Predicting Weather By The Moon - Xavier University Libraries
Predicting Weather By The Moon - Xavier University Libraries Predicting Weather By The Moon - Xavier University Libraries
Weather By The Moon the economy of the Middle and Far East. It blew the frail craft of the first adventurous traders from the east coast of Africa across the Indian Ocean to the rich Malabar Coast of India. And in the First Century AD., Arabian mariners, trimming their sails to it, fared safely northeast across the Gulf of Aden to the mouth of the Indus River. Three centuries later, they rode the steady monsoon winds all the way to China. Even today, India’s economy is at the mercy of the monsoon. The country’s huge rice crop, the staple food for its teeming millions, depends on moisture that the monsoon brings from the Indian Ocean. In Greek, mene means Moon, while the word monsoon, and season derive from from mausim, the Arab word for Moon. Nature is predictable. It is often said that the weather is fickle. Surely not - the weather knows what it is doing. It is the forecasters who may be fickle. The whole thrust of science is towards discovering nature’s patterns.Therefore to begin with there must be an assumption that some predictable patterns exist. As discoveries are made, more patterns are revealed. It would be more unusual to find that events occurred in isolation, with no precedence or subsequence. There is no true random, because what we know of random is also something predictable. ‘Random’ comes from the Old french word randir, meaning to run. Running is hardly a random activity. So it is with the weather, which is triggered by the movements of the Moon. There is nothing mysterious about the moon’s motion. It has been measured extensively and 58
Madness and the Moon is as predictable as clockwork. After 133 years, or 7 cycles of 19 years, the moon loses about 19 minutes, or 10 seconds per year. A watch with that degree of accuracy would indeed be valued.. But we cannot easily see slow movements. Try watching a child or a flower grow, or the big hand of a clock move. Because we do not see slow changes unless we write them down, we easily miss the variations in the way the Moon moves and appears to change, invisible to the naked eye even within just two days. Little wonder then that memories of some changes of movement over longer periods, like certain cycles encompassing 8 years, 18.6 years, 133 years, 679 years and more, go unnoticed by most people. When we experience a flood or a tornado and tell each other that this has been the worst in living memory, we could be easily misleading themselves. Living memory is a concept seized on by the media to create headlines. This sells newspapers. But in reality living memory does not go very far. Test this on a friend and you may find that more often than not, they may not be able to remember what the weather was doing or what they happened to be wearing Monday or Tuesday of last week. 59
- Page 7 and 8: LOOKING DIRECTLY AT THE MOON ......
- Page 9 and 10: Formation of the Moon OTHELLO: ‘I
- Page 11 and 12: Formation of the Moon day as the Lu
- Page 13 and 14: Formation of the Moon no water. Moo
- Page 15 and 16: Formation of the Moon tennis ball.
- Page 17 and 18: Formation of the Moon so, then the
- Page 19 and 20: The Moon in Ancient History Mesopot
- Page 21 and 22: The Moon in Ancient History Indo-Eu
- Page 23 and 24: The Moon in Ancient History could i
- Page 25 and 26: The Moon in Ancient History the 28
- Page 27 and 28: The Moon in Ancient History is usua
- Page 29 and 30: The Moon in Ancient History To the
- Page 31 and 32: The Moon in Ancient History land to
- Page 33 and 34: The Moon in Ancient History Charles
- Page 35 and 36: The Moon in Ancient History strual
- Page 37 and 38: Early Moon Watchers lore was Aristo
- Page 39 and 40: Early Moon Watchers And as Bartolom
- Page 41 and 42: Early Moon Watchers inhabitants of
- Page 43 and 44: Early Moon Watchers Diana...Diana..
- Page 45 and 46: Planting by the Moon Moon, her char
- Page 47 and 48: 1 Whiro 2 Tirea 3 Hoata 4 Oue 5 Oko
- Page 49 and 50: Maori and the Moon Seven Sisters. T
- Page 51 and 52: MADNESS, ILL-WINDS, AND THE MOON On
- Page 53 and 54: Madness and the Moon it is conceiva
- Page 55 and 56: Madness and the Moon erly wind in s
- Page 57: Madness and the Moon 6.00pm news. R
- Page 61 and 62: ible and where to look. This applie
- Page 63 and 64: NEW MOON The New Moon cannot be see
- Page 65 and 66: its visible disk is lighted, called
- Page 67 and 68: are more likely to be clearer from
- Page 69 and 70: Tides and What pulls What The weath
- Page 71 and 72: Tides is always a corresponding hig
- Page 73 and 74: Tides ies exert pulls on earthly th
- Page 75 and 76: Tides night. As high tides are prod
- Page 77 and 78: Tides rotation. As Earth’s rotati
- Page 79 and 80: The atmosphere shelters us from the
- Page 81 and 82: Tides manifestations such as aurora
- Page 83 and 84: Tides Air has mass. A submarine has
- Page 85 and 86: Tides radio reception. Before satel
- Page 87 and 88: Tides sharply as the ground radiate
- Page 89 and 90: Tides the Moon’s phase allows the
- Page 91 and 92: Earthquakes ment north and south of
- Page 93 and 94: PERIGEES AND APOGEES The rising or
- Page 95 and 96: Perigees and Apogees to New or Full
- Page 97 and 98: Perigees and Apogees a switch and m
- Page 99 and 100: Perigees and Apogees its. Apogee an
- Page 101 and 102: Perigees and Apogees the Apogee. Go
- Page 103 and 104: Perigees and Apogees PERIGEE AND DI
- Page 105 and 106: Perigees and Apogees out in 400 yea
- Page 107 and 108: Comparing Cycles YEAR1996 Perigee A
<strong>Weather</strong> <strong>By</strong> <strong>The</strong> <strong>Moon</strong><br />
the economy of the Middle and Far East. It blew the frail<br />
craft of the first adventurous traders from the east coast of<br />
Africa across the Indian Ocean to the rich Malabar Coast<br />
of India. And in the First Century AD., Arabian mariners,<br />
trimming their sails to it, fared safely northeast across the<br />
Gulf of Aden to the mouth of the Indus River. Three centuries<br />
later, they rode the steady monsoon winds all the way<br />
to China.<br />
Even today, India’s economy is at the mercy of the<br />
monsoon. <strong>The</strong> country’s huge rice crop, the staple food<br />
for its teeming millions, depends on moisture that the<br />
monsoon brings from the Indian Ocean. In Greek, mene<br />
means <strong>Moon</strong>, while the word monsoon, and season derive<br />
from from mausim, the Arab word for <strong>Moon</strong>.<br />
Nature is predictable. It is often said that the weather<br />
is fickle. Surely not - the weather knows what it is doing. It<br />
is the forecasters who may be fickle. <strong>The</strong> whole thrust of<br />
science is towards discovering nature’s patterns.<strong>The</strong>refore<br />
to begin with there must be an assumption that some predictable<br />
patterns exist. As discoveries are made, more patterns<br />
are revealed. It would be more unusual to find that<br />
events occurred in isolation, with no precedence or subsequence.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is no true random, because what we know of<br />
random is also something predictable. ‘Random’ comes<br />
from the Old french word randir, meaning to run. Running<br />
is hardly a random activity.<br />
So it is with the weather, which is triggered by the<br />
movements of the <strong>Moon</strong>. <strong>The</strong>re is nothing mysterious about<br />
the moon’s motion. It has been measured extensively and<br />
58