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    Does everyone get wind?

    In Lancashire we frequently get gales, fence-downer strength, but we never get hurricanes. A lot of coastal resorts (California) always seem a bit gusty, maybe because of sea breezes. And even in the middle of deserts, you get sandstorms. Is there anywhere that doesn't get blowy from time to time?

    #2
    Does everyone get wind?

    Oh, that type of wind?

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      #3
      Does everyone get wind?

      California doesn't really get the fence-downer strength winds, it's mostly the steady and regular afternoon breeze blowing in from the ocean when the sun is shining inland. Once in a while you could get a windy storm during the rainy season in winter, but it's nothing like the monster winds that blow regularly in the gulf of Mexico or in Tornado alley.

      There are some parts of the world that are sheltered from wind. In California for example, Los Angeles is surrounded by mountains and doesn't get much wind, which accounts for its smog issues.

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        #4
        Does everyone get wind?

        Where I live almost never gets wind, as we are in a depression in the mountains (I live 700 m up, but am surrounded by mountains of approx 1500m and greater). So, basically we only ever feel any wind when it blows from one very specific direction, which is incredibly rare. (or those winds that you get with thunderstorms)

        This is lucky as in the winter the temperature drops to round -30 and with wind that would be unbearable. As it is, it is bearable.

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          #5
          Does everyone get wind?

          Apologies if this is a stupid question but if we keep building wind farms which take energy from the wind, will there end up being less wind overall?

          Does that make sense?

          Comment


            #6
            Does everyone get wind?

            The Hairy Ball theorem (go on, Google it, I dare you) tells us that at any moment there must be at least one point where there is no horizontal wind velocity.

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              #7
              Does everyone get wind?

              tratorello wrote: Apologies if this is a stupid question but if we keep building wind farms which take energy from the wind, will there end up being less wind overall?
              Yes, although I expect you have to put up a lot of turbines for it to be noticeable.

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                #8
                Does everyone get wind?

                It's a terrible problem for the Big Hair Community, and one which receives little recognition.

                I'm off out shortly and am gathering my hairpins together.

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                  #9
                  Does everyone get wind?

                  Apologies if this is a stupid question but if we keep building wind farms which take energy from the wind, will there end up being less wind overall?
                  I'd be interested to see some well-informed back of the envelope type stats on that. My hunch is that if we multiplied the wind power capture from wind farms by say 100 times from what it is today then wind would be reduced overall by something of the order of say 0.01% or perhaps even a few orders of magnitude less. But that's just a hunch. Wind energy comes by a not too indirect route from the heating of the atmosphere by the sun's rays. The amount of energy given to earth on an ongoing basis by the sun is several orders of magnitude greater than total global electricity consumption.

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                    #10
                    Does everyone get wind?

                    Outside Agent wrote: Oh, that type of wind?
                    I thought that too...

                    Comment


                      #11
                      Does everyone get wind?

                      Evariste Euler Gauss wrote:
                      Apologies if this is a stupid question but if we keep building wind farms which take energy from the wind, will there end up being less wind overall?
                      I'd be interested to see some well-informed back of the envelope type stats on that. My hunch is that if we multiplied the wind power capture from wind farms by say 100 times from what it is today then wind would be reduced overall by something of the order of say 0.01% or perhaps even a few orders of magnitude less. But that's just a hunch. Wind energy comes by a not too indirect route from the heating of the atmosphere by the sun's rays. The amount of energy given to earth on an ongoing basis by the sun is several orders of magnitude greater than total global electricity consumption.
                      Yeah, but what about the solar panels stealing all our sunlight and heat.

                      See, renewables will destroy us all!

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Does everyone get wind?

                        tratorello wrote: Apologies if this is a stupid question but if we keep building wind farms which take energy from the wind, will there end up being less wind overall?

                        Does that make sense?
                        No, the effect is beyond minute. There are other problems with giant turbines though, like the impact on migratory birds (nowhere nearly as bad as that of cats though) and low-frequency noise.

                        If there was an impact on wind reduction though, it wouldn't necessarily be negative. In arid or agricultural regions that have high winds, planting trees has been promoted in order to reduce wind-driven soil erosion. Conversely, deforestation has contributed to higher winds and adverse effects.

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Does everyone get wind?

                          Tourist postcards and promotion material should include wind. All those shots you see of beautiful New Zealand scenery? Look closer - why are the trees bending over? Why is that scantily clad woman on that pristine beach clutching her hat?

                          I could do with less of it, myself.

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                            #14
                            Does everyone get wind?

                            Porthcawl is the windiest place known to Christendom - until you take a kite to fly there.

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                              #15
                              Does everyone get wind?

                              Bored, I think you've hit upon something that could be of global importance here — this could tap into the potentially unlimited power of sod's law, in a similar way to how buttered cats should be able to solve the problem of perpetual motion. We can conquer the problems of wind-scouring in places where there has been deforestation and soil erosion: all we need to do is air-drop thousands of small children holding cheap plastic kites. There is no force on earth that could stop the winds dead more effectively than clusters of disappointed five-year-olds each clutching the end of a limp length of string attached to a grounded kite.

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                                #16
                                Does everyone get wind?

                                Velvet Android wrote: Bored, I think you've hit upon something that could be of global importance here — this could tap into the potentially unlimited power of sod's law, in a similar way to how buttered cats should be able to solve the problem of perpetual motion.
                                A similar form of assistance could be provided by cyclists riding along the bend-free, ten-mile-long country roads that north-eastern Germany specialises in.

                                It doesn't matter which direction you're riding in, what the weather's like or what time of year it is - you always have the sort of headwind that transforms your face into a giant repository for your own snot.

                                So if you put the kids with the kites onto the handlebars of the snot-faced cyclists and then rotated them by 180°, then there would be no wind. Or twice as much wind. Or something.

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                                  #17
                                  Does everyone get wind?

                                  Kites are a bit shit, really.

                                  You get the Star Warsy one for your kid and have to listen to him nattering on about you taking him out to fly it until you can actually take him out to fly it. Only then it's not windy, is it ? But you go anyway, because he doesn't understand.

                                  So you're there, kite out, slight breeze. He's holding the string, you launch the kite and shout at him to run. No, not that way - into the wind.

                                  Reversing roles is just as futile, though differently, and after a few more tries he buggers off to the swings and leaves you to it.

                                  Sorry. I've had that bottled up for a long time.

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                                    #18
                                    Does everyone get wind?

                                    Wind can be dangerous...

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                                      #19
                                      Does everyone get wind?

                                      treibeis wrote: the sort of headwind that transforms your face into a giant repository for your own snot.
                                      Still better than someone else's snot.

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                                        #20
                                        Does everyone get wind?

                                        Not if you are in to that kind of thing.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          Does everyone get wind?

                                          Proof that everyone does indeed get wind - a map of all the wind that is happening now. Find your location, zoom in soom out and all that stuff https://www.windyty.com/?2015-03-31-09,46.355,26.829,6

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