Friday, November 22, 2013

Q. Where does the salt go when evaporating ocean water lifts up in droplets, which fall again somewhere as pure rain?

A.     Most but not all droplets are distilled, leaving their heavy salt particles behind on the surface of the sea. But a minority of droplets retain light molecules of salt and are still able to rise up and form little-known “saline cumuli.” These clouds tend to group together over the Antarctic, where they discharge themselves as roaring salt storms. Some people, especially geodetic personnel who have been stationed down there too long, believe that they are ordinary snow storms; but they definitely are not. Snow falls, it does not pelt or knock you down. And it never makes very great noise by itself. As for hail, it simply does not occur in extreme southern latitudes for some reason. What we’ve got is sodium chloride, all right, no two ways about it. The proof is penguins. They have been obviously victimized by the fury of periodic salt-ball bombardment, accounting for their unsteady gait. If they could talk, what they would say! On the other hand, if they really could, they might only ask where the party is.

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