Please Answer

[quasigeostrophy]

This isn't a meme, but neither is it homework. It is related peripherally to my forthcoming Ph.D. work.

What about winter precipitation (freezing rain, sleet, snow), especially but not necessarily related to climate change, do you wish we (or even just you) knew more?

Comments

[gows.livejournal.com]

Why on earth changing weather makes joints/old injuries/broken bones ache. I've asked my orthopedic surgeon a couple of times and no one seems to know for sure. What, specifically, happens, both in a weather context and a physiological context and how they work together. (Not sure if that's entirely close enough, but I figured it ought to count.)

[adularia.livejournal.com]

I always thought that was due to atmospheric pressure changes. Do pressure changes in airplane cabins have the same effect?

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I think you're on the right track, and I certainly notice the same thing in airplanes during ascent and descent.

[gows.livejournal.com]

That's the theory, but it's inconsistently shown. I know in myself that sometimes I get fierce headaches with inclement weather, and sometimes not. My very-slowly-healing-but-still-broken-arm (14 months so far), with two plates and 17 screws in it at the moment, sometimes reacts to changing weather, sometimes not. I live at a high altitude, but haven't noticed any major changes on planes or going to/from sea level (to be honest, though, I am nearly pathologically incapable of staying conscious on a plane flight, so am certain to be missing large amounts of subjective data). Sometimes it hurts more with high pressure systems, sometimes with low, sometimes with wet weather, sometimes with high winds, and sometimes for no discernable reason I can see.

So, in short, there are theories, but no conclusive hard data.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I think that will take more of a medically-related study than a specific meteorological one, but as far as I can tell it's related to pressure changes and the effect on fluids in the body. I know my sinuses are a powerful barometer of their own. :-)

[gows.livejournal.com]

Probably, but I'm in more of a health-related field than meterology, so that was all I could come up with. *grin*