Scientific American: Climate Change May Mean Slower Winds (bad news for wind turbines?)

[OKIsItJustMe]

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=climate-change-may-mean-slower-winds

From the October 2009 Scientific American Magazine

Climate Change May Mean Slower Winds

The wind power industry requires stiff gusts. Global warming may not deliver

By Michael Moyer

This summer scientists published the first study that comprehensively explored the effect of climate change on wind speeds in the U.S. The report was not encouraging. Three decades’ worth of data seemed to point to a future where global warming lowers wind speeds enough to handicap the nascent wind industry. But the real story, like so much in climate science, is far more complex.

The study of decreased wind speeds came from a team led by Sara Pryor, professor and chair of the atmospheric science program at Indiana University. It examined wind speed data from hundreds of locations across the U.S. The team attempted to correct for any change in instrument position (such as what would happen if an airport places its anemometer atop a new control tower) and calculated for each site the average annual wind speed. Pryor and her colleagues found that in most of the U.S. wind speeds appear to be waning, in many locations by more than 1 percent a year.

The decline has the potential to be especially pernicious because turbines are exponentially sensitive to changes in wind speed. If the wind blows just 15 percent faster, a turbine will produce 50 percent more power. Conversely, a drop in average wind speed will significantly reduce the power output. Most of the locations that showed the most prominent decreases in wind speeds are strung along a corridor stretching from Texas to the Great Lakes that is home to 60 percent of the nation’s installed wind power.

Yet the situation may not be as dire as the data imply. Direct observations of wind speeds are inherently problematic. Anemometers are far less accurate and consistent than thermometers, Pryor says. In addition, almost all the locations used in the study are close to fast-growing urban areas that can alter wind patterns in unpredictable ways. And unlike temperature measurements, which in some locations stretch back 150 years, relatively accurate and widespread wind measurements began only in the 1970s—hardly enough time to pluck a subtle trend out of noisy data.

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[snagglepuss]

1. Interesting. Thanks for posting. nt

[OKIsItJustMe]

2. You're welcome

I thought it was interesting…

[snagglepuss]

3. What struck me is the similiarity of the earth to the human body.

I had recently posted several articles about the dangerous of comsuming too much water. One article discussed a study that showed protienura in people drinking 4 liters daily, another discusssed how, contary to popular belief, the kidneys are not pipes that need to be flushed.

I think its very easy to forget or in fact not even understand how complicated these systems are.

[OKIsItJustMe]

4. That's why the original Gaia hypothesis appealed to me

http://www.amazon.com/Gaia-New-Look-Life-Earth/dp/0192862189

The idea was that just as the human body is made up of myriad systems of cells, so too the planet's ecosystem(s) may be viewed as a single entity made up of systems analogous to those you would find in a living creature.

Just so long as you don't start attributing conscious thought to that single planet-wide entity, I'm on board.