26/08/2016 Weather World


26/08/2016

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Weather World with Nick Miller, where the team travel to Plymouth to

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see how the ocean can help predict meteorological phenomena.

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This time on Weather World, we are going out to sea, about one hour in

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that direction on this boat, to find out how they measure whether at sea,

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and the state of the oceans, and why it is so important when it comes to

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changes in our global climate. Also on Weather World... He needs to get

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out. I know! Narrowly escapes. And dramatic rescues and extreme

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weather. Flood, fire, and destruction, as record heat sweeps

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the globe. Deadly lining in Europe. Sarah Keith-Lucas looks at the

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storms and signs behind them. They brought several violent lightning

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strikes to cities including Paris where there was at least one

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fatality and many other people were injured, including several children.

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Plus, inside of the wave factory, revealing the project to harness

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energy from stormy seas. My word, if this was a real-world situation, I

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would not be enjoying this one bit! And caught in a virtual storm, I'll

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have a go at steering a ship to safe water.

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Welcome to Weather World, I'm in Plymouth on the English south coast,

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about to set sail into the English Channel on this research vessel, the

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Plymouth Quest. Our mission is to get up close to

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whether equipment permanently out at sea, taking data about the weather

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and the water is floating in. It is unusually windy here today, it

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will be a rocky ride. I hope you're a good sailor, we are

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about to find out if I am! Morning! We are sailing in one of two

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research vessels operated by the Plymouth Marine laboratory, often in

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daily use taking scientists to the English Channel to take measurements

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from and maintain observing equipment permanently kept at sea.

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It is about a 60 minute voyage to reach the nearest of that equipment

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and as we leave the coast behind, the waves get bigger. We are well

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underway to our destination now, but already the boat is collecting

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important information about this water we are going through.

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I am in the fish hold, this was a fishing vessel, this is where the

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cat would be kept. Now, scientific equipment is in

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here. Water is being collected through this pipe, and pumped around

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here, to this equipment on the wall here.

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Firstly, water has the bubbles taken out, you don't want bubbles in the

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samples. Then we check how clear the water

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is, how much chlorophyll is in the water, and then this checks for

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dissolved oxygen. Finally, how much salt is in the sea

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water we are travelling through. All of that information is coming in,

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and we can now find out what it is telling us by going back upstairs.

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The great thing about that equipment is down there is that we can see in

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real time what it is telling us about the water we are moving

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through at the moment as things get choppier and choppier! John Siddle

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from the Met office is with us. This is what we are finding out from what

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is down below? Yes, you can see the temperature of the water, as we move

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through it, then visibility, oxygen and chlorophyll, they describe the

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cabbage -- chemistry and the biology of the system. How important is it

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to have this from your perspective in the Met office? It is critical

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for this information, for the research we do. We have a national

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partnership prediction, which delivers to the laboratory in the

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Met Office. We are trying to bring together the best scientists to give

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a really good set of predictions for the ocean environment. And

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predictions about the ocean environment, and what is going on

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above the sea, and above land in the air, that is so important when it

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comes to predicting what is happening with our climate and how

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it will change in future. This year has been incredible in

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terms of heat globally, setting new records. He needs to get out. I

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know! So close to tragedy... You can't get out. A US TV news crew in

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Oklahoma rescue a man from a wildfire. Getting, hurry up!, one!

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We've got to go! -- get in. -- come on. The flames chase them as they

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just escape in time. Out of town just in time... This is insane. Who

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can forget these terrifying apocalyptic scenes from the Canadian

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town of Fort McMurray in May, as residents flee for their lives,

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animals run from the forest. Burning embers fly through the air.

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This is what the fire left behind. Some homes reduced to a mass of

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melted metal and concrete. Despite destruction in some parts of the

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town, officials said that, in all, almost 90% of buildings survive. In

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August, last-minute escapes from the homes destroyed. This time in

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California, east of Los Angeles. In India, pre-monsoon drought hit hard,

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and the country recorded new national record high temperatures of

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51 degrees, in Rajasthan, back in May.

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In Iraq, the air conditioning salesman tried to keep cool in

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temperatures that soared to 54 degrees in Kuwait in July.

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Fire, drought heat waves, not unusual but against a backdrop of

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record global heat so far this year. Over the last century, these years

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have set new records. So far, 2016 is ahead of all others.

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After an hour at sea, we've reached our destination. The sea has got

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rougher but we have made it and come to see this. This is a whether buoy.

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This is one of yours, what is it doing out there? This is our weather

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station, and it is measuring not only meteorological parameters but

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oceanographic parameters on this buoy. Above water, we look at wind

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speed and direction. Ed temperature and humidity, we are looking at

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intensity of sunlight, light from the sun -- air temperature.

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And below, we look at sea surface temperature, salinity, chlorophyll,

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that gives an indication as to the plant life in the water, that is the

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base of the food chain. Dissolved oxygen, and clarity of the water,

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visibility. We had a plan to go on there today, but it is bopping about

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and is too rough, but you do go one? Yes, for various reasons. Mainly

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routine maintenance, to make sure everything is performing as it

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should, collaborations on sensors, and we do find that we have growth

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on the censors. If we lift the cage out of the water routinely -- so we

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lift the cage out of the water routinely.

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You can find something like this in every ocean in the world? Yes, with

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weather forecasting, Ocean forecasting, predictions are key. To

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measure what is going on. Global measurements are important to

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balance global models and forecasts. Buoy systems like this are found all

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over the world. James, it is excellent to see this, you take a

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boat trip wherever you are, so keep an eye out for one of these. We are

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able, with this equipment, to look at this.

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bottom of these chips, of the bottom of these chips, of the

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rosette sampler, they spring back on themselves to fill the bottle. We

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trigger them at different depths, we can take a water sample at 40

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metres, bring it back on deck, and take a water sample to look out

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nutrients, plankton, temperatures, for example. -- lookout. It tells

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you about the state of the ocean? Yes, what the ecosystem is doing,

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and what physics that govern it are going on. Let's have a look at it in

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action. What is happening here is that Jim, on the left, he has taken

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the top of the bottles, and Gary, now on the left, is taking off the

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bottom. Effectively, we have empty chiefs. There it goes... Going over

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the side, and then it is gone. When the rosette gets to a particular

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depth, we can fire each of those bottles, so there are 12 bottles on

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there at the moment. We can fire each of them individually at a

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particular depth, take it as a water sample, it will come back on deck.

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There are taps that we fill, with sample bottles. We can take them

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back to the laboratory for analysis. Does it have to be calm to do this?

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Generally, yes, it's quite a dangerous operation. The waves crash

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over the ship, and if the boat is moving around quite a bit, once you

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have filled it with water, we have several tonnes of water there. It

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can be very hazardous. We can see it again... With the sampling done, it

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is time to head back to the harbour. Mission complete.

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But there's more to come from Plymouth, this time on land, later.

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Now, some of your Weather Watcher pictures, starting with these

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amazing images of a water spout from the south coast in July.

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It is a tornado that forms over the sea. The same weather system also

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produced final clouds inland, these can sometimes go on to become

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tornadoes. But, when it comes to tornadoes,

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nowhere does them more powerfully than the USA.

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Earlier in the summer, Dan Hollie Webb storm chasing there.

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We are in Kansas, this is tornado number three. Look at the dust it is

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kicking up, while! The United States are familiar with

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tornadoes. We are quite a way away, quite safe.

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In an average year, 1000 twisters on average touchdown across the

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country. While they are stunning to look at,

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they can be destructive. I spent most of the year forecasting

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the weather in East Anglia, but for four weeks in May or June, I can be

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found storm chasing with friends on the great plains of the USA.

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People chase for different reasons. Some are therefore scientific

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investigations, to collect data to understand tornadoes better. Others

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work for local media, or the National Weather Service, reporting

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back vital information about a tornado to help the public stay safe

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and informed. There are many others like me with a

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strong interest in the weather, and are there to experience first-hand

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the true power were of mother nature. This year, we covered nearly

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6000 miles of road in just 14 days. Our first Chase Day took us to

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Kansas, with a stunning super cell near the town of Leota.

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It produced two brief tornadoes, there and gone in ten seconds.

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Three days later, Dodge city Kansas narrowly avoided being hit by

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several tornadoes produced by the same super cell.

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Still to come on Weather World... What do I do? Swim! Caught in the

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storm, flash floods and dramatic rescues. My car is under. We are

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back on dry land after a rocky ride out to that whether buoy on the

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Plymouth Quest, at the hands of a skipper who knew what to do in rough

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weather. And to navigate a ship in rough

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weather is, you don't have to start at sea but here on land, at Plymouth

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University. Through here... This looks like the

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bridge of a ship, and it is incredibly realistic.

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Looking out onto Plymouth Sound, where we were on the Plymouth Quest

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boat. But this is actually a navigation

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simulation, Tom Crichton is operating it now.

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What is it, and what are you doing? At Plymouth University we use this

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simulator to teach and educate seafarers on the navigation and

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Maritime cause. We do basic navigation, collision avoidance, and

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advanced techniques. Relatively calm conditions but this

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can all change. At the click of a mouse! Let me show you. You take

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control. I will do that... There we go. BC is getting rougher, white

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tops on the waves, they are getting bigger.

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-- the sea. What is incredible, although this is a fixed simulator,

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it is not moving around as you would imagine if you were on a flight

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simulator. You feel like you want to sway a little to compensate for the

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movement of this. Do you ever get people feeling queasy? Certainly.

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Interestingly, because it is not a physical movement to back-up DC

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motion, it is often the experience to see people who feel queasy

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because the body does not get the corresponding movement of rain

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expects. Does it get rougher? It does, I will

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show you. Tom, give me all you've got! OK, be careful what you wish

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for is the motto of that! My word, this has changed! 'S huge waves are

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rolling around. I want to stay away from that lighthouse in front of

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me... I feel very lucky that, to operate this, I'm very happy this is

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a simulation and not a real-world simulation.

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My word, if it was a real-world situation, I would not be enjoying

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this one bit. Now, from simulating storms at sea,

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to the real-life impact on the coast.

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Australia in June, a storm combined with high tides that is the New

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South Wales coastline with 12 metre high waves, leaving some beach near

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collapse. In August, Scotland's windiest

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summer day since 1988 saw this oil rig that had been on tone from

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Norway to Malta blown ashore on the Isle of Lewis instead.

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-- on tow. Later in the month, several people

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died after getting into difficulty in or near stormy seas around the

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British Isles. Storms that bring intense rain

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inland producer affects hard to predict, and with little warning.

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In the Macedonian capital, in August, these were the scenes.

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A flash flood killed more than 20 people.

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More than one months worth of rain fell in 24-hour is.

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Tubular and seems in Nairobi, Kenya, in April when a baby is rescued from

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a building that collapsed in flooding, but ten other people were

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killed -- GP Lynne scenes. These scenes from China's province

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in July showed the devastation that flooding can bring.

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Seasonal rains in China where extreme, killing hundreds of people.

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Some of the rescues and narrow escapes are caught on camera. What

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do I do? In April on live television, this reporter pulled a

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man to safety in Texas. In Maryland in August, onlookers

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formed a human chain to rescue a woman whose car was being swept away

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by rising flood water. West Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee

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and Oklahoma are just some of the other states in the USA who have

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seen deadly flash flooding in recent months.

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Then this, in Louisiana in August, rescues came across a car. There is

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someone still in it, sinking in the car.

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Her story is a lucky one. Pulled to safety with seconds to

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spare. With more than 100,000 homes affected by flooding, it has been

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labelled the USA's worst natural disaster since hurricane Sandy in

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2012. In India, Pakistan and here in Nepal

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in July, from heat to flood, the monsoon brings essential rain but

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flooding and lightning storms kill thousands.

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Deadly lightning hits Europe as a pro you to the floods that inundated

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the French capital of Paris in June -- pro nude.

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Sarah Keith-Lucas has more on the storms and signs of lightning.

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Here I am, on top of the recent BBC broadcasting above the headquarters

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of the BBC weather Centre. Today, no thunder clouds in the sky

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but just if you months ago, we had intense storms across central and

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northern parts of Europe. -- a few. They brought violent

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mining strikes to cities such as Paris, where there was at least one

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fertility, and many others injured, including several children.

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This bank in Paris turned into a temporary first aid centre for

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emergency services. For adults and eight children took

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shelter under a tree in the park. In Poland, a man descending a

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mountain was killed, and in Germany, more than 30 people were taken to

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hospital when lightning struck at the end of a children's football

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match. We have no way of recording how many

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lightning strikes reach the ground, but we can record the total number

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of lightning flashes. In this instance, over 17,000 flashes of

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lightning occurred in just one hour across northern Europe.

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Let's look at the science of how thunderstorms form.

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They are more common over the summer months when we have longer days,

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more sunshine and no more energy in the atmosphere.

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Initially, air close to the ground surface is one.

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Comedy air rises and to as long as it is warmer than the heirs

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surrounding it. As it rises, it cools, condenses,

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and forms into a cloud. If conditions are right, cloud

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continues to build, and build into Reiki Muller nimbus cloud, typically

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up to a height of 20,000 -- 20 5000 feet.

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These clouds give us under and lightning. Within that cloud, we get

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our draft and downdraught of air. The updraughts carry water droplets

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high into the top of the cloud where it is very cold.

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They freeze into ice crystals or hail.

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As we zoom into the cloud, those ice particles move around and bump into

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one another. The lighter and positively charged

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particles are carried to the top of the cloud, while the heavier and

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negatively charged hail collector at the base. The negative charge at the

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base of the cloud is attracted to the positive charge, within the

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cloud, within nearby clouds, and with positively charged ground

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surface below. When the attraction is great enough,

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they meet and discharge. So, lightning is a huge electrical

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spark, caused by the movement of negative charge from one place to

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the other. As ever in the heats and expands,

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due to the lining, it creates the accompanying rumble of thunder.

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-- lightning. Joining me to tell us more about

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these thunderstorms is Chloe more from the Royal meteorological

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Society. Welcome. We heard one person died in

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France, several others were injured in Germany, is that unusual?

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That episode occurred at the weekend, meaning many other people

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were outdoors and at risk of being struck by lightning.

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In Germany, and usually it was a bolt from the blue lightning, so

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there were clear skies and no ominous clouds.

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The lightning had travelled 25 miles from its source, so people were

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surprised. That's why there were so many

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injuries. So if you do find yourself stuck in a thunderstorm, do you have

:20:30.:20:34.

any advice as to how to reduce your risk of being struck? In wide-open

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spaces, seek shelter, whether it is inside of a building or vehicle.

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If you can't, make yourself low on the ground, tuck your head in, and

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reduce your height. Thank you for joining us. As summer rolls into

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autumn in the northern hemisphere, we should get out of this season of

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intense thunderstorms. But in the southern hemisphere,

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thunderstorm season is about to begin.

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Severe weather is of course best avoided, but what if you can harness

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the power of a storm and turn it to your advantage?

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That is exactly what they can do here. Welcome to Plymouth

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University's Coast laboratory and wave generator.

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They make waves here. These paddles can produce any sort of waveform and

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generate NEC state, recreating conditions at sea. But in this

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accurate scaled-down environment they can run controlled experiments

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to understand the interaction between DC and our coasts.

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A new invention is being tested here now, the wave cat. It would float

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off the coast with waste going over its arms, collecting data, and

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generating electricity. The professor of this laboratory

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says that by producing energy, wave cat can work as a coastal defence

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against stormy seas. To see this kind of device in operation, there

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would be a number arranged together. We would have a wave farm of energy

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devices operating together along the coastline. By extracting the energy

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to generate electricity, they are taking energy out of the wave

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climate. To do that, it means that there is less of the wave energy

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interacting with the coastline. Bigger storms are often treated

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negatively in discussion. But, clearly what we are seeing here, is

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something that is an opportunity. Yes, the opportunity in more

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energetic sea states and storms, there is more energy in the ocean

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than can be extracted. If we design devices to extract under those

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conditions, to convert the electricity, we can bring in a new

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renewable energy source. Talking of renewable energy, they've made it.

:22:57.:23:00.

Solar impulse touches down in Abu Dhabi in July. After taking off

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there in March last year. The first around the world solar

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powered flight is finally complete after a 17 stage journey covering

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four continents. Setting 19 official aviation

:23:16.:23:18.

records. The pilots from Switzerland

:23:19.:23:27.

experienced the climax of a project aimed at promoting renewable energy.

:23:28.:23:31.

When roads become rivers, what are you going to do? Wake boarding,

:23:32.:23:36.

obviously! One-man's answer to the travel chaos caused by flooding in

:23:37.:23:41.

Moscow in August. That's it for this time on Weather

:23:42.:23:43.

World. We are back in December. Until then,

:23:44.:23:50.

whether you're weather is at sea or on land, keep checking your weather

:23:51.:23:51.

forecast. Friday was a glorious data across

:23:52.:24:28.

much of the country, warm sunshine and lots of dry weather too. It --

:24:29.:24:34.

day across. On Saturday, we will see some

:24:35.:24:36.

outbreaks of rain across

:24:37.:24:38.

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