[ExI] Gaian Bottleneck

[John Clark]

On Mon, Feb 1, 2016 at 2:11 PM, spike <spike66 at att.net> wrote:



> ​>​
>   Force in a compressible flow varies as the square of the velocity
>
>
​That's true but ​
it's not really force that causes the problem, it's the work and work is
force over a distance.
​T​
he power of the wind is proportional to the cube of the wind speed not the
square.​

​It's true that if you double the speed each individual oxygen and nitrogen
molecule would have 4 times the energy, but you'd have 2 times as many
molecules pass through a unit area in the same amount of ​time and twice as
many particles each with 4 times the energy makes 8.
So a 126 mph wind would produce twice as much damage as a 100 mph wind
​ and a 144 mph wind 3 times as much and a 159 mph 4 times as much.​
.


> > As I wrote this, it occurred to me that such a planet would be at nearly
> 100% humidity everywhere.  Think about it: wind blows from the cool side,
> hits the twilight zone, starts to warm picks up moisture from any existing
> seas, density decreases as it goes sunward, air rises, circulates back
> crossing into darkness again at high altitude, drops the moisture which
> falls as rain.  That twilight zone would suffer from not only constant cold
> wind from the dark side, but from a continuous hurricane-force rainstorm,
> or perhaps blizzard.  Even if the atmosphere is a tenuous .01 atm, it would
> accelerate and drive that ice and rain like little bullets.


​Good point, and with 100% humidity it would be hard for large animals to
keep cool during periods of high exertion. ​

​ John K Clark​
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