though, hugging their trunks, to hold on, so as not to become ascended!

But the tornado, not reaching the shore by about two hundred meters, began to weaken, settle — and disintegrated.

… When I told this to those who knew about the putsch, but did not know about the tornado, one of the interlocutors said: “Yes… How interesting that nature has reacted to political events!…”.

… But why am I telling all this?

The fact is that one of the themes favorite for TV broadcast organizers in Russia is research of the nature of tornados by American scientists. Those scientists, risking their lives, pursue in cars tornados, arrange and place instruments without end to register the speed and directions of air streams inside the tornados… But — why? Just for the salary? Plus — the excitement of not smart, in my opinion, risk, bravado?

The message had appeared that, in the middle of the tornado’s column, the device detected a descending flow of air! Discovery! Not for nothing we worked!… But, in fact, that is either a deliberate lie, or the device was damaged by the tornado — and it gave false data…

And why to risk, if everything is clear? But it is clear — not for all…

If for those people, the essence of the phenomenon could be understood — they could direct their efforts to much more important matters!

… I do not see the opportunity to fight against tornados, trying to destroy them. But it is necessary — in those places, where they often happen, — to be ready to defend against them: both for the people themselves, and to save animals and property.