Chapter 01 of 5
The Pineapple Express
Meet the sky-born giants that dwarf the world's largest rivers.
- Scale
Rivers in the Clouds
Atmospheric rivers are narrow corridors of concentrated moisture that transport more water than the Amazon River.
- Terminology
The Pineapple Express
The most famous of these systems is the 'Pineapple Express,' which ferries moisture from the tropical waters near Hawaii to North America.
- Visualizing Volume
Oceanic Proportion
A single strong atmospheric river can carry a water vapor flux equal to 15 times the discharge of the Mississippi River.
17 more cards in this chapter
Could you answer this?
Compared to the Amazon River, how much water can a single atmospheric river carry?
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🌊 Atmospheric Rivers: The Sky's Hidden Oceans
- 01The Pineapple ExpressMeet the sky-born giants that dwarf the world's largest rivers.
- 02The Tropical Heat EngineHow the equator launches invisible highways of water vapor.
- 03The Wall of WaterThe physics of orographic lift and mountain-induced deluges.
- 04Polar Feedback LoopsTracing the link between sky rivers and melting ice sheets.
- 05The Planetary RegulatorAtmospheric rivers as the Earth's primary cooling system.