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Thaw_(weather) | January thaw is a term applied to a thaw or rise in temperature in mid-winter found in mid-latitude North America . Sinusoidal estimates of expected temperatures , for northern locales , usually place the lowest temperatures around January 23 and the highest around July 24 , and provide fairly accurate estimates of temperature expectations . Actual average temperatures in North America usually significantly differ twice over the course of the year : Mid-autumn temperatures tend to be warmer than predicted by the sinusoidal model , creating the impression of extended summer warmth known as Indian summer . For five days around January 25 , temperatures are usually significantly warmer than predicted by the sinusoidal estimate , and also warmer than neighboring temperatures on both sides . During this `` thaw '' period , usually lasting for about a week , temperatures are generally about 6 ° C ( 10 ° F ) above normal . This varies from year to year , and temperatures fluctuate enough that such a rise in late-January temperature would be unremarkable ; what is remarkable ( and unexplained ) is the tendency for such rises to occur more commonly in late January than in mid-January or early February , which sinusoidal estimates have to be slightly warmer . In some regions ( such as northern Canada ) this phenomenon will not be manifest as a `` thaw '' in the technical sense , since temperatures will remain below freezing . The January thaw is believed to be a weather singularity . A possible physical mechanism for such phenomena was offered in the 1950s by E.G. Bowen : he suggested that some `` calendaricities '' ( as he called them ) might be explicable in terms of meteoric particles from cometary orbits acting as ice nuclei in terrestrial clouds ; his theory then received some support from several sources . However , Bowen 's ideas later fell out of favour with the development of atmospheric dynamic modelling techniques , although one of his rainfall peaks does seem to correspond with the date of the January thaw . Data analysis has not found statistically significant support for the supposed January thaw . The authors of this study state that `` the effects of sampling in finite climate records are wholly adequate to account for the existence of January thaw ` features ' in northeastern U.S. temperature data . '' |
Term_(time) | A term is a period of duration , time or occurrence , in relation to an event . To differentiate an interval or duration , common phrases are used to distinguish the observance of length are near-term or short-term , medium-term or mid-term and long-term . It is also used as part of a calendar year , especially one of the three parts of an academic term and working year in the United Kingdom : Michaelmas term , Hilary term / Lent term or Trinity term / Easter term , the equivalent to the American semester . In America there is a midterm election held in the middle of the four-year presidential term , there are also academic midterm exams . In economics , it is the period required for economic agents to reallocate resources , and generally reestablish equilibrium . The actual length of this period , usually numbered in years or decades , varies widely depending on circumstantial context . During the long term , all factors are variable . In finance or financial operations of borrowing and investing , what is considered long-term is usually above 3 years , with medium-term usually between 1 and 3 years and short-term usually under 1 year . It is also used in some countries to indicate a fixed term investment such as a term deposit . In law , the term of a contract is the duration for which it is to remain in effect ( not to be confused with the meaning of `` term '' that denotes any provision of a contract ) . A fixed-term contract is one concluded for a pre-defined time . |
Syros | Syros ( -LSB- ˈsaɪrɒs , _ - roʊs -RSB- Σύρος ) , or Siros or Syra is a Greek island in the Cyclades , in the Aegean Sea . It is located 78 nmi south-east of Athens . The area of the island is 83.6 km ² and it has 21,507 inhabitants ( 2011 census ) . The largest towns are Ermoupoli , Ano Syros , and . Ermoupoli is the capital of the island and of the Cyclades . It has always been a significant port town , and during the 19th century it was even more significant than Piraeus . Other villages are Galissas , Foinikas , Pagos , Manna , Kini and Poseidonia . Syros also refers to USS LST-325 , which is an American made World War II-era tank landing ship that was sent to Greece on 1 September 1964 , as part of the grant-in-aid program . She served in the Hellenic Navy as RHS Syros ( L-144 ) from 1964 to 1999 . It is now decommissioned and docked in Evansville , Indiana . |
Texas-Oklahoma_wildfires_of_2005–06 | The Texas-Oklahoma wildfires of 2005 -- 06 were a series of wildfires , primarily in the states of Texas and Oklahoma , that began November 27 , 2005 and continued into April 2006 . Surrounding states were also affected to a lesser extent . The fires were triggered by a combination of record-high temperatures , drought , and high winds in the region . The situation was exacerbated , at least in Texas , by plentiful rains in recent years . The rains encouraged vegetation growth , which then dried out over the winter drought leaving more potential fuel . The unusually dry conditions have been attributed to La Niña . At Will Rogers World Airport in Oklahoma City , only 0.36 in of rain fell in the first two months of the year . On January 1 , fires continued to develop throughout the two states . By January 3 , many of the fires were reported to be under control ; but outbreaks continued through January , February , and March . In Texas , 12 people were killed . Eight Texas towns were evacuated in March 2006 . From December 26 , 2005 to April 3 , 2006 , Texas suffered 11,048 wildfires which burned 4903851 acre and destroyed 423 homes . In Oklahoma , 869 homes were damaged ; 300 of them were destroyed . As of April 5 , 2006 , there had been over 22,564 wildfires across the country in the year to date , burning 1872701 acre . Texas governor Rick Perry declared the entire state a disaster area , describing it as a `` tinderbox '' , and called for firefighters and fire equipment to combat the blazes . In addition , the governor of Oklahoma , Brad Henry , declared a disaster and pleaded for federal aid . On January 10 , President Bush declared several Oklahoma counties to be disaster areas ; the list was amended to include 26 counties by late March . Heavy rains in late March promised at least temporary relief to the affected areas . Governor Henry lifted the burn ban ( which had been instated in November ) throughout Oklahoma on March 22 , but reinstated it for most counties only five days later , on March 27 . Much of Texas was also placed under a burn ban . |
Termination_(geomorphology) | Termination , as used by Quaternary geologists , oceanographers , and paleoclimatologists is the period of time during an glacial cycle when there is a relatively rapid transition from full glacial climates to full interglacial climates . For the Quaternary period , terminations are numbered using Roman numerals from the most recent termination as `` I '' and with increasing value , e.g. `` II '' , `` III '' , and so forth , into the past . Termination I , also known as the Last Glacial Termination , is the end of Marine isotope stage 2 ; Termination II is the end of Marine Isotope Stage 6 ; Termination III is the end of Marine Isotope Stage 8 ; Termination IV is the end of Marine Isotope Stage 10 , and so forth . During the Quaternary , global climate experienced a recurring pattern of ice-sheet growth and decay . The length of Late Quaternary cycles varied between 80,000 and 120,000 years , with an average recurrence interval of about 100,000 years . The typical Late Quaternary glacial cycle was asymmetric having a long cooling interval that was characterized by an oscillating buildup of ice sheets to maximum volume . The long cooling interval was then followed by a relatively short warming period . During this warming period , called a termination , huge Northern hemisphere ice sheets melted away ; sea level rose about 120 m ; and interglacial climate emerged across the planet in a few thousand years . In case of the termination of the last glacial cycle , the retreat of continental ice sheets in the Northern hemisphere began about 20,000 calendar years ago . By about 7,000 calemdar years ago , a small ice cap on Baffin Island was all that was left of the great Laurentide Ice Sheet that had once covered northern North America . In Antarctica , the last termination began about 18,000 years ago and interglacial climate was attained close to 11,000 years ago . |
Temperature_record_of_the_past_1000_years | For information on the description of the Medieval Warm Period and Little Ice Age in various IPCC reports see MWP and LIA in IPCC reportsThe temperature record of the past 1,000 years is reconstructed using data from climate proxy records in conjunction with the modern instrumental temperature record which only covers the last 150 years at a global scale . Large-scale reconstructions covering part or all of the 1st millennium and 2nd millennium have shown that recent temperatures are exceptional : the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fourth Assessment Report of 2007 concluded that `` Average Northern Hemisphere temperatures during the second half of the 20th century were very likely higher than during any other 50-year period in the last 500 years and likely '' the highest in at least the past 1,300 years . '' The curve shown in graphs of these reconstructions is widely known as the hockey stick graph because of the sharp increase in temperatures during the last century . As of 2010 this broad pattern was supported by more than two dozen reconstructions , using various statistical methods and combinations of proxy records , with variations in how flat the pre-20th-century `` shaft '' appears . Sparseness of proxy records results in considerable uncertainty for earlier periods . Individual proxy records , such as tree ring widths and densities used in dendroclimatology , are calibrated against the instrumental record for the period of overlap . Networks of such records are used to reconstruct past temperatures for regions : tree ring proxies have been used to reconstruct Northern Hemisphere extratropical temperatures ( within the tropics trees do not form rings ) but are confined to land areas and are scarce in the Southern Hemisphere which is largely ocean . Wider coverage is provided by multiproxy reconstructions , incorporating proxies such as lake sediments , ice cores and corals which are found in different regions , and using statistical methods to relate these sparser proxies to the greater numbers of tree ring records . The `` Composite Plus Scaling '' ( CPS ) method is widely used for large-scale multiproxy reconstructions of hemispheric or global average temperatures ; this is complemented by Climate Field Reconstruction ( CFR ) methods which show how climate patterns have developed over large spatial areas , making the reconstruction useful for investigating natural variability and long-term oscillations as well as for comparisons with patterns produced by climate models . During the 1,900 years before the 20th century , it is likely that the next warmest period was from 950 to 1100 , with peaks at different times in different regions . This has been called the Medieval Warm Period , and some evidence suggests widespread cooler conditions during a period around the 17th century known as the Little Ice Age . In the hockey stick controversy , contrarians have asserted that the Medieval Warm Period was warmer than at present , and have disputed the data and methods of climate reconstructions . |
Temperature | A temperature is an objective comparative measurement of hot or cold . It is measured by a thermometer . Several scales and units exist for measuring temperature , the most common being Celsius ( denoted ° C ; formerly called centigrade ) , Fahrenheit ( denoted ° F ) , and , especially in science , Kelvin ( denoted K ) . The coldest theoretical temperature is absolute zero , at which the thermal motion of atoms and molecules reaches its minimum -- classically , this would be a state of motionlessness , but quantum uncertainty dictates that the particles still possess a finite zero-point energy . Absolute zero is denoted as 0 K on the Kelvin scale , − 273.15 ° C on the Celsius scale , and − 459.67 ° F on the Fahrenheit scale . The kinetic theory offers a valuable but limited account of the behavior of the materials of macroscopic bodies , especially of fluids . It indicates the absolute temperature as proportional to the average kinetic energy of the random microscopic motions of those of their constituent microscopic particles , such as electrons , atoms , and molecules , that move freely within the material . Temperature is important in all fields of natural science including physics , geology , chemistry , atmospheric sciences , medicine and biology as well as most aspects of daily life . |
Systematic_risk | In finance and economics , systematic risk ( in economics often called aggregate risk or undiversifiable risk ) is vulnerability to events which affect aggregate outcomes such as broad market returns , total economy-wide resource holdings , or aggregate income . In many contexts , events like earthquakes and major weather catastrophes pose aggregate risks -- they affect not only the distribution but also the total amount of resources . If every possible outcome of a stochastic economic process is characterized by the same aggregate result ( but potentially different distributional outcomes ) , then the process has no aggregate risk . |
Territorial_evolution_of_North_America_prior_to_1763 | Before contact with Europeans , the natives of North America were divided into many different polities , from small bands of a few families to large empires . Modern anthropology assigns some larger divisions into various `` culture areas '' , regions within which a particular set of cultural , political , subsistence and/or linguistic traits predominated . These pre-Columbian American culture areas may also roughly correspond to particular geographic and biological zones of the continent . During the thousands of years of native inhabitation on the continent , cultures changed and shifted . One of the oldest cultures yet found is that of the Clovis peoples . Upon the arrival of the Europeans in the `` New World '' , Native American population declined substantially , primarily due to the introduction of European diseases to which the Native Americans lacked immunity . There was limited contact between North American people and the outside world before 1492 . Several theoretical contacts have been proposed , but the earliest physical evidence comes from the Norse or Vikings . Norse captain Leif Ericson is believed to have reached the Island of Newfoundland circa 1000 AD . In 1492 Columbus reached land in the Bahamas . Almost 500 years after the Norse , John Cabot explored the east coast of what would become Canada in 1497 . Giovanni da Verrazzano explored the East Coast of North America from Florida to presumably Newfoundland in 1524 . Jacques Cartier made a series of voyages on behalf of the French crown in 1534 and penetrated the St. Lawrence River . These powers slowly replaced the native nations of the North American east coast and then spread into the interior . The main powers in North America frequently fought over territory . One of the biggest wars was the French and Indian War that ended in France leaving the continent and giving up its claims in the Treaty of Paris . After 1763 a new power emerged , the independent United States of America . |
Tennessee | Tennessee ( -LSB- tɛnᵻˈsiː -RSB- ) ( -LSB- ᏔᎾᏏ , translit = Tanasi -RSB- ) is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States . Tennessee is the 36th largest and the 16th most populous of the 50 United States . Tennessee is bordered by Kentucky and Virginia to the north , North Carolina to the east , Georgia , Alabama , and Mississippi to the south , and Arkansas and Missouri to the west . The Appalachian Mountains dominate the eastern part of the state , and the Mississippi River forms the state 's western border . Nashville is the state 's largest city , with a population of 660,388 . Tennessee 's second largest city is Memphis , which has a population of 652,717 . The state of Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association , a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians . What is now Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina , and later part of the Southwest Territory . Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state on June 1 , 1796 . Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the American Civil War in 1861 . Occupied by Union forces from 1862 , it was the first state to be readmitted to the Union at the end of the war . Tennessee furnished more soldiers for the Confederate Army than any other state besides Virginia , and more soldiers for the Union Army than the rest of the Confederacy combined . Beginning during Reconstruction , it had competitive party politics , but a Democratic takeover in the late 1880s resulted in passage of disfranchisement laws that excluded most blacks and many poor whites from voting . This sharply reduced competition in politics in the state until after passage of civil rights legislation in the mid-20th century . In the 20th century , Tennessee transitioned from an agrarian economy to a more diversified economy , aided by massive federal investment in the Tennessee Valley Authority and , in the early 1940s , the city of Oak Ridge . This city was established to house the Manhattan Project 's uranium enrichment facilities , helping to build the world 's first atomic bomb , which was used during World War II . Tennessee 's major industries include agriculture , manufacturing , and tourism . Poultry , soybeans , and cattle are the state 's primary agricultural products , and major manufacturing exports include chemicals , transportation equipment , and electrical equipment . The Great Smoky Mountains National Park , the nation 's most visited national park , is headquartered in the eastern part of the state , and a section of the Appalachian Trail roughly follows the Tennessee-North Carolina border . Other major tourist attractions include the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga ; Dollywood in Pigeon Forge ; Ripley 's Aquarium of the Smokies and Ober Gatlinburg in Gatlinburg ; the Parthenon , the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum , and Ryman Auditorium in Nashville ; the Jack Daniel 's Distillery in Lynchburg ; Elvis Presley 's Graceland residence and tomb , the Memphis Zoo , and the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis ; and Bristol Motor Speedway in Bristol . |
Territorial_claims_in_the_Arctic | The Arctic consists of land , internal waters , territorial seas , exclusive economic zones ( EEZs ) and high seas . All land , internal waters , territorial seas and EEZs in the Arctic are under the jurisdiction of one of the five Arctic coastal states : Canada , Norway , Russia , Denmark ( via Greenland ) , and the United States . International law regulates this area as with other portions of the Earth . Under international law , the high seas including the North Pole and the region of the Arctic Ocean surrounding it , are not owned by any country . The five surrounding Arctic countries are limited to an exclusive economic zone ( EEZ ) of 200 nmi adjacent to their coasts . The waters beyond the EEZs of the coastal states are considered the `` high seas '' ( i.e. international waters ) . The sea bottom beyond the exclusive economic zones and confirmed extended continental shelf claims are considered to be the `` heritage of all mankind '' where exploration and exploitation of mineral resources is administered by the UN International Seabed Authority . Upon ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea ( UNCLOS ) , a country has a ten-year period to make claims to an extended continental shelf which , if validated , gives it exclusive rights to resources on or below the seabed of that extended shelf area . Norway , Russia , Canada , and Denmark launched projects to provide a basis for seabed claims on extended continental shelves beyond their exclusive economic zones . The United States has signed , but not yet ratified the UNCLOS . The status of certain portions of the Arctic sea region is in dispute for various reasons . Canada , Denmark , Norway , Russia , and the United States all regard parts of the Arctic seas as national waters ( territorial waters out to 12 nmi ) or internal waters . There also are disputes regarding what passages constitute international seaways and rights to passage along them . There is one single disputed piece of land in the Arctic -- Hans Island -- which is disputed between Canada and Denmark because of its location in the middle of an international strait . |
Syrian_brown_bear | The Syrian brown bear ( Ursus arctos syriacus ) is a relatively small subspecies of brown bear native to the Middle East . |
Teach_the_Controversy | `` Teach the Controversy '' is a campaign , conducted by the Discovery Institute , to promote the pseudoscientific principle of intelligent design , a variant of traditional creationism , while attempting to discredit the teaching of evolution in United States public high school science courses . The campaign claims that fairness and equal time requires educating students with a ` critical analysis of evolution ' where `` the full range of scientific views '' , evolution 's `` unresolved issues '' , and the `` scientific weaknesses of evolutionary theory '' will be presented and evaluated alongside intelligent design concepts like irreducible complexity presented as a scientific argument against evolution through oblique references to books by design proponents listed in the bibliography of the Institute-proposed `` Critical Analysis of Evolution '' lesson plans . The intelligent design movement and the Teach the Controversy campaign are directed and supported largely by the Discovery Institute , a conservative Christian think tank based in Seattle , Washington . The overall goals of the movement were stated as `` to defeat scientific materialism '' and `` to replace -LSB- it -RSB- with the theistic understanding that nature and human beings are created by God . '' The scientific community and science education organizations have replied that there is no scientific controversy regarding the validity of evolution and that the controversy exists solely in terms of religion and politics . A federal court , along with the majority of scientific organizations , including the American Association for the Advancement of Science , say the Institute has manufactured the controversy they want to teach by promoting a `` false perception '' that evolution is `` a theory in crisis '' by falsely claiming it is the subject of wide controversy and debate within the scientific community . McGill University Professor Brian Alters , an expert in the creation-evolution controversy , is quoted in an article published by the NIH as stating that `` 99.9 percent of scientists accept evolution '' , whereas intelligent design has been rejected by the overwhelming majority of the scientific community . In the December 2005 ruling of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District , Judge John E. Jones III concluded that intelligent design is not science and `` can not uncouple itself from its creationist , and thus religious , antecedents '' . The Dover ruling also characterized `` teaching the controversy '' as part of a religious ploy . |
Terminal_Doppler_Weather_Radar | Terminal Doppler Weather Radar ( TDWR ) is a Doppler weather radar system with a three-dimensional `` pencil beam '' used primarily for the detection of hazardous wind shear conditions , precipitation , and winds aloft on and near major airports situated in climates with great exposure to thunderstorms in the United States . As of 2011 , all were in-service with 45 operational radars , some covering multiple airports in major metropolitan locations , across the United States & Puerto Rico . Several similar weather radars have also been sold to other countries such as China ( Hong Kong ) . Funded by the United States Federal Aviation Administration ( FAA ) , TDWR technology was developed in the early 1990s at Lincoln Laboratory , part of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology , to assist air traffic controllers by providing real-time wind shear detection and high-resolution precipitation data . The primary advantage of TDWRs over previous weather radars is that it has a finer range resolution -- meaning it can see smaller areas of the atmosphere . The reason for the resolution is that the TDWR has a narrower beam than traditional radar systems , and that it uses a set of algorithms to reduce ground clutter . |
Tendency_of_the_rate_of_profit_to_fall | The tendency of the rate of profit to fall ( TRPF ) is a hypothesis in economics and political economy , most famously expounded by Karl Marx in chapter 13 of Capital , Volume III . Although not accepted in 20th century mainstream economics , the existence of such a tendency was widely accepted in the 19th century . Economists as diverse as Adam Smith , John Stuart Mill , David Ricardo and Stanley Jevons referred explicitly to the TRPF as an empirical phenomenon . They differed in their explanation about why the TRPF might occur . In his 1857 Grundrisse manuscript , Karl Marx called the tendency of the rate of profit to fall `` the most important law of political economy '' and sought to give a causal explanation for it , in terms of his theory of capital accumulation . The tendency is already foreshadowed in chapter 25 of Capital , Volume I ( on the `` general law of capital accumulation '' ) , but in Part 3 of the draft manuscript of Marx 's Capital , Volume III , edited posthumously for publication by Friedrich Engels , an extensive analysis is provided of the tendency . Marx regarded the TRPF as proof that capitalist production could not be an everlasting form of production , since , in the end , the profit principle itself would suffer a breakdown . However , because Marx never published any finished manuscript on the TRPF himself , because the tendency is hard to prove or disprove theoretically , and because it is hard to test and measure the rate of profit , Marx 's TRPF theory has been a topic of controversy for more than a century . |
Terraforming | Terraforming ( literally , `` Earth-shaping '' ) of a planet , moon , or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere , temperature , surface topography or ecology to be similar to the environment of Earth to make it habitable by Earth-like life . The concept of terraforming developed from both science fiction and actual science . The term was coined by Jack Williamson in a science-fiction story ( Collision Orbit ) published during 1942 in Astounding Science Fiction , but the concept may pre-date this work . Based on experiences with Earth , the environment of a planet can be altered deliberately ; however , the feasibility of creating an unconstrained planetary environment that mimics Earth on another planet has yet to be verified . Mars is usually considered to be the most likely candidate for terraforming . Much study has been done concerning the possibility of heating the planet and altering its atmosphere , and NASA has even hosted debates on the subject . Several potential methods of altering the climate of Mars may fall within humanity 's technological capabilities , but at present the economic resources required to do so are far beyond that which any government or society is willing to allocate to it . The long timescales and practicality of terraforming are the subject of debate . Other unanswered questions relate to the ethics , logistics , economics , politics , and methodology of altering the environment of an extraterrestrial world . |
São_Tomé_and_Príncipe | São Tomé and Príncipe ( -LSB- ˌsaʊ_təˈmeɪ_ən_ˈprɪnsᵻpə -RSB- or -LSB- ˈprɪnsᵻpeɪ -RSB- ; -LSB- sɐ̃w tuˈmɛ i ˈpɾĩsɨpɨ -RSB- ) , officially the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe , is a Portuguese-speaking island nation in the Gulf of Guinea , off the western equatorial coast of Central Africa . It consists of two archipelagos around the two main islands : São Tomé and Príncipe , located about 140 km apart and about 250 and , respectively , off the northwestern coast of Gabon . The islands were uninhabited until their discovery by Portuguese explorers in the 15th century . Gradually colonized and settled by the Portuguese throughout the 16th century , they collectively served as a vital commercial and trade center for the Atlantic slave trade . The rich volcanic soil and close proximity to the equator made São Tomé and Príncipe ideal for sugar cultivation , followed later by cash crops such as coffee and cocoa ; the lucrative plantation economy was heavily dependent upon imported African slaves . Cycles of social unrest and economic instability throughout the 19th and 20th centuries culminated in peaceful independence in 1975 . São Tomé and Príncipe has since remained one of Africa 's most stable and democratic countries . With a population of 192,993 ( 2013 Census ) , São Tomé and Príncipe is the second-smallest African country after Seychelles , as well as the smallest Portuguese-speaking country . Its people are predominantly of African and mestiço descent , with most practising Roman Catholicism . The legacy of Portuguese rule is also visible in the country 's culture , customs , and music , which fuse European and African influences . |
Sympagic_ecology | A sympagic environment is one where water exists mostly as a solid , ice , such as a polar ice cap or glacier . Solid sea ice is permeated with channels filled with salty brine . These briny channels and the sea ice itself have its ecology , referred to as `` sympagic ecology '' . Residents of temperate or tropical climates often assume , mistakenly , that ice and snow are devoid of life . In fact , a number of varieties of algae such as diatoms engage in photosynthesis in arctic and alpine regions of Earth . Other energy sources include Aeolian dust and pollen swept in from other regions . These ecosystems also include bacteria and fungi , as well as animals like flatworms and crustaceans . A number of sympagic worm species are commonly called ice worms . Additionally , the ocean has abundant plankton , and prolific algal blooms occur in the polar regions each summer as well as in high mountain lakes , bringing nutrients to those parts of the ice in contact with the water . In the spring , krill can scrape off the green lawn of ice algae from the underside of the pack ice . |
Terraforming_of_Mars | Terraforming of Mars is a process by which the surface and climate of Mars would be deliberately changed to make large areas of the environment hospitable to humans , thus making the colonization of Mars safer and sustainable ( see Planetary engineering ) . There are a few proposed terraforming concepts , some of which present prohibitive economic and natural resource costs , and others that may be achievable with foreseeable technology . |
Terra_(satellite) | Terra ( EOS AM-1 ) is a multi-national NASA scientific research satellite in a Sun-synchronous orbit around the Earth . It is the flagship of the Earth Observing System ( EOS ) . The name `` Terra '' comes from the Latin word for Earth . |
Terminology | Terminology is the study of terms and their use . Terms are words and compound words or multi-word expressions that in specific contexts are given specific meanings -- these may deviate from the meanings the same words have in other contexts and in everyday language . Terminology is a discipline that studies , among other things , the development of such terms and their interrelationships within a specialized domain . Terminology differs from lexicography , as it involves the study of concepts , conceptual systems and their labels ( terms ) , whereas lexicography studies words and their meanings . Terminology is a discipline that systematically studies the `` labelling or designating of concepts '' particular to one or more subject fields or domains of human activity . It does this through the research and analysis of terms in context for the purpose of documenting and promoting consistent usage . Terminology can be limited to one or more languages ( for example , `` multilingual terminology '' and `` bilingual terminology '' ) , or may have an interdisciplinarity focus on the use of terms in different fields . |
Tailings_dam | A tailings dam is typically an earth-fill embankment dam used to store byproducts of mining operations after separating the ore from the gangue . Conventional water retention dams can serve this purpose , but due to cost , a tailings dam is more viable . Tailings can be liquid , solid , or a slurry of fine particles . Solid tailings are often used as part of the structure itself . Tailings dams rank among the largest engineered structures on earth . The Syncrude Mildred Lake Tailings Dyke in Alberta , Canada , is an embankment dam about 18 km long and from 40 to high . It is the largest dam structure on earth by volume , and as of 2001 it was believed to be the largest earth structure in the world by volume of fill . There are key differences between tailings dams and the more familiar hydro dams . Tailings dams are designed for permanent containment , meant to `` remain there forever '' . Copper , gold , uranium and other mining operations produce varied kinds of waste , much of it toxic , which pose varied challenges for long-term containment . An estimated 3,500 active tailings impoundments stand around the world , although there is no complete inventory , and the total number is disputed . As of 2000 these structures experience known `` major '' failures of about 2 to 5 annually , along with 35 `` minor '' failures . Assuming the 3,500 figure is correct , this failure rate is `` more than two orders of magnitude higher than the failure rate of conventional water retention dams '' . |
Synthetic_fuel | Synthetic fuel or synfuel is a liquid fuel , or sometimes gaseous fuel , obtained from syngas , a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen , in which the syngas was derived from gasification of solid feedstocks such as coal or biomass or by reforming of natural gas . Common methods for manufacturing synthetic fuels include the Fischer Tropsch conversion , methanol to gasoline conversion , or direct coal liquefaction . As of July 2009 , worldwide commercial synthetic fuels production capacity was over 240000 oilbbl/d , with numerous new projects in construction or development . |
Syngas_fermentation | Syngas fermentation , also known as synthesis gas fermentation , is a microbial process . In this process , a mixture of hydrogen , carbon monoxide , and carbon dioxide , known as syngas , is used as carbon and energy sources , and then converted into fuel and chemicals by microorganisms . The main products of syngas fermentation include ethanol , butanol , acetic acid , butyric acid , and methane . Certain industrial processes , such as petroleum refining , steel milling , and methods for producing carbon black , coke , ammonia , and methanol , discharge enormous amounts of waste gases containing mainly CO and into the atmosphere either directly or through combustion . Biocatalysts can be exploited to convert these waste gases to chemicals and fuels as , for example , ethanol . There are several microorganisms , which can produce fuels and chemicals by syngas utilization . These microorganisms are mostly known as acetogens including Clostridium ljungdahlii , Clostridium autoethanogenum , Eurobacterium limosum , Clostridium carboxidivorans P7 , Peptostreptococcus products , and Butyribacterium methylotrophicum.Most use the Wood -- Ljungdahl pathway . Syngas fermentation process has advantages over a chemical process since it takes places at lower temperature and pressure , has higher reaction specificity , tolerates higher amounts of sulfur compounds , and does not require a specific ratio of CO to . On the other hand , syngas fermentation has limitations such as : Gas-liquid mass transfer limitation Low volumetric productivity Inhibition of organisms . |
Technology | Technology ( `` science of craft '' , from Greek τέχνη , techne , `` art , skill , cunning of hand '' ; and - λογία , - logia ) is the collection of techniques , skills , methods and processes used in the production of goods or services or in the accomplishment of objectives , such as scientific investigation . Technology can be the knowledge of techniques , processes , and the like , or it can be embedded in machines which can be operated without detailed knowledge of their workings . The human species ' use of technology began with the conversion of natural resources into simple tools . The prehistoric discovery of how to control fire and the later Neolithic Revolution increased the available sources of food and the invention of the wheel helped humans to travel in and control their environment . Developments in historic times , including the printing press , the telephone , and the Internet , have lessened physical barriers to communication and allowed humans to interact freely on a global scale . The steady progress of military technology has brought weapons of ever-increasing destructive power , from clubs to nuclear weapons . Technology has many effects . It has helped develop more advanced economies ( including today 's global economy ) and has allowed the rise of a leisure class . Many technological processes produce unwanted by-products known as pollution and deplete natural resources to the detriment of Earth 's environment . Various implementations of technology influence the values of a society and raise new questions of the ethics of technology . Examples include the rise of the notion of efficiency in terms of human productivity , and the challenges of bioethics . Philosophical debates have arisen over the use of technology , with disagreements over whether technology improves the human condition or worsens it . Neo-Luddism , anarcho-primitivism , and similar reactionary movements criticise the pervasiveness of technology in the modern world , arguing that it harms the environment and alienates people ; proponents of ideologies such as transhumanism and techno-progressivism view continued technological progress as beneficial to society and the human condition . Until recently , it was believed that the development of technology was restricted only to human beings , but 21st century scientific studies indicate that other primates and certain dolphin communities have developed simple tools and passed their knowledge to other generations . |
Thaumasia_quadrangle | The Thaumasia quadrangle is one of a series of 30 quadrangle maps of Mars used by the United States Geological Survey ( USGS ) Astrogeology Research Program . The Thaumasia quadrangle is also referred to as MC-25 ( Mars Chart-25 ) . The name comes from Thaumas , the god of the clouds and celestial apparitions . The Thaumasia quadrangle covers the area from 60 ° to 120 ° west longitude and 30 ° to 65 ° south latitude on Mars . The Thaumasia quadrangle contains many different regions or parts of many regions : Solis Planum , Icaria Planum , , Aonia Planum , Bosporus Planum , and Thaumasia Planum . One of the first major networks of stream channels , called Warrego Valles , were discovered here by early orbiters . Another sign of water is the presence of gullies carved into steep slopes . |
Texas_Norther | A Texas Norther , also known as a blue norther , is a cold front in the U.S. state of Texas , marked by a sudden drop in temperature ( sometimes up to 25 degrees F within one hour ) , heavy precipitation , and dark blue skies moving across the state . The phrase originated within Texas , where the land is very flat , perhaps making the approaching front seem darker and more threatening . The cold front usually originates far north of the state , hence the `` norther , '' causing cool temperatures and precipitation . Because Texas lies to the west of a major body of water and to the east of the Rocky Mountains in the zone of the westerlies during the winter , temperatures closely follow the sun , and temperatures that precede a Texas norther can , but very rarely , reach 85 ° F in January and 90 ° F under bright sunlight in nearly-calm conditions even as far north as Dallas before the cold front passes through . Winds turn sharply to a northerly direction and become very strong . Windchill due to a combination of cold temperatures and strong winds is dangerous to anyone who is caught unaware and unprepared for it . It exists only from November to early March in Texas . A typical norther can occur with temperatures reaching 60 degrees in the mid-morning , then dropping dramatically to the 20-30s with rain changing over into snow . In 2004 , when many parts of North Texas observed a White Christmas , the midnight previous to the snow event witnessed a temperat was falling , and several inches accumulated across the region . The snow stayed on the ground for a few days before melting the day after Christmas . Of course , it depended on which location you were at to observe the White Christmas . |
TerreStar-1 | TerreStar-1 is an American communications satellite which was operated by TerreStar Corporation . It was constructed by Space Systems/Loral , based on the LS-1300S bus , and carries E/F band ( IEEE S band ) transponders which will be used to provide mobile communications to North America . The signals are transmitted by an 18 m reflector on the satellite . It had a launch mass of 6910 kg , making it the most massive single satellite launched into a geosynchronous transfer orbit , and the largest commercial communications satellite ever built at the time of its launch , surpassing the previous two records , both set by ICO G-1 in 2008 . Terrestar-1 has since been surpassed in size by the launch of SkyTerra in November 2010 , formerly known as Mobile Satellite Ventures . TerreStar was launched at 17:52 GMT on 2009-07-01 , during a two-hour launch window that opened at 16:13 . The launch occurred towards the end of the window due to bad weather in the first hour , followed by two aborted countdowns for launch attempts scheduled at 17:12 and 17:34 . The launch was conducted by Arianespace , and used an Ariane 5ECA carrier rocket , flying from ELA-3 at the Guiana Space Centre . After launch , the satellite separated from the carrier rocket into a geosynchronous transfer orbit . It will subsequently raise itself into geostationary orbit by means of its onboard propulsion system . It will be positioned at 111 ° West longitude , and is expected to operate for 15 years . A second satellite , TerreStar-2 , is currently under construction and will be used as a ground spare per the Federal Communications Commission guidelines . Following TerreStar 's file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a movement had been formed by the NGO A Human Right to purchase TerreStar-1 and to use it to provide free basic Internet access to developing countries . The team was looking for $ 150,000 USD in donations to put the first phase of their plan into action . However , after successfully bidding $ 1.375 billion for the acquisition of the TerreStar-1 satellite in a bankruptcy-court auction Dish Network on August 22 , 2011 asked the Federal Communications Commission to let the company use the wireless spectrum of TerreStar to offer its own wireless broadband service . |
The_Bear_(1988_film) | The Bear ( known as L'Ours in its original release ) is a 1988 French family film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and released by TriStar Pictures . Adapted from the novel The Grizzly King ( 1916 ) by American author James Oliver Curwood , the screenplay was written by Gérard Brach . Set in late 19th-century British Columbia , Canada , the film tells the story of an orphaned bear cub who befriends an adult male grizzly as hunters pursue them through the wild . Several of the themes explored in the story include orphanhood , peril and protection , and mercy toward and on the behalf of a reformed hunter . Annaud and Brach began planning the story and production in 1981 , although filming did not begin until six years later , due to the director 's commitment to another project . The Bear was filmed almost entirely in the Italian and Austrian areas of the Dolomites , with live animals -- including Bart the Bear , a trained 9-foot tall Kodiak -- present on location . Notable for its almost complete lack of dialogue and its minimal score , the film was nominated for and won numerous international film awards . |
Terpene | Terpenes ( -LSB- ˈtɜrpiːn -RSB- ) are a large and diverse class of organic compounds , produced by a variety of plants , particularly conifers , and by some insects such as termites or swallowtail butterflies , which emit terpenes from their osmeteria . They often have a strong odor and may protect the plants that produce them by deterring herbivores and by attracting predators and parasites of herbivores . The difference between terpenes and terpenoids is that terpenes are hydrocarbons , whereas terpenoids contain additional functional groups . They are the major components of resin , and of turpentine produced from resin . The name `` terpene '' is derived from the word `` turpentine '' . In addition to their roles as end-products in many organisms , terpenes are major biosynthetic building blocks within nearly every living creature . Steroids , for example , are derivatives of the triterpene squalene . When terpenes are modified chemically , such as by oxidation or rearrangement of the carbon skeleton , the resulting compounds are generally referred to as terpenoids . Some authors will use the term terpene to include all terpenoids . Terpenoids are also known as isoprenoids . Terpenes and terpenoids are the primary constituents of the essential oils of many types of plants and flowers . Essential oils are used widely as fragrances in perfumery , and in medicine and alternative medicines such as aromatherapy . Synthetic variations and derivatives of natural terpenes and terpenoids also greatly expand the variety of aromas used in perfumery and flavors used in food additives . Vitamin A is a terpenoid . Higher amounts of terpenes are released by trees in warmer weather , acting as a natural form of cloud seeding . The clouds reflect sunlight , allowing the forest to regulate its temperature . The aroma and flavor of hops comes from the terpenes , alpha-humulene , beta-caryophyllene , and sesquiterpenes , which affect beer quality . Terpenes are also major constituents of Cannabis sativa plants , which contain at least 120 identified compounds . |
Syracuse,_New_York | Syracuse ( -LSB- localˈsɛrəkjuːs -RSB- ) is a city in , and the county seat of , Onondaga County , New York , in the United States . It is the largest U.S. city with the name `` Syracuse '' , and is the fifth most populous city in the state of New York following New York City , Buffalo , Rochester , and Yonkers . At the 2010 census , the city population was 145,170 , and its metropolitan area had a population of 662,577 . It is the economic and educational hub of Central New York , a region with over a million inhabitants . Syracuse is also well-provided with convention sites , with a downtown convention complex . Syracuse was named after the original Greek city Syracuse ( Siracusa in Italian ) , a city on the eastern coast of the Italian island of Sicily . The city has functioned as a major crossroads over the last two centuries , first between the Erie Canal and its branch canals , then of the railway network . Today , Syracuse is located at the intersection of Interstates 81 and 90 , and its airport is the largest in the region . Syracuse is home to Syracuse University , a major research university , as well as Le Moyne College , a nationally recognized liberal arts college . In 2010 , Forbes rated Syracuse 4th in the top 10 places in the U.S. to raise a family . |
Terra_Nova_(newspaper) | Terra Nova ( Portuguese meaning `` New Land '' ) is a weekly newspaper that covers top stories from the island of São Vicente in the island country of Cape Verde . Terra Nova is headquartered in Mindelo , the nation 's second largest city and is one of the most circulated newspapers and dailies in Cape Verde as well as the island of São Vicente . It was founded in 1975 making it one of the oldest newspapers that ever existed in the country or the archipelago . |
Thaw_depth | In soil science , the thaw depth or thaw line is the level down to which the permafrost soil will normally thaw each summer in a given area . The layer of soil over the thaw depth is called the active layer , while the soil below is called inactive layer . The term frost front refers to the varying position of the thaw line during the periods of freezing/thawing . The knowledge of the thaw depth is important for the two major reasons : its influence on the ecology and on construction ( buildings , pipelines , roads , etc. ) . These influences are mediated by the effects of the dynamics biological , pedologic , geomorphologic , biogeochemical , and hydrologic processes in permafrost . In ecology , roots of plants can not penetrate beyond the active layer , which places restrictions on which plants can grow in permafrost . In construction , the thaw depth is a major factor in ensuring the structural integrity of the objects in question . The primary factor that determines the thaw depth is the maximal air temperature . The soil type is another important factor : coarser textures of the parent material have higher thermal conductivity , and , e.g. , sandy soils have much deeper thaw line than clays . Yet another factors are the vegetation and the percentage of the soil organic matter , which influence the bulk density of the soil , and hence thermal conductivity . |
Syngas | Syngas , or synthesis gas , is a fuel gas mixture consisting primarily of hydrogen , carbon monoxide , and very often some carbon dioxide . The name comes from its use as intermediates in creating synthetic natural gas ( SNG ) and for producing ammonia or methanol . Syngas is usually a product of gasification and the main application is electricity generation . Syngas is combustible and often used as a fuel of internal combustion engines . It has less than half the energy density of natural gas . Syngas can be produced from many sources , including natural gas , coal , biomass , or virtually any hydrocarbon feedstock , by reaction with steam ( steam reforming ) , carbon dioxide ( dry reforming ) or oxygen ( partial oxidation ) . Syngas is a crucial intermediate resource for production of hydrogen , ammonia , methanol , and synthetic hydrocarbon fuels . Syngas is also used as an intermediate in producing synthetic petroleum for use as a fuel or lubricant via the Fischer -- Tropsch process and previously the Mobil methanol to gasoline process . Production methods include steam reforming of natural gas or liquid hydrocarbons to produce hydrogen , the gasification of coal , biomass , and in some types of waste-to-energy gasification facilities . |
Taxation_in_the_United_States | The United States of America is a federal republic with separate federal , state , and local government ( s ) . Taxes are imposed in the United States at each of these levels . These include taxes on income , payroll , property , sales , capital gains , dividends , imports , estates and gifts , as well as various fees . In 2010 taxes collected by federal , state and municipal governments amounted to 24.8 % of GDP . In the OECD , only Chile and Mexico taxed less as a share of GDP . However , taxes fall much more heavily on labor income than on capital income . Divergent taxes and subsidies for different forms of income and spending can also constitute a form of indirect taxation of some activities over others . For example , individual spending on higher education can be said to be `` taxed '' at a high rate , compared to other forms of personal expenditure which are formally recognized as investments . Taxes are imposed on net income of individuals and corporations by the federal , most state , and some local governments . Citizens and residents are taxed on worldwide income and allowed a credit for foreign taxes . Income subject to tax is determined under tax accounting rules , not financial accounting principles , and includes almost all income from whatever source . Most business expenses reduce taxable income , though limits apply to a few expenses . Individuals are permitted to reduce taxable income by personal allowances and certain non-business expenses , including home mortgage interest , state and local taxes , charitable contributions , and medical and certain other expenses incurred above certain percentages of income . State rules for determining taxable income often differ from federal rules . Federal tax rates vary from 10 % to 39.6 % of taxable income . State and local tax rates vary widely by jurisdiction , from 0 % to 13.30 % of income , and many are graduated . State taxes are generally treated as a deductible expense for federal tax computation . In 2013 , the top marginal income tax rate for a high-income California resident would be 52.9 % . The United States is one of two countries in the world that taxes its non-resident citizens on worldwide income , in the same manner and rates as residents ; the other is Eritrea . The Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the payment of such tax in the case of Cook v. Tait , 265 U.S. 47 ( 1924 ) . Payroll taxes are imposed by the federal and all state governments . These include Social Security and Medicare taxes imposed on both employers and employees , at a combined rate of 15.3 % ( 13.3 % for 2011 and 2012 ) . Social Security tax applies only to the first $ 106,800 of wages in 2009 through 2011 . However , benefits are only accrued on the first $ 106,800 of wages . Employers must withhold income taxes on wages . An unemployment tax and certain other levies apply to employers . Payroll taxes have dramatically increased as a share of federal revenue since the 1950s , while corporate income taxes have fallen as a share of revenue . ( Corporate profits have not fallen as a share of GDP ) . Property taxes are imposed by most local governments and many special purpose authorities based on the fair market value of property . School and other authorities are often separately governed , and impose separate taxes . Property tax is generally imposed only on realty , though some jurisdictions tax some forms of business property . Property tax rules and rates vary widely with annual median rates ranging from 0.2 % to 1.9 % of a property 's value depending on the state . Sales taxes are imposed by most states and some localities on the price at retail sale of many goods and some services . Sales tax rates vary widely among jurisdictions , from 0 % to 16 % , and may vary within a jurisdiction based on the particular goods or services taxed . Sales tax is collected by the seller at the time of sale , or remitted as use tax by buyers of taxable items who did not pay sales tax . The United States imposes tariffs or customs duties on the import of many types of goods from many jurisdictions . These tariffs or duties must be paid before the goods can be legally imported . Rates of duty vary from 0 % to more than 20 % , based on the particular goods and country of origin . Estate and gift taxes are imposed by the federal and some state governments on the transfer of property inheritance , by will , or by life time donation . Similar to federal income taxes , federal estate and gift taxes are imposed on worldwide property of citizens and residents and allow a credit for foreign taxes . |
Tax_policy_and_economic_inequality_in_the_United_States | The provisions of the United States Internal Revenue Code regarding income taxes and estate taxes have undergone significant changes under both Republican and Democratic administrations and Congresses since 1964 . Since the Johnson Administration , the top marginal income tax rates have been reduced from 91 % for the wealthiest Americans in 1963 , to a low of 35 % under George W Bush , rising recently to 39.6 % ( or in some cases 43.4 % ) in 2013 under the Obama Administration . Capital gains taxes have also decreased over the last several years , and have experienced a more punctuated evolution than income taxes as significant and frequent changes to these rates occurred from 1981 to 2011 . Both estate and inheritance taxes have been steadily declining since the 1990s . Economic inequality in the United States has been steadily increasing since the 1980s as well and economists such as Paul Krugman , Joseph Stiglitz , and Peter Orszag , politicians like Barack Obama and Paul Ryan , and media entities have engaged in debates and accusations over the role of tax policy changes in perpetuating economic inequality . A 2011 Congressional Research Service report stated , `` Changes in capital gains and dividends were the largest contributor to the increase in the overall income inequality . '' Scholarly and popular literature exists on this topic with numerous works on both sides of the debate . The work of Emmanuel Saez , for example , has concerned the role of American tax policy in aggregating wealth into the richest households in recent years while Thomas Sowell and Gary Becker maintain that education , globalization , and market forces are the root causes of income and overall economic inequality . The Revenue Act of 1964 and the `` Bush Tax Cuts '' coincide with the rising economic inequality in the United States both by socioeconomic class and race . |
Tennis_elbow | Tennis elbow or lateral epicondylitis is a condition in which the outer part of the elbow becomes sore and tender at the lateral epicondyle . The forearm muscles and tendons become damaged from repetitive overuse . This leads to pain and tenderness on the outside of the elbow . Any activity , including playing tennis , that involves repetitive use of the extensor muscles of the forearm can cause acute or chronic tendonitis of the tendinous insertion of these muscles at the lateral epicondyle of the elbow . The condition is common in carpenters and laborers who swing a hammer or other tool with the forearm , and is similar to Golfer 's elbow , which affects the medial epicondyle on the inside of the elbow . Continuing activity after onset of the condition and avoiding mandatory rest may lead to permanent onset of pain and only treatable via surgery . German physician F. Runge is usually credited for the first description of the condition , calling it `` writer 's cramp '' ( Schreibekrampf ) in 1873 . Later , it was called `` washer women 's elbow '' . British surgeon Henry Morris published an article in The Lancet describing `` lawn tennis arm '' in 1883 . The popular term `` tennis elbow '' first appeared the same year in a paper by H.P. Major , described as `` lawn-tennis elbow '' . |
Temperate_climate | In geography , temperate or tepid latitudes of Earth lie between the tropics and the polar regions . The temperatures in these regions are generally relatively moderate , rather than extremely hot or cold , and the changes between summer and winter are also usually moderate . |
Temporary_Interstate_Highways | In 1962 , during the extensive construction of the Interstate Highway System , Temporary Interstates were marked as a way to connect two completed freeway sections of Interstate highways . The Temporary Interstates were signed on mostly surface roads that did not meet Interstate standards . The shields were red , white and blue with the word `` TEMPORARY '' appearing in the top quarter instead of `` INTERSTATE . '' Most of the Temporary Interstates would later be replaced by Business Loops , such as Temporary I-85 southwest of Greensboro , North Carolina ( also signed as US 29 , US 70 and , at its southern end , US 52 ) . Future Interstates , such as I-86 in New York , have become more common in recent years . The shields have `` FUTURE '' in the top quarter , and are placed along what will eventually become the alignments for the mainline . |
Thermochronology | Thermochronology is the study of the thermal evolution of a region of a planet . Thermochronologists use radiometric dating along with the closure temperatures that represent the temperature of the mineral being studied at the time given by the date recorded , to understand the thermal history of a specific rock , mineral , or geologic unit . It is a subfield within geology , and is closely associated with geochronology . A typical thermochronological study will involve the dates of a number of rock samples from different areas in a region , often from a vertical transect along a steep canyon , cliff face , or slope . These samples are then dated . With some knowledge of the subsurface thermal structure , these dates are translated into depths and times at which that particular sample was at the mineral 's closure temperature . If the rock is today at the surface , this process gives the exhumation rate of the rock . Common isotopic systems used for thermochronology include fission track dating in zircon and apatite , potassium-argon and argon-argon dating in apatite , uranium-thorium-helium dating in zircon and apatite , and 4He/3He dating . |
The_Great_Global_Warming_Swindle | The Great Global Warming Swindle is a polemical documentary film that suggests that the scientific opinion on climate change is influenced by funding and political factors , and questions whether scientific consensus on global warming exists . The program was formally criticised by Ofcom , the UK broadcasting regulatory agency , which upheld complaints of misrepresentation made by David King . The film , made by British television producer Martin Durkin , presents scientists , economists , politicians , writers , and others who dispute the scientific consensus regarding anthropogenic global warming . The programme 's publicity materials assert that man-made global warming is `` a lie '' and `` the biggest scam of modern times . '' Its original working title was `` Apocalypse my arse '' , but the title The Great Global Warming Swindle was later adopted as an allusion to the 1980 mockumentary The Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle about British punk band the Sex Pistols . The UK 's Channel 4 premiered the documentary on 8 March 2007 . The channel described the film as `` a polemic that drew together the well-documented views of a number of respected scientists to reach the same conclusions . This is a controversial film but we feel that it is important that all sides of the debate are aired . '' According to Hamish Mykura , Channel 4 's head of documentaries , the film was commissioned `` to present the viewpoint of the small minority of scientists who do not believe global warming is caused by anthropogenic production of carbon dioxide . '' Although the documentary was welcomed by global warming sceptics , it was criticised by scientific organisations and individual scientists ( including one of the scientists interviewed in the film and one whose research was used to support the film 's claims ) . The film 's critics argued that it had misused and fabricated data , relied on out-of-date research , employed misleading arguments , and misrepresented the position of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change . Later broadcasts corrected three errors in the original film . |
The_Ice_Age | The Ice Age may refer to : The Last glacial period , which occurred from c. 110,000 -- c. 11,700 years ago The Pleistocene , a geological epoch lasting from c. 2,588,000 to 11,700 years ago and spanning the world 's most recent period of repeated glaciations . The Plio-Pleistocene , a geological pseudo-period which begins about 5 million years ago and combines the time ranges of the formally defined Pliocene and Pleistocene epochs Quaternary glaciation , also known as the Pleistocene glaciation or the current ice age , a series of glacial events separated by interglacial events lasting from the Quaternary period to the present . For the general period of temperature reduction , see Ice age . |
Thomas_Robert_Malthus | Thomas Robert Malthus ( -LSB- ˈmælθəs -RSB- 13 February 1766 -- 29 December 1834 ) was an English cleric and scholar , influential in the fields of political economy and demography . Malthus himself used only his middle name , Robert . In his book An Essay on the Principle of Population , Malthus observed that an increase in a nation 's food production improved the well-being of the populace , but the improvement was temporary because it led to population growth , which in turn restored the original per capita production level . In other words , mankind had a propensity to utilize abundance for population growth rather than for maintaining a high standard of living , a view that has become known as the `` Malthusian trap '' or the `` Malthusian spectre '' . Populations had a tendency to grow until the lower class suffered hardship and want and greater susceptibility to famine and disease , a view that is sometimes referred to as a Malthusian catastrophe . Malthus wrote in opposition to the popular view in 18th-century Europe that saw society as improving and in principle as perfectible . He saw population growth as being inevitable whenever conditions improved , thereby precluding real progress towards a utopian society : `` The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man '' . As an Anglican cleric , Malthus saw this situation as divinely imposed to teach virtuous behaviour . Malthus wrote : Malthus criticized the Poor Laws for leading to inflation rather than improving the well-being of the poor . He supported taxes on grain imports ( the Corn Laws ) , because food security was more important than maximizing wealth . His views became influential , and controversial , across economic , political , social and scientific thought . Pioneers of evolutionary biology read him , notably Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace . He remains a much-debated writer . |
The_Coming_Global_Superstorm | The Coming Global Superstorm ( ISBN 0-671-04190-8 ) is a 1999 book by Art Bell and Whitley Strieber , which warns that global warming might produce sudden and catastrophic climatic effects . First , the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic drift would generate a cordon of warm water around the North Pole , which in turn , holds in a frozen mass of Arctic air . Second , if the North Atlantic drift were to shut down , that barrier would fail , releasing a flood of frozen air into the Northern Hemisphere , causing a sudden and drastic temperature shift . The book discusses a possible cause of the failure of the Gulf Stream : the melting of the polar ice caps could drastically affect the salinity of the North Atlantic drift by dumping a large quantity of freshwater into the world 's oceans . Bell and Strieber explain the possibility that such current destabilizations have occurred before , as well as seemingly impossible engineering feats by the ancients . Among their examples is the island city of Nan Madol . The book claims that its construction , with exacting tolerances and extremely heavy basalt materials , necessitates a high degree of technical competency . Since no such society exists in the modern record or even , in legend , the society must have been destroyed by dramatic means . While other explanations beside a global meteorological event are possible , a correlating evidence set is presented in the woolly mammoth . Strieber and Bell assert that since mammoths have been found preserved with food still in their mouths and undigested in their stomachs , these animals must have been killed quickly , in otherwise normal conditions . They were preserved so well by quick freezing , which is taken as evidence of a rapid onset of a global blizzard or similar event . Interspersed with the analytical parts of the book are a series of interlinked short fictional scenarios , written in italics , describing what might transpire today if a destabilization of the North Atlantic Current were to occur . The fictional accounts of `` current events '' as the meteorological situation deteriorates provided background and inspiration for the 2004 science fiction film The Day After Tomorrow . Indeed , some events from the book are portrayed in the film with little modification . |
Thermohaline_circulation | Thermohaline circulation ( THC ) is a part of the large-scale ocean circulation that is driven by global density gradients created by surface heat and freshwater fluxes . The adjective thermohaline derives from thermo - referring to temperature and referring to salt content , factors which together determine the density of sea water . Wind-driven surface currents ( such as the Gulf Stream ) travel polewards from the equatorial Atlantic Ocean , cooling en route , and eventually sinking at high latitudes ( forming North Atlantic Deep Water ) . This dense water then flows into the ocean basins . While the bulk of it upwells in the Southern Ocean , the oldest waters ( with a transit time of around 1000 years ) upwell in the North Pacific . Extensive mixing therefore takes place between the ocean basins , reducing differences between them and making the Earth 's oceans a global system . On their journey , the water masses transport both energy ( in the form of heat ) and matter ( solids , dissolved substances and gases ) around the globe . As such , the state of the circulation has a large impact on the climate of the Earth . The thermohaline circulation is sometimes called the ocean conveyor belt , the great ocean conveyor , or the global conveyor belt . On occasion , it is used to refer to the meridional overturning circulation ( often abbreviated as MOC ) . The term MOC is more accurate and well defined , as it is difficult to separate the part of the circulation which is driven by temperature and salinity alone as opposed to other factors such as the wind and tidal forces . Moreover , temperature and salinity gradients can also lead to circulation effects that are not included in the MOC itself . |
The_Radiators_(American_band) | The Radiators , also known as The New Orleans Radiators , are a rock band from New Orleans , Louisiana , who combined the traditional musical styles of their native city with more mainstream rock and R&B influences to form a bouncy , funky variety of swamp-rock they called fish-head music . Described by OffBeat magazine as `` New Orleans ' longest-running and most successful rock band '' , The Radiators ' had only limited commercial success , with only a handful of chart appearances , but , as a party band from a party town , their enthusiastic live performances , danceable beats and relentless touring earned the band a dedicated following and the admiration of many of their peers . In a feat of continuity rarely seen in the rock music world , the five-man line up in the year of their breakup ( 2011 ) is the same one as when the band formed in 1978 . The Radiators had a repertoire which included over three hundred original songs -- many never released on album -- and over one thousand covers ( or partial covers used as part of a medley ) . With the band 's approval , over 500 concert recordings have been made available for free ( for non-commercial use ) on the Internet Archive . On June 10 , 2011 , at Tipitina 's in New Orleans , LA , during the second of their final three concerts , The Radiators were inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame . Despite ceasing to perform regularly as an active band the Radiators still reunite twice a year , at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival , and for a three-day run at Tipitina 's every January . |
The_Deniers | The Deniers is a 2008 book by Lawrence Solomon , a Canadian environmentalist and writer . Subtitled `` The world-renowned scientists who stood up against global warming hysteria , political persecution , and fraud , '' the book draws attention to a number of scientists and others who , according to Solomon , have advanced arguments against what he calls the `` alarmist '' view of global warming , as presented by Al Gore , the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) , the mainstream media , and others . The book is based on a series of columns Solomon wrote for Canada 's National Post . |
Thermocline | A thermocline ( sometimes metalimnion in lakes ) is a thin but distinct layer in a large body of fluid ( e.g. water , such as an ocean or lake , or air , such as an atmosphere ) in which temperature changes more rapidly with depth than it does in the layers above or below . In the ocean , the thermocline divides the upper mixed layer from the calm deep water below . Depending largely on season , latitude and turbulent mixing by wind , thermoclines may be a semi-permanent feature of the body of water in which they occur or they may form temporarily in response to phenomena such as the radiative heating/cooling of surface water during the day/night . Factors that affect the depth and thickness of a thermocline include seasonal weather variations , latitude and local environmental conditions , such as tides and currents . |
The_Nature_Conservancy | The Nature Conservancy is a charitable environmental organization , headquartered in Arlington , Virginia , United States . Its mission is to `` conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends . '' The Conservancy pursues non confrontational , pragmatic solutions to conservation 's challenges working with partners including indigenous communities , businesses , governments , multilateral institutions , and other non-profits . The Conservancy 's work focuses on the global priorities of Lands , Water , Climate , Oceans , and Cities . Founded in Arlington , Virginia , in 1951 , The Nature Conservancy now impacts conservation in 69 countries , including all 50 states of the United States . The Conservancy has over one million members , and has protected more than 119000000 acre of land and thousands of miles of rivers worldwide . The Nature Conservancy also operates more than 100 marine conservation projects globally . The organization 's assets total $ 6.71 billion as of 2015 . The Nature Conservancy is the largest environmental nonprofit by assets and by revenue in the Americas . The Nature Conservancy rates as one of the most trusted national organizations in Harris Interactive polls every year since 2005 . Forbes magazine rated The Nature Conservancy 's fundraising efficiency at 88 percent in its 2005 survey of the largest U.S. charities . The Conservancy received a three-star rating from Charity Navigator in 2016 ( three-star in 2015 ) The American Institute of Philanthropy gives the Conservancy a B + rating and includes it on its list of `` Top-Rated Charities '' . The Nature Conservancy is led by President and CEO Mark Tercek , a former managing director at Goldman Sachs . He is the author of the Washington Post and Publisher 's Weekly bestselling book Nature 's Fortune : How Business and Society Thrive by Investing in Nature . The Nature Conservancy 's Chief Scientist is Australian Hugh Possingham , who was named to this position in 2016 . The current board chairman is Craig McCaw , the Chairman & CEO of Eagle River Inc. . Other current members include former U.S. Senator Bill Frist , chairman of the Alibaba Group Jack Ma , and Chairman and Co-founder of The Bridgespan Group Thomas Tierney . |
The_World_Academy_of_Sciences | The World Academy of Sciences ( TWAS ) is a merit-based science academy uniting 1,000 scientists in some 70 countries . Its principal aim is to promote scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable development in the South ( see North-South divide ) . Its headquarters are located on the premises of the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics ( ICTP ) in Trieste , Italy . It was named `` Third World Academy of Sciences '' until 2004 and `` TWAS , the academy of sciences for the developing world '' before September 2012 , |
The_Detroit_News | The Detroit News is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit , Michigan . The paper began in 1873 , when it rented space in the rival Detroit Free Press building . The News absorbed the Detroit Tribune on February 1 , 1919 , the Detroit Journal on July 21 , 1922 , and on November 7 , 1960 , it bought and closed the faltering Detroit Times . However , it retained the Times '' ' building , which it used as a printing plant until 1967 , when a new facility opened in Sterling Heights and the Times building was demolished . The street in downtown Detroit where the Times building once stood is still called `` Times Square . '' The Evening News Association , owner of The News , merged with Gannett in 1985 . At the time of its acquisition of The News , Gannett also had other Detroit interests , as its outdoor advertising company , which ultimately became Outfront Media through a series of mergers , operated many billboards across Detroit and the surrounding area , including advertising displays on Detroit Department of Transportation and Southeastern Michigan Transportation Authority buses , with its only competitor , primarily along Metro Detroit 's freeway network , being 3M National Advertising ( now Lamar Advertising ) . The News claims to have been the first newspaper in the world to operate a radio station , station 8MK , which began broadcasting August 20 , 1920 . 8MK is now CBS-owned WWJ . In 1947 , it established Michigan 's first television station , WWJ-TV , now WDIV-TV . In 1989 , the paper entered into a 100-year joint operating agreement with the rival Free Press , combining business operations while keeping separate editorial staffs . The combined company is called the Detroit Media Partnership ( DMP ) . The Free Press moved into The News building in 1998 and until May 7 , 2006 , the two published a single joint weekend edition . Today The News '' , which has won three Pulitzer Prizes , is published Monday -- Saturday , and has an editorial page in the Sunday Free Press . |
The_Weather_Channel | The Weather Channel is an American basic cable and satellite television channel , owned by a consortium made up of The Blackstone Group , Bain Capital , and NBCUniversal . Its headquarters are located in Atlanta , Georgia . Launched on May 2 , 1982 , the channel broadcasts weather forecasts and weather-related news and analysis , along with documentaries and entertainment programming related to weather . A sister network , Weatherscan , is a digital cable and satellite service that offers 24-hour automated local forecasts and radar imagery . In addition to its programming on the cable channel , TWC also provided forecasts for terrestrial and satellite radio stations , newspapers and websites , and maintained an extensive online presence at weather.com and through a set of mobile applications for smartphones and tablet computers . These services are now administered by The Weather Channel 's former parent company , The Weather Company , which was sold to IBM in 2016 . The Weather Channel continues to license its brand assets and weather data from IBM . , The Weather Channel was received by approximately 89.7 million American households that subscribe to a pay television service ( 77.1 % of U.S. households with at least one television set ) . As recently as February 2015 , the network was the most distributed cable network in the United States with 97.3 million subscribers ( or 83.6 % of US households ) . However , it was subsequently dropped by Verizon FiOS ( losing its approximately 5.5 million subscribers ) , giving the title of most distributed network to HLN . Actual viewership of the channel averaged 210,000 during 2013 and has been declining for several years . |
The_Independent | The Independent is a British online newspaper . Established in 1986 as an independent national morning newspaper published in London , it was controlled by Tony O'Reilly 's Independent News & Media from 1997 until it was sold to Russian oligarch Alexander Lebedev in 2010 . The printed edition of the paper ceased in March 2016 . Nicknamed the Indy , it began as a broadsheet , but changed to tabloid ( compact ) format in 2003 . Until September 2011 , the paper described itself on the banner at the top of every newspaper as `` free from party political bias , free from proprietorial influence '' . It tends to take a pro-market stance on economic issues . The daily edition was named National Newspaper of the Year at the 2004 British Press Awards . In June 2015 , it had an average daily circulation of just below 58,000 , 85 per cent down from its 1990 peak , while the Sunday edition had a circulation of just over 97,000 . The last print edition of The Independent on Sunday was published on 20 March 2016 , with the main paper ceasing print publication the following Saturday , leaving only its digital editions . |
The_Scientific_Activist | The Scientific Activist was a blog that covers science , politics , and science policy , run by Nick Anthis , a graduate student in biochemistry and Rhodes Scholar at the University of Oxford . The Scientific Activist gained international recognition in February 2006 when it published information that led to the immediate resignation of Bush Administration NASA appointee George Deutsch . Deutsch -- who had been accused of censoring scientific information at NASA -- claimed to have graduated from Texas A&M University on his résumé , but Anthis discovered that Deutsch had not , in fact , completed his degree there . The Scientific Activist was founded on January 11 , 2006 , and was originally hosted by Blogger . It gained early attention for its coverage of Oxford 's vocal animal rights movement , and it continued its coverage as the pro-research Pro-Test movement was formed . On June 9 , 2006 , The Scientific Activist moved to ScienceBlogs . In July 2006 , The Scientific Activist was named one of Nature 's `` Top five science blogs . '' |
The_Great_Warming | The Great Warming is a 2006 documentary film directed by Michael Taylor . The film was hosted by Alanis Morissette and Keanu Reeves and even before its November 3 , 2006 première helped establish an alliance between Democrats and Evangelicals trying to shake the administration out of its inertia on Climate change mitigation . It is also the anchor for a broad , pro-active coalition ranging from Friends of the Earth to Union of Concerned Scientists to Churches of Christ . Theatre giant Regal Cinemas released the film in its top 50 markets on the weekend of November 4 to November 5 , 2006 , which makes the launch three times larger than for any other film of its kind , and highlights the growing currency of the global warming issues in the mainstream.A special program was developed for faith communities , and the film was distributed to over 500 churches , synagogues and mosques across the US . Featuring elements of the 2005 Public Broadcasting Service special Global Warming : the Signs and the Science , The Great Warming ( produced by the same team ) , it talks to key researchers and reports on social justice and day-to-day impacts as well as emission statistics . It 's also populated with everyday people from all over the United States and the planet who are feeling the brunt of global warming , and/or finding innovative ways to tackle it . While making the movie , producer Karen Coshof was determined not to lose sight of her most important advocate , the person on the street , to make the issue of global warming resonate in every household around the globe . Every person should `` feel empowered to act . '' In media interviews , Coshof explained that the film attracted an unprecedented coalition of leaders in science , religion , business , environmental activism and education . They have built bridges over historic gaps to support the message of this film to believe in the individual and collective moral responsibility to reverse the growing threats to the environment , and to the health and quality of life . The effort goes beyond the documentary : with a release timed just before the United States House elections , 2006 , the website featured a Questions for Candidates link where voters could send a questionnaire on energy , environment , and taxation to their federal and state candidates . The campaign also includes a Call to Action signed by leaders from every arena of public life , and which can be signed online by anyone who chooses . Advance DVD screenings at schools , churches , and town halls across the country have already mobilized thousands of people to change personal habits and demand action , and coalition members are working to track the effort . |
Thermal_optimum | A thermal optimum is either a portion of a specified geological time span in which the average temperature was above that of the average temperature for the entire specified time or the optimum range within which a biological process may take place or the ambient optimal range for a species ' niche . In geology , scientists speak of a Holocene thermal optimum or maximum , for example , when referring to the warm period from 9000 to 5000 years before the present , in which an overall rise in average temperature is seen in evidence from ice cores and from stable isotope data . Scientists are interested in these periods because they may be clues to evolutionary pressures experienced by species during large spans of time . In biology a thermal optimum describes the ideal boundaries for biological processes such as growth and development , and is usually characteristic of a species or population . Most biological processes are dependent upon enzymatic activity that can be impacted by the organism 's body temperature , which in term is a function of the organism 's metabolism and environment as each enzyme has a finite window in which it can function properly . An organism 's niche in the environment may then be dependent upon the thermal optima for all of its necessary biological processes . In animals that inhabit the wave-tossed tidal pools of rocky shores thermal optima vary for each species and dictate the species ' tolerance of environmental conditions that lead to increased heating or loss of mechanisms for cooling . For example , exposure to sunlight when the tide is out , and lack of thermal insulation from the buffering effects of water due to its specific heat capacity may contribute to increased temperature leading to increased desiccation . An organism that has a high thermal optimum may still be able to function in this environment , while one with a lower thermal optimum may have its metabolic processes shut down during the drying period of exposure . An organism may be confined to a limited range of habitats due to the population 's thermal optima , while another population may have a different range of habitats open to it due to a different thermal optima for its biological processes . Ultimately the ability to adapt to greater extremes in such a harsh environment as the rocky shores where tide pools are formed may then be discussed in terms of varying environmental thermal optima for different species . |
The_Real_Global_Warming_Disaster | The Real Global Warming Disaster ( Is the Obsession with ` Climate Change ' Turning Out to Be the Most Costly Scientific Blunder in History ? ) is a 2009 book by English journalist and author Christopher Booker in which he asserts that global warming can not be attributed to humans , and then alleges how the scientific opinion on climate change was formulated . From a standpoint of environmental scepticism , Booker seeks to combine an analysis of the science of global warming with the consequences of political decisions to reduce emissions and claims that , as governments prepare to make radical changes in energy policies , the scientific evidence for global warming is becoming increasingly challenged . He asserts that global warming is not supported by a significant number of climate scientists , and criticises how the UN 's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change ( IPCC ) presents evidence and data , in particular citing its reliance on potentially inaccurate global climate models to make temperature projections . Booker concludes , `` it begins to look very possible that the nightmare vision of our planet being doomed '' may be imaginary , and that , if so , `` it will turn out to be one of the most expensive , destructive , and foolish mistakes the human race has ever made '' . The book 's claims were strongly criticised by science writer Philip Ball , but the book was praised by several columnists . The book opens with an erroneous quotation , which Booker subsequently acknowledged and promised to correct in future editions . The book was Amazon UK 's fourth bestselling environment book of the decade 2000 -- 10 . |
The_Miami_Hurricane | The Miami Hurricane , founded in 1929 , is the official student newspaper at the University of Miami in Coral Gables , Florida , in the United States . It is published weekly by a staff of mostly undergraduate students . It has won many awards during its history and is an Associated Collegiate Press `` Hall of Fame '' newspaper . It has a circulation of 10,000 , consisting predominantly of University of Miami students , staff and faculty . The newspaper is supported financially by local advertising and university subsidies . It is distributed free of charge on the University of Miami campus and at several nearby off-campus locations . The Miami Hurricane is an affiliate of UWIRE , which distributes and promotes its content to their network . |
The_Skeptic_(film) | The Skeptic is a 2009 American suspense thriller film written and directed by Tennyson Bardwell . Starring Tim Daly , Zoe Saldana , and Tom Arnold , and featuring Robert Prosky and Edward Herrmann , it depicts the story of an attorney who inherits a seemingly haunted house , though he does not believe in the supernatural . Written in the 1980s , the film was shot in upstate New York from late 2005 through 2006 . Completed in 2008 , it was screened at the Cannes Film Festival before being purchased by IFC Films for airing on their video on demand channel as well as a limited theatrical release . The film received poor reviews and was criticized for its lack of suspense , poor dialogue , and for being reminiscent of 1970s television horror films . |
Third-cause_fallacy | The third-cause fallacy ( also known as ignoring a common cause or questionable cause ) is a logical fallacy where a spurious relationship is confused for causation . It asserts that X causes Y when , in reality , X and Y are both caused by Z . It is a variation on the post hoc ergo propter hoc fallacy and a member of the questionable cause group of fallacies . When third causes are ignored , it becomes possible to corral shocking statistical evidence in support of a nonexistent causality . For example : `` It seems that every time empty beer cans are piled up in a car , an accident occurs . It seems that the excess weight and shape of the cans must cause other cars to want to crash into the victim 's car . '' The fallacy in this situation is that the arguer focused on the first ( beer cans ) and second ( car crashes ) facts without looking for possible causes of both phenomena , such as drunk driving . |
The_Hockey_Stick_Illusion | The Hockey Stick Illusion : Climategate and the Corruption of Science is a book written by Andrew Montford and published by Stacey International in 2010 . Montford , an accountant and science publisher who publishes a blog called ` Bishop Hill ' provides his analysis of the history of the `` hockey stick graph '' of global temperatures for the last 1000 years and the controversy promoted by mining exploration company director Steve McIntyre about the research which produced the graph . The book describes the history of the graph from its inception to the beginning of the Climatic Research Unit email controversy ( `` Climategate '' ) . The book was Amazon UK 's second bestselling environment book of 2010 . |
The_Dartmouth | The Dartmouth is the daily student newspaper at Dartmouth College and America 's oldest college newspaper . Originally named the Dartmouth Gazette , the first issue was published on August 27 , 1799 , under the motto `` Here range the world -- explore the dense and rare ; and view all nature in your elbow chair . '' First published by Moses Davis , the newspaper is now published by The Dartmouth , Inc. , an independent , nonprofit corporation chartered in the state of New Hampshire . Many alumni of The Dartmouth have gone on to careers in journalism , and several have won Pulitzer Prizes . |
Thin-film_solar_cell | A thin-film solar cell is a second generation solar cell that is made by depositing one or more thin layers , or thin film ( TF ) of photovoltaic material on a substrate , such as glass , plastic or metal . Thin-film solar cells are commercially used in several technologies , including cadmium telluride ( CdTe ) , copper indium gallium diselenide ( CIGS ) , and amorphous thin-film silicon ( a-Si , TF-Si ) . Film thickness varies from a few nanometers ( nm ) to tens of micrometers ( µm ) , much thinner than thin-film 's rival technology , the conventional , first-generation crystalline silicon solar cell ( c-Si ) , that uses wafers of up to 200 µm . This allows thin film cells to be flexible , and lower in weight . It is used in building integrated photovoltaics and as semi-transparent , photovoltaic glazing material that can be laminated onto windows . Other commercial applications use rigid thin film solar panels ( sandwiched between two panes of glass ) in some of the world 's largest photovoltaic power stations . Thin-film technology has always been cheaper but less efficient than conventional c-Si technology . However , it has significantly improved over the years . The lab cell efficiency for CdTe and CIGS is now beyond 21 percent , outperforming multicrystalline silicon , the dominant material currently used in most solar PV systems . Accelerated life testing of thin film modules under laboratory conditions measured a somewhat faster degradation compared to conventional PV , while a lifetime of 20 years or more is generally expected . Despite these enhancements , market-share of thin-film never reached more than 20 percent in the last two decades and has been declining in recent years to about 9 percent of worldwide photovoltaic installations in 2013 . Other thin-film technologies that are still in an early stage of ongoing research or with limited commercial availability are often classified as emerging or third generation photovoltaic cells and include organic , dye-sensitized , and polymer solar cells , as well as quantum dot , copper zinc tin sulfide , nanocrystal , micromorph , and perovskite solar cells . |
The_New_York_Times | The New York Times ( sometimes abbreviated NYT and The Times ) is an American daily newspaper , founded and continuously published in New York City since September 18 , 1851 , by The New York Times Company . The New York Times has won 122 Pulitzer Prizes , more than any other newspaper . The paper 's print version in 2013 had the second-largest circulation , behind The Wall Street Journal , and the largest circulation among the metropolitan newspapers in the United States . The New York Times is ranked 18th in the world by circulation . Following industry trends , its weekday circulation had fallen in 2009 to fewer than one million . Nicknamed `` The Gray Lady '' , The New York Times has long been regarded within the industry as a national `` newspaper of record '' . It has been owned by the Ochs-Sulzberger family since 1896 ; Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr. , the publisher of the Times and the chairman of the New York Times Company , is the fourth generation of the family to helm the paper . The New York Times international version , formerly the International Herald Tribune , is now called the New York Times International Edition . The paper 's motto , `` All the News That 's Fit to Print '' , appears in the upper left-hand corner of the front page . Since the mid-1970s , The New York Times has greatly expanded its layout and organization , adding special weekly sections on various topics supplementing the regular news , editorials , sports , and features . Since 2008 , The New York Times has been organized into the following sections : News , Editorials/Opinions-Columns/Op-Ed , New York ( metropolitan ) , Business , Sports of The Times , Arts , Science , Styles , Home , Travel , and other features . On Sunday , The New York Times is supplemented by the Sunday Review ( formerly the Week in Review ) , The New York Times Book Review , The New York Times Magazine and T : The New York Times Style Magazine ( T is published 13 times a year ) . The New York Times stayed with the broadsheet full page set-up ( as some others have changed into a tabloid lay-out ) and an eight-column format for several years , after most papers switched to six , and was one of the last newspapers to adopt color photography , especially on the front page . |
Thermal_mass | In building design , thermal mass is a property of the mass of a building which enables it to store heat , providing `` inertia '' against temperature fluctuations . It is sometimes known as the thermal flywheel effect . For example , when outside temperatures are fluctuating throughout the day , a large thermal mass within the insulated portion of a house can serve to `` flatten out '' the daily temperature fluctuations , since the thermal mass will absorb thermal energy when the surroundings are higher in temperature than the mass , and give thermal energy back when the surroundings are cooler , without reaching thermal equilibrium . This is distinct from a material 's insulative value , which reduces a building 's thermal conductivity , allowing it to be heated or cooled relatively separate from the outside , or even just retain the occupants ' thermal energy longer . Scientifically , thermal mass is equivalent to thermal capacitance or heat capacity , the ability of a body to store thermal energy . It is typically referred to by the symbol Cth and measured in units of J / ° C or J/K ( which are equivalent ) . Thermal mass may also be used for bodies of water , machines or machine parts , living things , or any other structure or body in engineering or biology . In those contexts , the term `` heat capacity '' is typically used instead . |
The_Great_Stagnation | The Great Stagnation : How America Ate All the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History , Got Sick , and Will ( Eventually ) Feel Better is a pamphlet by Tyler Cowen published in 2011 . It argues that the American economy has reached a historical technological plateau and the factors which drove economic growth for most of America 's history are mostly spent . These figurative `` low-hanging fruit '' from the title include the cultivation of much free , previously unused land ; the application and spread of technological breakthroughs , particularly during the period 1880 -- 1940 , including transport , refrigeration , electricity , mass communications , and sanitation ; and the education of large numbers of smart people who previously received none . Cowen , a professor of Economics at George Mason University , looks to these factors to explain the stagnation in the median , or middle , American wage since 1973 . Analysis has set the `` Great Stagnation '' idea against the `` Great Divergence '' , a set of explanations which blame rising income inequality and globalization for the stall . Related debates have examined whether the internet 's effect has yet been fully realized in production , if its users enjoy a significant consumer surplus , and how it might be further integrated into the economy . The final set of questions concerns appropriate policy responses to the problem . The pamphlet is 15,000 words long and was first published in January 2011 as an electronic book , priced at USD$ 4 . A hardback version , which Cowen dubbed `` the retrogression '' , was published in June 2011 . While not all reviewers agreed with Cowen 's thesis and arguments , the book was largely welcomed as timely and skilled in framing the debate around the future of the American economy . |
The_Great_Plains_Ecoregion | The Great plains is a region in mid-west United States . |
Thermosphere | The thermosphere is the layer of the Earth 's atmosphere directly above the mesosphere . The exosphere is above that but is a minor layer of the atmosphere . Within this layer of the atmosphere , ultraviolet radiation causes photoionization/photodissociation of molecules , creating ions in the ionosphere . Taking its name from the Greek θερμός ( pronounced thermos ) meaning heat , the thermosphere begins about 85 km above the Earth . At these high altitudes , the residual atmospheric gases sort into strata according to molecular mass ( see turbosphere ) . Thermospheric temperatures increase with altitude due to absorption of highly energetic solar radiation . Temperatures are highly dependent on solar activity , and can rise to 2000 C. Radiation causes the atmosphere particles in this layer to become electrically charged ( see ionosphere ) , enabling radio waves to be refracted and thus be received beyond the horizon . In the exosphere , beginning at 500 to above the Earth 's surface , the atmosphere turns into space , although by the criteria set for the definition of the Karman line , the thermosphere itself is part of space . The highly diluted gas in this layer can reach 2500 C during the day . Even though the temperature is so high , one would not feel warm in the thermosphere , because it is so near vacuum that there is not enough contact with the few atoms of gas to transfer much heat . A normal thermometer might be significantly below 0 C , at least at night , because the energy lost by thermal radiation would exceed the energy acquired from the atmospheric gas by direct contact . In the anacoustic zone above 160 km , the density is so low that molecular interactions are too infrequent to permit the transmission of sound . The dynamics of the thermosphere are dominated by atmospheric tides , which are driven by the very significant diurnal heating . Atmospheric waves dissipate above this level because of collisions between the neutral gas and the ionospheric plasma . The International Space Station orbits the Earth within the middle of the thermosphere , between 330 and . |
The_Thumb | The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan , so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten . The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region , located east of the Tri-Cities , and north of Metro Detroit . The region is also branded as the Blue Water Area of Michigan . The counties which constitute the Thumb are those forming the extended peninsula that stretches northward into Lake Huron and Saginaw Bay . There is no formal declaration for which of these counties are part of the Thumb . However , virtually all common definitions include Huron , Tuscola , and Sanilac counties . This definition is almost always extended to include Lapeer and St. Clair counties as well . |
Thermal_pollution | Thermal pollution is the degradation of water quality by any process that changes ambient water temperature . A common cause of thermal pollution is the use of water as a coolant by power plants and industrial manufacturers . When water used as a coolant is returned to the natural environment at a higher temperature , the change in temperature decreases oxygen supply and affects ecosystem composition . Fish and other organisms adapted to particular temperature range can be killed by an abrupt change in water temperature ( either a rapid increase or decrease ) known as `` thermal shock . '' Urban runoff -- stormwater discharged to surface waters from roads and parking lots -- can also be a source of elevated water temperatures . |
The_Sun_(United_Kingdom) | The Sun is a tabloid newspaper published in the United Kingdom and Ireland . Since The Sun on Sunday was launched in February 2012 , the paper has been a seven-day operation . As a broadsheet , it was founded in 1964 as a successor to the Daily Herald ; it became a tabloid in 1969 after it was purchased by its current owners . It is published by the News Group Newspapers division of News UK , itself a wholly owned subsidiary of Rupert Murdoch 's News Corp. . The Sun had the largest circulation of any daily newspaper in the United Kingdom , but in late 2013 slipped to second largest Saturday newspaper behind the Daily Mail . It had an average daily circulation of 2.2 million copies in March 2014 . Between July and December 2013 the paper had an average daily readership of approximately 5.5 million , with approximately 31 % of those falling into the ABC1 demographic and 68 % in the C2DE demographic . Approximately 41 % of readers are women and 59 % are men . The Sun has been involved in many controversies in its history , including its coverage of the 1989 Hillsborough football stadium disaster . Regional editions of the newspaper for Scotland , Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland are published in Glasgow ( The Scottish Sun ) , Belfast ( The Sun ) and Dublin ( The Irish Sun ) respectively . On 26 February 2012 , The Sun on Sunday was launched to replace the closed News of the World , employing some of its former journalists . The average circulation for The Sun on Sunday in March 2014 was 1,686,840 ; but in May 2015 The Mail on Sunday sold more copies for the first time , an average of 28,650 over those of its rival : 1,497,855 to 1,469,195 . Roy Greenslade issued some caveats over the May 2015 figures , but believed the weekday Daily Mail would overtake The Sun in circulation during 2016 . |
Thermodynamic_potential | A thermodynamic potential is a scalar quantity used to represent the thermodynamic state of a system . The concept of thermodynamic potentials was introduced by Pierre Duhem in 1886 . Josiah Willard Gibbs in his papers used the term fundamental functions . One main thermodynamic potential that has a physical interpretation is the internal energy . It is the energy of configuration of a given system of conservative forces ( that is why it is a potential ) and only has meaning with respect to a defined set of references ( or data ) . Expressions for all other thermodynamic energy potentials are derivable via Legendre transforms from an expression for . In thermodynamics , certain forces , such as gravity , are typically disregarded when formulating expressions for potentials . For example , while all the working fluid in a steam engine may have higher energy due to gravity while sitting on top of Mount Everest than it would at the bottom of the Mariana Trench , the gravitational potential energy term in the formula for the internal energy would usually be ignored because changes in gravitational potential within the engine during operation would be negligible . |
The_Shack_(journalism) | The Shack is the nickname used by reporters for the police beat in New York City . In most cities , such a bureau is nicknamed a `` cop shop . '' It is named after a cramped office located inside the NYPD headquarters , where journalists report on crime stories . The first in-headquarters press bureau began in 1863 , in the basement of the NYPD headquarters on Mulberry Street . In 1875 , police superintendent George W. Walling expelled the press from the building for being too intrusive in police matters . When the NYPD moved to its beaux-arts headquarters at 240 Centre Street in 1910 , the press set up shop in a tenement across the street . Its poor conditions may have resulted in the nickname . This location was the office for legendary reporters including Gay Talese , David Halberstam , Joe Cotter and McCandlish Phillips . In 1973 , the NYPD moved to its new modernist-style headquarters at One Police Plaza in the Civic Center . The Shack followed with an office on the second floor of the new building . Its present tenants include Associated Press , New York Daily News , New York Post , New York Times , Newsday , Staten Island Advance , El Diario , NY1 News and 1010 WINS . In April 2009 , NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly announced plans to evict The Shack from Police Plaza by August , in order to make way for an expansion of a command center . As of 2016 , the shack remains in the same location . |
The_Cryosphere | The Cryosphere is a peer-reviewed scientific journal focusing on all aspects of frozen water and ground ( especially glaciers ) on Earth and on other planetary bodies . It was established in 2007 and is published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union . The editors-in-chief are Jonathan L. Bamber ( University of Bristol ) , Florent Dominé ( Université Laval and CNRS ) , Stephan Gruber ( Carleton University ) , G. Hilmar Gudmundsson ( British Antarctic Survey ) , and Michiel van den Broeke ( Utrecht University ) . According to the Journal Citation Reports , the journal has a 2014 impact factor of 5.516 . |
Theoretical_and_Applied_Climatology | Theoretical and Applied Climatology is a monthly journal published by Springer Science + Business Media which focuses on atmospheric sciences and climatology . It was established in 1949 as Archives for Meteorology , Geophysics and Bioclimatology , Series B and obtained its current name in 1986 . It is published by Springer Science + Business Media and the editor-in-chief is Hartmut Graßl . According to the Journal Citation Reports , the journal has a 2012 impact factor of 1.759 , ranking it 34th out of 74 journals in the category `` Meteorology and Atmospheric Sciences '' . |
The_Hockey_Stick_and_the_Climate_Wars | The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars : Dispatches from the Front Lines is a 2012 book about climate change by the American climatologist and geophysicist Michael E. Mann . In the book Mann describes how he became a researcher investigating the temperature record of the past 1000 years and was lead author , with Raymond S. Bradley and Malcolm K. Hughes , on the 1999 reconstruction that was the first to be dubbed the hockey stick graph . He concisely explains the basics of climate science including statistical methodology dealing with paleoclimate proxy data , and examines the tactics which opponents of action on climate change use to distort the science and attack the reputations of climate scientists . The book describes both the hockey stick controversy and the broader context of skepticism in science and contrarians rejecting evidence of human influence on climate . The book was picked by Physics Today books editor Jermey Matthews as one of the five top books of the 49 they had reviewed in 2012 . |
The_World_Is_Flat | The World Is Flat : A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century is an international best-selling book by Thomas L. Friedman that analyzes globalization , primarily in the early 21st century . The title is a metaphor for viewing the world as a level playing field in terms of commerce , wherein all competitors have an equal opportunity . As the first edition cover illustration indicates , the title also alludes to the perceptual shift required for countries , companies , and individuals to remain competitive in a global market in which historical and geographic divisions are becoming increasingly irrelevant . Friedman himself is a strong advocate of those changes , calling himself a `` free-trader '' and a `` compassionate flatist '' , and he criticizes societies that resist the changes . He emphasizes the inevitability of a rapid pace of change and the extent to which the emerging abilities of individuals and developing countries are creating many pressures on businesses and individuals in the United States ; he has special advice for Americans and for the developing world ( but says almost nothing about Europe ) . Friedman 's is a popular work based on much personal research , travel , conversation , and reflection . In his characteristic style , through personal anecdotes and opinions , he combines in The World Is Flat a conceptual analysis accessible to a broad public . The book was first released in 2005 , was later released as an `` updated and expanded '' edition in 2006 , and was yet again released with additional updates in 2007 as `` further updated and expanded : Release 3.0 . '' The title was derived from a statement by Nandan Nilekani , former CEO of Infosys . The World Is Flat won the inaugural Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award in 2005 . |
Thermal_radiation | Thermal radiation is electromagnetic radiation generated by the thermal motion of charged particles in matter . All matter with a temperature greater than absolute zero emits thermal radiation . When the temperature of a body is greater than absolute zero , inter-atomic collisions cause the kinetic energy of the atoms or molecules to change . This results in charge-acceleration and/or dipole oscillation which produces electromagnetic radiation , and the wide spectrum of radiation reflects the wide spectrum of energies and accelerations that occur even at a single temperature . Examples of thermal radiation include the visible light and infrared light emitted by an incandescent light bulb , the infrared radiation emitted by animals is detectable with an infrared camera , and the cosmic microwave background radiation . Thermal radiation is different from thermal convection and thermal conduction -- a person near a raging bonfire feels radiant heating from the fire , even if the surrounding air is very cold . Sunlight is part of thermal radiation generated by the hot plasma of the Sun . The Earth also emits thermal radiation , but at a much lower intensity and different spectral distribution ( infrared rather than visible ) because it is cooler . The Earth 's absorption of solar radiation , followed by its outgoing thermal radiation are the two most important processes that determine the temperature and climate of the Earth . If a radiation-emitting object meets the physical characteristics of a black body in thermodynamic equilibrium , the radiation is called blackbody radiation . Planck 's law describes the spectrum of blackbody radiation , which depends only on the object 's temperature . Wien 's displacement law determines the most likely frequency of the emitted radiation , and the Stefan -- Boltzmann law gives the radiant intensity . Thermal radiation is one of the fundamental mechanisms of heat transfer . |
The_Tropical_Sun | The Tropical Sun was South Florida 's first newspaper , established in 1891 and based in Juno Beach , Florida . Founded by Guy Metcalf , the paper was published in Juno , which was the county seat of Dade County ( which then extended from modern-day Martin County south to Dade 's southern boundary at Florida Bay ) . The Tropical Sun was the pioneer 's tie to the outside world , and later covered the events of the Florida land boom of the 1920s and its subsequent bust in preceding the Great Depression in South Florida . Byrd Spilman Dewey served as its first columnist , writing `` The Sitting Room '' column under the pen name `` Aunt Judith . '' It also documents the growth of tourism , the presence of malaria in Florida prior to World War II , and other issues related to the struggles of the developers of south Florida 's Atlantic coast . The only rival to the Tropical Sun was The Miami Metropolis , which eventually became The Miami News , and The Miami Evening Record . The Tropical Sun was published as a weekly for most of its history but , also , as a semiweekly between 1903 and 1906 . Miami and Dade County saw an increase in tourists after 1906 when Henry Flagler 's railroad opened service to Key West . Before this date , tourist traffic to Key West would have involved travel by city . The location of The Tropical Sun '' 's offices in Juno , Florida , `` set back from the ( railroad ) track some thirty feet and from the wharf about fifty yards '' is telling of both the newspaper 's and south Florida 's relationship with and their reliance on tourism . Between 1891 and 1895 , The Tropical Sun was published in Juno , Florida . From 1895 to 1926 , it was published in West Palm Beach , Florida . For a time beginning in 1914 , the newspaper published both as a weekly under The Tropical Sun title and as a daily under the title , the Daily Tropical Sun '' . Archives of the newspaper today are kept by the Historical Society of Palm Beach County in the basement of the 1916 Palm Beach County Courthouse . |
The_Ledger | The Ledger is a daily newspaper serving Lakeland , Florida and the Polk County area . The paper was founded on August 22 , 1924 as the Lakeland Evening Ledger . In 1927 , it bought its main competitor , the morning Lakeland Star-Telegram . By 1930 , it was obvious that Lakeland could not support two papers , so Ledger Publishing Company merged the two papers into a single morning paper , the Lakeland Ledger and Star-Telegram . In 1941 , Star-Telegram was dropped from the masthead , and in 1967 the name was shortened to simply The Ledger . The New York Times Company bought The Ledger in 1970 and owned it until 2012 , when it sold its entire regional newspaper group to Halifax Media . In 2015 , Halifax was acquired by New Media Investment Group . Jerome Ferson became publisher of the newspaper on July 30 , 2007 . Kevin Drake became publisher of the newspaper on January 21 , 2014 . In October of 2016 , Drake left The Ledger to return to his hometown of Spartanburg , S.C. to work as a group publisher for GateHouse Media . Brian Burns , former publisher of The Tampa Tribune , joined The Ledger as publisher on January 25 , 2017 . According to nationwideadvertising.com , approximate circulation is 65,987 ; on Sunday , 81,366 . In 2010 Alliance for Auditing approved a rule change allowing traditional print newspapers to combine their online readership to their print circulation . Actual circulation data for print delivery subscriptions is no longer reported . The Ledger also publishes `` Polk Life '' magazine . |
Thermopause | The thermopause is the atmospheric boundary of Earth 's energy system , located at the top of the thermosphere . The temperature of the thermopause could range up to absolute zero to 987.548 C. Below this , the atmosphere is defined to be active on the insolation received , due to the increased presence of heavier gases such as monatomic oxygen . The solar constant is thus expressed at the thermopause . Beyond ( above ) this , the exosphere describes the thinnest remainder of atmospheric particles with large mean free path , mostly hydrogen and helium . As a limit for the exosphere this boundary is also called exobase . The exact altitude varies by the energy inputs of location , time of day , solar flux , season , etc. and can be between 500 and high at a given place and time because of these . A portion of the magnetosphere dips below this layer as well . Although these are all named layers of the atmosphere , the pressure is so negligible that the chiefly-used definitions of outer space are actually below this altitude . Orbiting satellites do not experience significant atmospheric heating , but their orbits do decay over time , depending on orbit altitude . Space missions such as the ISS , space shuttle , and Soyuz operate under this layer . |
Tidal_flooding | Tidal flooding , also known as sunny day flooding or nuisance flooding , is the temporary inundation of low-lying areas , especially streets , during exceptionally high tide events , such as at full and new moons . The highest tides of the year may be known as the king tide , with the month varying by location . In Florida , controversy was created when state-level government mandated that the term `` nuisance flooding '' and other terms be used in place of terms such as sea level rise , climate change and global warming , prompting allegations of climate change denial , specifically against Governor Rick Scott . This amid Florida , specifically South Florida and the Miami metropolitan area being one of the most at risk area in the world for the potential effects of sea level rise , and where the frequency and severity of tidal flooding events increased in the 21st century . The issue is more bipartisan in South Florida , particularly in places like Miami Beach , where a several hundred million dollar project is underway to install more than 50 pumps and physically raise roads to combat the flooding , mainly along the west side of South Beach , formerly a mangrove wetland where the average elevation is less than one meter ( 3.3 feet ) . In the Miami area , where the vast majority of the land is below 10 ft , even a one-foot increase over the average high tide can cause widespread flooding . The 2015 and 2016 king tide event levels reached about 4 ft MLLW , 3 ft above mean sea level , or about 2 ft NAVD88 , and nearly the same above MHHW . While the tide range is very small in Miami , averaging about 2 ft , with the greatest range being less than 2 m , the area is very acute to minute differences down to single inches due to the vast area low elevation . NOAA tide gauge data for most stations shows current water level graphs relative to a fixed datum , as well as mean sea level trends for some stations . During the king tides , the local Miami area tide gauge at Virginia Key shows levels running at times 1 ft or more over datum . Fort Lauderdale has installed over one hundred tidal valves since 2013 to combat flooding . Fort Lauderdale is nicknamed the `` Venice of America '' due to its roughly 165 mi of canals . Tidal flooding is capable of majorly inhibiting natural gravity-based drainage systems in low-lying areas when it reaches levels that are below visible inundation of the surface , but which are high enough to incapacitate the lower drainage or sewer system . Thus , even normal rainfall or storm surge events can cause greatly amplified flooding effects . One passive solution to intrusion through drainage systems are one way back-flow valves in drainage ways . However , while this may prevent a majority of the tidal intrusion , it also inhibits drainage during exceptionally high tides that shut the valves . In Miami Beach , where resilience work is underway , the pump systems replace insufficient gravity-based systems . |
Trophic_level | The trophic level of an organism is the position it occupies in a food chain . The word trophic derives from the Greek τροφή ( trophē ) referring to food or nourishment . A food chain represents a succession of organisms that eat another organism and are , in turn , eaten themselves . The number of steps an organism is from the start of the chain is a measure of its trophic level . Food chains start at trophic level 1 with primary producers such as plants , move to herbivores at level 2 , predators at level 3 and typically finish with carnivores or apex predators at level 4 or 5 . The path along the chain can form either a one-way flow or a food `` web '' . Ecological communities with higher biodiversity form more complex trophic paths . |
Tidal_range | The tidal range is the vertical difference between the high tide and the succeeding low tide . Tides are the rise and fall of sea levels caused by the combined effects of the gravitational forces exerted by the Moon and the Sun and the rotation of the Earth . The tidal range is not constant , but changes depending on where the sun and the moon are . The most extreme tidal range occurs when the gravitational forces of both the Sun and Moon are aligned ( syzygy ) , reinforcing each other in the same direction ( new moon ) or in opposite directions ( full moon ) . This type of tide is known as a spring tide . During neap tides , when the Moon and Sun 's gravitational force vectors act in quadrature ( making a right angle to the Earth 's orbit ) , the difference between high and low tides is smaller . Neap tides occur during the first and last quarters of the moon 's phases . The largest annual tidal range can be expected around the time of the equinox , if coincidental with a spring tide . Tidal data for coastal areas is published by the national hydrographic service of the country concerned . Tidal data is based on astronomical phenomena and is predictable . Storm force winds blowing from a steady direction for a prolonged time interval combined with low barometric pressure can increase the tidal range , particularly in narrow bays . Such weather-related effects on the tide , which can cause ranges in excess of predicted values and can cause localized flooding , are not calculable in advance . |
Transport | Transport or transportation is the movement of people , animals and goods from one location to another . Modes of transport include air , rail , road , water , cable , pipeline and space . The field can be divided into infrastructure , vehicles and operations . Transport is important because it enables trade between people , which is essential for the development of civilizations . Transport infrastructure consists of the fixed installations including roads , railways , airways , waterways , canals and pipelines and terminals such as airports , railway stations , bus stations , warehouses , trucking terminals , refueling depots ( including fueling docks and fuel stations ) and seaports . Terminals may be used both for interchange of passengers and cargo and for maintenance . Vehicles traveling on these networks may include automobiles , bicycles , buses , trains , trucks , people , helicopters , watercraft , spacecraft and aircraft . Operations deal with the way the vehicles are operated , and the procedures set for this purpose including financing , legalities and policies . In the transport industry , operations and ownership of infrastructure can be either public or private , depending on the country and mode . Passenger transport may be public , where operators provide scheduled services , or private . Freight transport has become focused on containerization , although bulk transport is used for large volumes of durable items . Transport plays an important part in economic growth and globalization , but most types cause air pollution and use large amounts of land . While it is heavily subsidized by governments , good planning of transport is essential to make traffic flow and restrain urban sprawl . |
Tsunami | A tsunami ( from 津波 , `` harbour wave '' ; English pronunciation : -LSB- tsuːˈnɑːmi -RSB- ) or tidal wave , also known as a seismic sea wave , is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water , generally in an ocean or a large lake . Earthquakes , volcanic eruptions and other underwater explosions ( including detonations of underwater nuclear devices ) , landslides , glacier calvings , meteorite impacts and other disturbances above or below water all have the potential to generate a tsunami . Unlike normal ocean waves which are generated by wind , or tides which are generated by the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun , a tsunami is generated by the displacement of water . Tsunami waves do not resemble normal undersea currents or sea waves , because their wavelength is far longer . Rather than appearing as a breaking wave , a tsunami may instead initially resemble a rapidly rising tide , and for this reason they are often referred to as tidal waves , although this usage is not favoured by the scientific community because tsunamis are not tidal in nature . Tsunamis generally consist of a series of waves with periods ranging from minutes to hours , arriving in a so-called `` internal wave train '' . Wave heights of tens of metres can be generated by large events . Although the impact of tsunamis is limited to coastal areas , their destructive power can be enormous and they can affect entire ocean basins ; the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami was among the deadliest natural disasters in human history with at least 230,000 people killed or missing in 14 countries bordering the Indian Ocean . Greek historian Thucydides suggested in his late-5th century BC History of the Peloponnesian War , that tsunamis were related to submarine earthquakes , but the understanding of a tsunami 's nature remained slim until the 20th century and much remains unknown . Major areas of current research include trying to determine why some large earthquakes do not generate tsunamis while other smaller ones do ; trying to accurately forecast the passage of tsunamis across the oceans ; and also to forecast how tsunami waves interact with specific shorelines . |
TopHat_(telescope) | TopHat was a scientific experiment launched from McMurdo Station in January 2001 to measure the cosmic microwave background radiation produced 300,000 years after the Big Bang . The balloon was launched on January 2 , 2001 and proceeded to fly for 644 hours over the continent of Antarctica before landing on January 31 , 2001 . The balloon flew over the continent 38 kilometers ( 125,000 ft ) above the ground . The working payload was shut down on January 10 , 2001 after the liquid cryogens cooling the detectors were exhausted , and the balloon simply circled the continent until it was safe to land . The vorticial winds that typically carry balloons around the continent dissipated part of the way through the flight , and the balloon had to be terminated in a suboptimal location . The landing missed the targeted ice shelf by around one half mile , and while the discs containing the information were recovered safely using a Twin Otter , the gondola itself had not been recovered by August 2001 . The telescope was called part of the `` Submillimeter Astrophysics Experiment '' for Dr. Edward Cheng of NASA 's Goddard Space Flight Center . It took roughly 6 years to build and deploy . It was built in association with NASA 's Goddard Space Flight Center , the University of Chicago , the University of Wisconsin -- Madison and the Danish Space Research Institute . TopHat experiment was the first of its kind in that it placed the telescope on top of the actual balloon , where it rotated at a constant rate around a vertical axis and covered a 48-degree-diameter window of the sky . The placement allowed for the telescope to gain a unique view of the sky , with no obstructions . The balloon itself took up 29.5 million cubic feet ( 835,000 m3 ) of space . TopHat was built in part to follow up the observations of the BOOMERanG experiment which also studied the cosmic background radiation . TopHat was attempting to detect the clumpiness of matter , how much matter was in the universe , how the universe was expanding , and if it was indeed flat as had been observed by BOOMERANG . Around 300,000 years after the big bang , the temperature of the universe cooled enough so that hydrogen atoms formed and the photons of energy ( the radiation of energy from the explosion ) were able to escape and travel indefinitely . This oldest source of radiation has a temperature of 2.73 K and is uniform except for one part in 100,000 where the temperature is slightly different . The patchiness of matter indicates the earliest structures being formed in the universe and TopHat was designed to detect this patchiness on roughly degree scales . |
Tropical_cyclone | A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center , a closed low-level atmospheric circulation , strong winds , and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain . Depending on its location and strength , a tropical cyclone is referred to by names such as hurricane ( -LSB- ˈhʌrᵻkən -RSB- or -LSB- ˈhʌrᵻkeɪn -RSB- ) , typhoon -LSB- taɪ ` fuːn -RSB- , tropical storm , cyclonic storm , tropical depression , and simply cyclone . A hurricane is a storm that occurs in the Atlantic Ocean and northeastern Pacific Ocean , a typhoon occurs in the northwestern Pacific Ocean , and a cyclone occurs in the south Pacific or Indian Ocean . Tropical cyclones typically form over large bodies of relatively warm water . They derive their energy through the evaporation of water from the ocean surface , which ultimately recondenses into clouds and rain when moist air rises and cools to saturation . This energy source differs from that of mid-latitude cyclonic storms , such as nor'easter s and European windstorms , which are fueled primarily by horizontal temperature contrasts . The strong rotating winds of a tropical cyclone are a result of the conservation of angular momentum imparted by the Earth 's rotation as air flows inwards toward the axis of rotation . As a result , they rarely form within 5 ° of the equator . Tropical cyclones are typically between 100 and in diameter . Tropical refers to the geographical origin of these systems , which form almost exclusively over tropical seas . Cyclone refers to their cyclonic nature , with wind blowing counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern Hemisphere . The opposite direction of circulation is due to the Coriolis effect . In addition to strong winds and rain , tropical cyclones are capable of generating high waves , damaging storm surge , and tornadoes . They typically weaken rapidly over land where they are cut off from their primary energy source . For this reason , coastal regions are particularly vulnerable to damage from a tropical cyclone as compared to inland regions . Heavy rains , however , can cause significant flooding inland , and storm surges can produce extensive coastal flooding up to 40 km from the coastline . Though their effects on human populations are often devastating , tropical cyclones can relieve drought conditions . They also carry heat energy away from the tropics and transport it toward temperate latitudes , which may play an important role in modulating regional and global climate . |
Timeline_of_the_2009_Atlantic_hurricane_season | The 2009 Atlantic hurricane season was a below-average year in which nine tropical storms formed , the fewest since 1997 . An average season has eleven tropical storms , six hurricanes and two major hurricanes . Although Tropical Depression One formed on May 28 , 2009 , the season officially began on June 1 and ended on November 30 . The season 's last storm , Hurricane Ida , dissipated on November 11 . The season had eleven tropical depressions , of which nine intensified into tropical storms , three became hurricanes , and two became major hurricanes.A major hurricane is a storm that ranks as Category 3 or higher on the Saffir -- Simpson hurricane scale . The inactivity throughout the basin was linked to the formation of an El Niño , which increased wind shear . The two most significant storms of the season , in terms of loss of life and damage , were Hurricanes Bill and Ida . Hurricane Bill was an unusually large storm and was also the season 's strongest , attaining winds of 135 mph ( 215 km/h ) . Tropical Storm Claudette was the only storm during 2009 to make landfall in the United States ; Hurricane Ida became extratropical shortly before coming ashore in Alabama . This timeline includes information that was not operationally released , meaning that information from post-storm reviews by the National Hurricane Center , such as a storm that was not operationally warned upon , has been included . This timeline documents tropical cyclone formations , strengthening , weakening , landfalls , extratropical transitions , and dissipations during the season . |
Tropic_of_Capricorn | The Tropic of Capricorn ( or the Southern Tropic ) is the circle of latitude that contains the subsolar point on the December ( or southern ) solstice . It is thus the southernmost latitude where the Sun can be directly overhead . Its northern equivalent is the Tropic of Cancer . The Tropic of Capricorn is one of the five major circles of latitude that mark maps of the Earth . As of , its latitude is south of the equator , but it is very gradually moving northward , currently at the rate of 0.47 arcseconds , or 15 metres , per year . |
Total_organic_carbon | Total organic carbon ( TOC ) is the amount of carbon found in an organic compound and is often used as a non-specific indicator of water quality or cleanliness of pharmaceutical manufacturing equipment . TOC may also refer to the amount of organic carbon in soil , or in a geological formation , particularly the source rock for a petroleum play ; 2 % is a rough minimum . For marine surface sediments , average TOC content is 0.5 % in the deep ocean , and 2 % along the eastern margins . A typical analysis for TOC measures both the total carbon present and the so-called `` inorganic carbon '' ( IC ) , the latter representing the content of dissolved carbon dioxide and carbonic acid salts . Subtracting the inorganic carbon from the total carbon yields TOC . Another common variant of TOC analysis involves removing the IC portion first and then measuring the leftover carbon . This method involves purging an acidified sample with carbon-free air or nitrogen prior to measurement , and so is more accurately called non-purgeable organic carbon ( NPOC ) . |
Timor | Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia , north of the Timor Sea . The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia , on the western part . The Indonesian part , also known as West Timor , constitutes part of the province of East Nusa Tenggara . Within West Timor lies an exclave of East Timor called Oecusse District . The island covers an area of 30,777 km2 . The name is a variant of timur , Malay for `` east '' ; it is so called because it lies at the eastern end of the Lesser Sunda Islands . |
Tornado | A tornado is a rapidly rotating column of air that is in contact with both the surface of the Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or , in rare cases , the base of a cumulus cloud . They are often referred to as twisters , whirlwinds or cyclones , although the word cyclone is used in meteorology to name a weather system with a low-pressure area in the center around which winds blow counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the Southern . Tornadoes come in many shapes and sizes , they are often visible in the form of a condensation funnel originating from the base of a cumulonimbus cloud , with a cloud of rotating debris and dust beneath it . Most tornadoes have wind speeds less than 110 mph , are about 250 ft across , and travel a few miles ( several kilometers ) before dissipating . The most extreme tornadoes can attain wind speeds of more than 300 mph , are more than 2 mi in diameter , and stay on the ground for dozens of miles ( more than 100 km ) . Various types of tornadoes include the multiple vortex tornado , landspout and waterspout . Waterspouts are characterized by a spiraling funnel-shaped wind current , connecting to a large cumulus or cumulonimbus cloud . They are generally classified as non-supercellular tornadoes that develop over bodies of water , but there is disagreement over whether to classify them as true tornadoes . These spiraling columns of air frequently develop in tropical areas close to the equator , and are less common at high latitudes . Other tornado-like phenomena that exist in nature include the gustnado , dust devil , fire whirls , and steam devil . Downbursts are frequently confused with tornadoes , though their action is dissimilar . Tornadoes have been observed and documented on every continent except Antarctica . However , the vast majority of tornadoes occur in the Tornado Alley region of the United States , although they can occur nearly anywhere in North America . They also occasionally occur in south-central and eastern Asia , northern and east-central South America , Southern Africa , northwestern and southeast Europe , western and southeastern Australia , and New Zealand . Tornadoes can be detected before or as they occur through the use of Pulse-Doppler radar by recognizing patterns in velocity and reflectivity data , such as hook echoes or debris balls , as well as through the efforts of storm spotters . There are several scales for rating the strength of tornadoes . The Fujita scale rates tornadoes by damage caused and has been replaced in some countries by the updated Enhanced Fujita Scale . An F0 or EF0 tornado , the weakest category , damages trees , but not substantial structures . An F5 or EF5 tornado , the strongest category , rips buildings off their foundations and can deform large skyscrapers . The similar TORRO scale ranges from a T0 for extremely weak tornadoes to T11 for the most powerful known tornadoes . Doppler radar data , photogrammetry , and ground swirl patterns ( cycloidal marks ) may also be analyzed to determine intensity and assign a rating . |
Tibetan_Plateau | The Tibetan Plateau , also known in China as the Qinghai -- Tibet Plateau or the Qingzang Plateau or Himalayan Plateau , is a vast elevated plateau in Central Asia and East Asia , covering most of the Tibet Autonomous Region and Qinghai Province in western China , as well as part of Ladakh in Jammu and Kashmir state of India . It stretches approximately 1000 km north to south and 2500 km east to west . With an average elevation exceeding 4500 m , the Tibetan Plateau is sometimes called `` the Roof of the World '' and is the world 's highest and largest plateau , with an area of 2500000 km2 ( about five times the size of Metropolitan France ) . Sometimes termed the Third Pole , the Tibetan Plateau contains the headwaters of the drainage basins of most of the streams in surrounding regions . Its tens of thousands of glaciers and other geographical and ecological features serve as a `` water tower '' storing water and maintaining flow . The impact of global warming on the Tibetan Plateau is of intense scientific interest . |
Trident_nuclear_programme | The Trident nuclear programme , also known as the Trident nuclear deterrent , covers the development , procurement and operation of the current generation of United Kingdom nuclear weapons and the means to deliver them . ` Trident ' is an operational system of four Vanguard-class submarines armed with Trident II D-5 ballistic missiles , able to deliver thermonuclear warheads from multiple independently-targetable re-entry vehicles ( MIRVs ) . It is operated by the Royal Navy and based at Clyde Naval Base on the west coast of Scotland , 40 km ( 25 miles ) from Glasgow -- Scotland 's largest city and the UK 's third largest city . At least one submarine is always on patrol to provide a continuous at-sea capability . Each one is armed with up to 8 missiles and 40 warheads ; their capacity is much larger . The programme was announced in July 1980 and patrols began in December 1994 . Since tactical WE .177 free-fall bombs were decommissioned in 1998 , Trident has been the only nuclear weapon system that is operated by the UK . Its stated purpose by the Ministry of Defence is to `` deter the most extreme threats to our national security and way of life , which can not be done by other means '' . Trident replaced the submarine-based Polaris system , in operation from 1968 until 1996 . A programme for the replacement of the Vanguard-class is under way . On 18 July 2016 the House of Commons voted by a large majority to proceed with building a fleet of Dreadnought-class submarines , to be operational by 2028 ( with the current fleet completely phased out by 2032 ) thereby renewing the Trident system and extending its life until the 2060s . |
Three_Suns_(eschatology) | The doctrine of the Three Suns or three stages of the end-time , or Three Ages , is a teleological and eschatological doctrine found in some Chinese salvationist religions and schools of Confucianism . According to the doctrine , the absolute principle , in many salvationist sects represented as the Wusheng Laomu , divides the end time into three stages , each of which is governed by a different Buddha sent by the Mother to save humanity : the `` Green Sun '' ( qingyang ) governed by Dīpankara Buddha , the `` Red Sun '' ( hongyang ) by Gautama Buddha , and the current `` White Sun '' ( baiyang ) by Maitreya . In different sects the three periods are known by slightly different names , variations originated by oral transmission of the teaching . The doctrine is especially important in the Xiantiandao group of sects , the most notable one being Yiguandao . |
Tropics | The tropics are a region of the Earth surrounding the equator . They are delimited in latitude by the Tropic of Cancer in the Northern Hemisphere at N and the Tropic of Capricorn in the Southern Hemisphere at S ; these latitudes correspond to the axial tilt of the Earth . The tropics are also referred to as the tropical zone and the torrid zone ( see geographical zone ) . The tropics include all the areas on the Earth where the Sun is at a point directly overhead at least once during the solar year ( which is a subsolar point ) . The tropics are distinguished from the other climatic and biomatic regions of Earth , which are the middle latitudes and the polar regions on either side of the equatorial zone . |
Timeline_of_the_2005_Pacific_hurricane_season | The 2005 Pacific hurricane season was the least active season since the 2001 season , producing 16 tropical depressions ; 15 of which became tropical storms or hurricanes . The season officially started on May 15 , 2005 in the eastern Pacific , designated as the area east of 140 ° W , and on June 1 , 2005 in the central Pacific , which is between the International Date Line and 140 ° W , and lasted until November 30 , 2005 . These dates typically limit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the eastern Pacific basin . This timeline documents all the storm formations , strengthening , weakening , landfalls , extratropical transitions , as well as dissipation . The timeline also includes information which was not operationally released , meaning that information from post-storm reviews by the National Hurricane Center , such as information on a storm that was not operationally warned on , has been included . The first storm of the season , Hurricane Adrian , formed off the southwest coast of El Salvador and made the closest approach of any hurricane to the country on record . Most of June was quiet until the end of the month , when two tropical storms developed . July remained inactive as well , as only two tropical storms formed . In August , the activity picked up somewhat ; the Central Pacific had its first and only depression of the year and four tropical storms , two of which became hurricanes , forming in the Eastern Pacific . September was the most active month of the year ; six tropical storms formed , four of which became hurricanes , and two of the hurricanes strengthened further to become the only major hurricanes of the year . The strongest storm of the season was Hurricane Kenneth , whose remnants briefly threatened Hawaii near the end of the month . Activity sharply dropped off in October as only one tropical depression formed . No storms formed in November in both basins , and the season ended on November 30 . __ TOC __ |
Tide_clock | A tide clock is a specially designed clock that keeps track of the Moon 's apparent motion around the Earth . Along many coastlines , the Moon contributes the major part ( 67 % ) of the combined lunar and solar tides . The exact interval between tides is influenced by the position of the Moon and Sun relative to the Earth , as well as the specific location on Earth where the tide is being measured . Due to the Moon 's orbital prograde motion , it takes a particular point on the Earth ( on average ) 24 hours and 50.5 minutes to rotate under the Moon , so the time between high lunar tides fluctuates between 12 and 13 hours . A tide clock is divided into two roughly 6-hour tidal periods that shows the average length of time between high and low tides in a semi-diurnal tide region , such as most areas of the Atlantic Ocean . Traditional Mechanical Tide Clocks : The bottom of the tide clock dial ( 6 o-clock position ) is marked `` low tide '' and the top of the tide clock dial ( 12 o'clock position ) is marked `` high tide . '' The left side of the dial is marked `` hours until high tide '' and has a count-down of hours from 5 to 1 . There is one hand on the clock face , and along the left side it points to the number of hours `` until '' the ( lunar ) high tide . The right hand side of the clock is marked `` hours until low tide '' and has a count-down of hours from 5 to 1 . The number pointed to by the hand gives the time `` until '' the ( lunar ) low tide . Some tide clocks incorporate time ( using standard quartz movement ) and even humidity and temperature in the same instrument . Some tide clocks count down the number of hours from high or low tide , as in `` one hour past high or low tide '' . When the clock reaches the half way point ( `` half-tide '' ) , it then counts the hours up to high tide or low tide , as in `` one hour until high or low tide '' . Generally , there is an adjustment knob on the back on the instrument which may be used to set the tide using official tide tables for a specific location at either high or low tide . Tides have an inherent lead or lag , known as the lunitidal interval , that is different at every location , so tidal clocks are set for the time when the local lunar high tide occurs . This is often complicated because the lead or lag varies during the course of the lunar month , as the lunar and solar tides fall into and out of synchronization . The lunar tide and solar tide are synchronized ( ebb and flow at the same time ) near the full moon and the new moon . The two tides are unsynchronized near the first and last quarter moon ( or `` half moon '' ) . Also , in addition to the relative position of the moon and the elliptical pattern of the sun , the tide can be affected to some degree by wind and atmospheric pressure . All of these variables have less impact on the tide at the time of the full moon , so this is usually the best time to set a tide clock . If the tide clock is mounted on a moving boat , it will need to be reset more frequently . The best time to set the clock is at the new moon or the full moon , which is also when the clock can most reliably indicate the actual combined tide . A simple tide clock will always be least reliable near the quarter moon . Tide range is the vertical distance between the highest high tide and lowest low tide . The size of the lunar tide compared to the solar tide ( which comes once every 12 hours ) is generally about 2 to 1 , but the actual proportion along any particular shore depends on the location , orientation , and shape of the local bay or estuary . Along some shorelines , the solar tide is the only important tide , and ordinary 12-hour clocks suffice since the high and low tides come at nearly the same time every day . Because ordinary tidal clocks only track a part of the tidal effect , and because the relative size of the combined effects is different in different places , they are in general only partially accurate for tracking the tides . Consequently , all navigators use tide tables either in a booklet , computer or digital tide clock . Analog tide clocks are most accurate for use on the Atlantic coasts of America and Europe . This is because along the Atlantic coastline the moon controls the tides predictably , ebbing and flowing on a regular ( 12 - to 13-hour ) schedule . However , in other parts of the world such as along the Pacific Coast , tides can be irregular . The Pacific Ocean is so vast that the moon can not control the entire ocean at once . The result is that parts of the Pacific Coast can have 3 high tides a day . Similarly , there are areas in the world like the Gulf of Mexico or the South China Sea that have only one high tide a day . Mechanical tide clocks used on the Pacific Coast must be adjusted frequently , often as much as weekly , and are not useful in diurnal areas ( those with one tide per day ) . Digital Tide Clocks : Digital tide clocks are not married to the 24 hour 50.5 minute tide cycle and thus track tides beyond the Atlantic coast . Smart digital tide clocks can work across all locations in North America without any adjustments . This is achieved by storing all the variations of tides at numerous locations . Given a particular location and date/time , a digital tide clock can display the previous tide , next tide and current absolute tide height . Thus , they are able to track semi-diurnal , diurnal and mixed diurnal tides . |
Tropical_Storm_Nicole_(2010) | Tropical Storm Nicole was a short-lived and unusually asymmetric tropical cyclone that caused extensive rainfall and flooding in Jamaica during the 2010 Atlantic hurricane season . It was the sixteenth tropical cyclone and the fourteenth named storm of the season , as well as the last of a record eight tropical storms to form in September . Originating from a broad monsoonal low , Nicole became a tropical depression over the northwestern Caribbean Sea on September 28 . It maintained an unusual structure as it tracked northeastward , with a poorly defined wind circulation and few thunderstorms near its center . Nicole approached the coast of Cuba as a weak tropical storm , losing its status as a tropical cyclone over the territory on September 29 . The remnants emerged over the Bahamas and eventually became absorbed by a separate extratropical system . Due to Nicole 's atypical structure , the strongest thundershowers were well removed from the center ; most of the weather activity occurred over the north-central Caribbean . In Jamaica , the storm triggered widespread power outages across more than 288,000 residences . Extreme precipitation of up to 37.42 inches ( 940 mm ) caused disastrous flooding in several parishes , severely damaging or destroying 528 houses . The devastation extended to the island 's farmland and environment , which suffered from expansive water pollution . In all , Nicole wrought an estimated $ 240 million ( 2010 USD ) in damage throughout Jamaica , and there were sixteen fatalities . Elsewhere , minor flooding occurred in Cuba , Florida , and the Cayman Islands . The remnants of the storm contributed to a large disturbance along the East Coast of the United States , causing additional damage and deaths . |