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Physiology & Medicine / Question about High Altitude to Low Altitude physical effects. (Research)

« on: 05/02/2008 18:27:56 »

Greetings all.  I'm currently working on writing my first novel and I have a question:

If a person born and living at high elevation (6000' to 10,000') for approximately 25-30 years is suddenly dropped to sea level, what would the physical effects be?  I know of High Altitude sickness but would there be Low altitude sickness?  How would the human body react to this new environment and one that is very warm and humid?  What would be the advantages (more stamina?) or disadvantages (profuse sweating/dehydration?)?
I'll take any and all answers and details.  I need as much info as possible about how the human body reacts to this altitude change.

Thanks in advance.

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The Environment / Looking for facts about a fictional climate. Please help a writer out...

« on: 05/02/2008 18:20:32 »

You guys are awesome.  I had thought of some of that stuff but you guys went beyond that and I thank you for it. 

The destruction of the cloud layer will be one of the last events in this story arc so I'll probably not have to worry too much about the lasting effects, just the immediate.  And the 'destruction' of the cloud layer I envision more as a quick dissipation rather than explosive or poof!-and-it's-gone.

You guys have given me tons to think about.  I never thought a simple climate question would involve so much.  I have a new respect for meteorologists and climatologists. But I've been able to shape a pretty morbid world out of all this info so I hope it translates well into the writing.  It ought to be fun.

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Physiology & Medicine / could brain surgery accidentally make me brighter?

« on: 01/02/2008 19:17:52 »

http://www.militarytimes.com/multimedia/video/powers/

No evidence you can get smarter but proves you won't necessarily get any dumber either.

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The Environment / Looking for facts about a fictional climate. Please help a writer out...

« on: 01/02/2008 03:21:15 »

Nope, nothing specific. It's going to happen so I really don't need any one thing to happen but I do want to be realistic with it. I can imagine how massive an event it has the potential to be and that it would last for days IF anything happens at all.

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The Environment / Looking for facts about a fictional climate. Please help a writer out...

« on: 31/01/2008 08:45:18 »

I can't thank you two guys enough for all the information you've given me here.  This has helped so much and the links you've both provided have been invaluable and really helped me clarify a few things.  So I've really just got one more question.

When the cloud layer is destroyed (later, not in THIS book) what will be the immediate affect on the global weather?  Having all of this massive heat and humidity suddenly released I imagine would result in widespread thunderstorms?  Would there be tornadoes, hurricanes, possibly blizzards in the winter hemisphere?  With all of that hot, humid air suddenly rising to meet the cooler upper atmospheric weather I can just see lots and lots of rain and flooding.  Am I on the right track?

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The Environment / Looking for facts about a fictional climate. Please help a writer out...

« on: 30/01/2008 19:54:05 »

Whew! Okay, I see I have some serious decisions and definitions to make regarding this cloud layer in order to find the results.

Let's say that this layer is created by an inversion (artificially created by elemental magic).  If this were the case and the cloud layer is static at 4000', then the atmospherebelow would be thus: smoggy, dusty, and cold.  (keeping in mind that the tech level for this world is pre-industrial and closer to pre-medieval ages so most pollution would be natural (volcanic, etc.)) Is this correct?

Yes, the daytime weather would be cold smoggy and dusty. Warming slightly at night, as George says.
As for it being set in pre-medieval times, i guess they still burn wood which would add to the atmospheric pollution (trapped by the cloud layer), perhaps George knows more about pre-medieval times than i do and can add more about what types of fuel were used and the possible impact.

I think I'll stay away from the inversion and its affects.  I think this would create more of a nuclear winter scenario than I'd like.

But, if the cloud layer is simply the by-product of the elemental magic, would another climate exist? The clouds are normal, vaporous clouds that are held, unnaturally, at 4000'.  Is the climate still smoggy, dusty and cold or more humid, warm and clear?  Or perhaps a combination of the two?

Keep in mind that the climate above the layer is normal and seasonal. As such, the lower climate still receives rain and wind from upper storms.

Yes again, but seeing as it is caused by magic you will have some poetic licence as to the effects caused by the magic within the cloud layer.
You would still expect there to be more frequent and violent thunder in and below the cloud. If it was still raining above the cloud then this would possibly dilute the build up of acidic rain, a sort of washing it out before levels got too high. Of course, the flora and fauna would still suffer, but possibly over a longer time span.

Ah! now here is where I'm getting the answers I'm looking for.
So the climate would be more humid and hot and clear? 
Any acid rain that would exist would come from pre-industrial  (woodfires, lampoil flames, etc.) or natural (volcanoes, forest fires) sources.  So I don't think the event of acid rain would be that common especially with normal storms to wash out the cloud layer as you mentioned. Hmm, I'll have to give this some thought.

But as to the lightening and thunder: How common would this be? Would a lightening storm just appear for a couple minutes or hours or would a person walking the countryside see a lightening strike every five or ten minutes and hear thunder with it?  Or would the entire, global lower realms be in constant danger?  I gotta tell you, I never thought about the cloud friction and thunder and lightening. I love this idea.

By the way, thanks to both of you for answering and discussing this post.  If nothing else at all, I'm beginning to see exactly the problems I have on my hands here.

No problem, the weather is far more complicated that it first appears, and it gives George and I the opportunity to bounce ideas...

Weather is definitely more complicated than I thought and I'm glad there are people out there willing to think outside the box for me. The ideas that come into my head when I read your posts are amazing and I can see the world being created and recreated in my mind's eye.  Your idea-bouncing is more helpful than you can imagine.

And I see over 200 people have read this thread. If any of you have ideas or $.02 to add, I'd love to hear it. 

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The Environment / Looking for facts about a fictional climate. Please help a writer out...

« on: 29/01/2008 18:27:30 »

Whew! Okay, I see I have some serious decisions and definitions to make regarding this cloud layer in order to find the results.

Let's say that this layer is created by an inversion (artificially created by elemental magic).  If this were the case and the cloud layer is static at 4000', then the atmospherebelow would be thus: smoggy, dusty, and cold.  (keeping in mind that the tech level for this world is pre-industrial and closer to pre-medieval ages so most pollution would be natural (volcanic, etc.)) Is this correct?

But, if the cloud layer is simply the by-product of the elemental magic, would another climate exist? The clouds are normal, vaporous clouds that are held, unnaturally, at 4000'.  Is the climate still smoggy, dusty and cold or more humid, warm and clear?  Or perhaps a combination of the two?

Keep in mind that the climate above the layer is normal and seasonal. As such, the lower climate still receives rain and wind from upper storms.

By the way, thanks to both of you for answering and discussing this post.  If nothing else at all, I'm beginning to see exactly the problems I have on my hands here.

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The Environment / Looking for facts about a fictional climate. Please help a writer out...

« on: 29/01/2008 08:39:53 »

Greetings.

Ok, I'm new here but after much useless searching and researching, I'm hoping that the Naked Scientists can help me. I'm currently working on my first novel and need some help. I've created a unique world and as such, have run into some problems. Ok, here's the set up:

My planet is very similar to Earth in size. the unique thing about it is that large landmasses are raised up thousands (6000-9000) of feet above sea level.  These are known as the Sky Realms. Between the sky realms and the lower realms, at about 4000 feet, is a permanent cloud layer.  This cloud layer is approximately 50-100 feet thick (ok, ok, it was created magically but is otherwise made of real clouds.) covers all but the polar regions and is roughly 400 years old.

So, of course, I go and create this cloud layer and my story takes a life of its own and now one of my sky realm characters is stuck in the lower realm. Great, I wasn't expecting to do that in this book but now I have to figure out what he's getting himself into.

Questions:

1. What kind of climate would exist in a land that has been under a
 constant layer of clouds for four centuries?  Would the atmosphere be
 thicker, hotter, more humid (super greenhouse) or would the cloud
 cover act more as a 'nuclear winter' and create a colder, thinner,
 more dry environment?
 
2. How would this climate affect flora and fauna?  Would there be a
 proliferation of flora or would it become more sparse?  Would fauna
 be affected adversely with a higher concentration of certain gasses?
 Would the diminished sunlight be beneficial or harmful?  I'm assuming
 that the decreased UV radiation would allow for longer life among
 biological lifeforms and perhaps the thicker atmosphere would allow
 for some lifeforms to grow larger than usual (i.e. the giant sloth
 from our own historical record).  This question has more to do with
 physiology, I know.
 
3. Would areas near the equator be affected more than areas closer to
 the polar regions assuming the cloud layer thickness is constant?
 
4. How would the thickness of the cloud layer affect the lower
 climate?  Would a thicker (closer to 200' ) layer perhaps approach
 more of a 'nuclear winter' scenario assuming a 100' layer is
 creating a 'super-greenhouse' scenario?
 
5. Are there any meteorological impacts above or below the cloud
 layer created by the lower climate?  Perhaps the sunlight reflecting off
 the cloud layer would affect the otherwise normal climate in the sky
 realms?

6. What kind of day-to-day chages would there be compared to normal (Earth-like) environment?
 There would be less sunlight, but would there be more fog becauswe of the humidity? Would storms
 beneath the layer be more intense or weaker?

Of course I also have questions about my characters physiology coming from a high altitude environment to a low one, VERY quickly.  But I can ask those types of questions in a more specialized forum.

I've had absolutely NO LUCK trying to find answers to these questions. Even the folks at NOAA said this was out of the realm of their expertise.  I'd be happy with an informed person's best educational guess. 

Anyway thanks in advance if anyone would be willing to try helping me.  I'd appreciate it.  If I don't get answers soon, I'm gonna have to wing it.