Dear Tom,
Recently you reported no wind at O'Hare. If it were possible to have no wind happening anywhere, would our current weather remain the same day after day, or would weather continue to move and change?
Dan Newton
Dear Dan,
Bear in mind that standard weather observations describe the state of the atmosphere at the ground (more precisely, within several feet of the ground). A report of calm air refers only to that very shallow surface layer, several tens of feet above which the wind is invariably still blowing.
"If it were possible..." is the operative phrase in your question, but it is not possible. Temperature differences (in the horizontal) always exist; that implies differences in air density and pressure, and air always tries to move (that is, wind blows) from higher to lower air pressure. Calm air exists only locally and briefly (a few hours).
You did not answer the question:
"If it were possible to have no wind happening anywhere, would our current weather remain the same day after day, or would weather continue to move and change?"
I am seeking the answer to the same thing such as what would happen on our planet if global air currents came to a halt.
Thank you.
HB, hello and thanks for your comment. Let me try to take a stab at this from a different angle.
If the wind were to abruptly stop completely, in theory the weather would never change, as there would be no mechanism to move weather systems. There would also be no mechanism to create clouds or rain. However, that would be the least of our problems.
A complete absence of wind would be dependent on global temperatures becoming uniform throughout the planet, which would alter ocean currents, melt icecaps and cause incredible life-altering changes to our global ecosystem. Any further exploration of such a proposition is best left to sci-fi writers, since such alterations would have to defy numerous laws of physics and thermodynamics to occur.
That I can understand, the result: Same old weather, no rain, ocean conveyor belt stops, ice caps melt, same temperature everywhere.
One more question if I may aside from going sci-fi...
Any ballpark estimate on how long it would take for "no rain, ocean conveyor belt stops, ice caps melt, same temperature everywhere" to happen?
Like maybe a few months or a few years?
I know such a thing happening to our planet is an outlandish proposition but thank you for your patience.