World Image issue 30 March 2016_1

Winter Chills
Last month we hoped for some more pictures for the
Winter Chills series, and we have not been left in
the cold.
With the changing weather patterns the images of
winter begin to alter as well. Snow in the desert,
heat waves (anything above -40) in the arctic, and
the opportunities for the cold pictures come and go
for many people.
Pictures of the cold are not restricted to the snow
covered landscapes and ice fountains.
This builds up over time and becomes compacted
into ice at the lower depths. As snow continues to
build on the surface the pressure causes the base of
the ice to start moving, forming the glaciers.
One of the most spectacular sights of winter are the
Hoar frosts also known as Soft Rime,. The pictures
above and below are just such taken be Bob
Breakell in Canada.
The picture above was taken by Gordon Longmead
is the Eiger Glacier taken from the Jungfrau in the
Alps. Sadly, many of the glaciers that we knew 50
years ago have melted away due to those
aforementioned changes in weather patterns. And
Finally, lets not forget the wildlife, they feel the cold
as well.
We all know of the smooth ice formed by freezing
water on a cold surface, but with Hoar frost, the
crystalline ice structures grow directly from water
vapour from air, a process that turns the vapour to
ice without going through the water stage.
Glaciers are a different matter, they form at high
altitude from snow fall.
Female Downy Woodpecker
Website = photosociety.net Page 17 email = magazine@photosociety.net