Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Wind farms can cause climate change, finds new study
The Telegraph ^ | April 29, 2012 | Louise Gray

Posted on 04/30/2012 12:58:21 PM PDT by Free ThinkerNY

Usually at night the air closer to the ground becomes colder when the sun goes down and the earth cools.

But on huge wind farms the motion of the turbines mixes the air higher in the atmosphere that is warmer, pushing up the overall temperature.

Satellite data over a large area in Texas, that is now covered by four of the world's largest wind farms, found that over a decade the local temperature went up by almost 1C as more turbines are built.

This could have long term effects on wildlife living in the immediate areas of larger wind farms.

It could also affect regional weather patterns as warmer areas affect the formation of cloud and even wind speeds.

It is reported China is now erecting 36 wind turbines every day and Texas is the largest producer of wind power in the US.

Liming Zhou, Research Associate Professor at the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences at the University of New York, who led the study, said further research is needed into the affect of the new technology on the wider environment.

"Wind energy is among the world’s fastest growing sources of energy. The US wind industry has experienced a remarkably rapid expansion of capacity in recent years,” he said. “While converting wind’s kinetic energy into electricity, wind turbines modify surface-atmosphere exchanges and transfer of energy, momentum, mass and moisture within the atmosphere. These changes, if spatially large enough, might have noticeable impacts on local to regional weather and climate.”

The study, published in Nature, found a “significant warming trend” of up to 0.72C (1.37F) per decade, particularly at night-time, over wind farms relative to near-by non-wind-farm regions.

(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Science
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-22 last
To: Brookhaven

>Wind Farms Cause Global Warming!<

.
Even if it is true, the MSM will ignore it — don’t forget that the whole global warming panic is not based on science but on political ideology.


21 posted on 04/30/2012 2:55:02 PM PDT by 353FMG
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: Free ThinkerNY

They’re eating their own...


22 posted on 04/30/2012 4:55:02 PM PDT by MV=PY (The Magic Question: Who's paying for it?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first previous 1-2021-22 last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson