The presence of large wind farms in the US has led to an increase in the temperatures of the earth's surface
He is about to end up run over, his mother saves himLe wind farms they can have a not indifferent impact on temperatures, raising them. A study conducted by scientists from wind power denounces the effects on climate changeUniversity at Albany, in the state of New York, according to which the presence of large wind farms would be responsible forincrease in the temperatures of the places where they arise.
The research, conducted by Liming Zhou, associate professor of Environmental and Atmospheric Sciences at Albany, provided a different view on clean energy production, providing critical insight into the potential impact of wind farms.
To evaluate the impact of power plants on local weather and especially on climate, Zhou's team analyzed the measurements of temperatures provided by NASA satellites relating to the earth's surface of the regions where the large Texas wind farms are located, in the period included. between the 2003 and the 2011.
Looking at the figures, the researchers found that over the observed period, di notte, the rise in temperatures on average was 0,72 ° C. Since the spatial model of warming reflects the geographical distribution of wind turbines, the comparison between the local rise in temperature and the presence of parks.
Furthermore, the scholars have noted that from year to year the temperature of the earth's surface near the wind farms has shown a persistent upward trend from 2003-2011, in parallel with the growth in the number of wind farms in operation.
"This heating effect is probably caused by the turbulence of the turbines that generate a layer of cooler air which, mixing with the warmer air, settles on the ground during the night," said Professor Roy Somnath Baidya from the University of Illinois, co-author of the study.
Nothing to do with theglobal rise in temperatures, given that the effect of the recorded warming is local and is small compared to the strong variation in the temperature of the earth's surface. But according to the authors of the study, it opens up an important scientific question that requires further investigation.
In fact, the warming trends must be applied only to the region under study and to the period, therefore, according to the experts, they must not be literally applicable to other regions or for longer periods.
Recent studies onimpact of wind farms on weather and climate they used numerical models due to the lack of empirical observations on parks. Never models numeric may be inaccurate due to the simulation of regional and local weather. According to the authors, remote sensing is probably the most efficient and effective way to study the impact of wind on a large scale.
“The study represents the first observational evidence of the impact of wind on the Earth's surface temperature with spatial detail and using satellite data. It represents a first step to explore the potential of using satellite data and to quantify the possible effects of the development of large wind farms on weather and climate ”commented prof. chris Thorncroft, co-author of the study and chairman of the Department of Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences at theUniversity at Albany.
The study was published inNature Climate Change.
Francesca Mancuso
