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Sea smoke, frost smoke, [1] or steam fog [2] is fog which is formed when very cold air moves over warmer water. Arctic sea smoke [3] is sea smoke forming over small patches of open water in sea ice. [4] It forms when a light wind of very cold air mixes with a shallow layer of saturated warm air immediately above the warmer water.
The water vapor produces the sea smoke fog and is usually misty and smoke-like. [30] Garúa fog near the coast of Chile and Peru [31] occurs when typical fog produced by the sea travels inland but suddenly meets an area of hot air. This causes the water particles of fog to shrink by evaporation, producing a "transparent mist".
Fog is commonly considered a surface-based cloud layer. [21] The fog may form at surface level in clear air or it may be the result of a very low stratus cloud subsiding to ground or sea level. Conversely, low stratiform clouds result when advection fog is lifted above surface level during breezy conditions.
Falling diamond dust (Inari, Finland) Diamond dust is similar to fog in that it is a cloud based at the surface; however, it differs from fog in two main ways. Generally fog refers to a cloud composed of liquid water (the term ice fog usually refers to a fog that formed as liquid water and then froze, and frequently seems to occur in valleys with airborne pollution such as Fairbanks, Alaska ...
The decline in fog is generally attributed to climate change, and is concerning for the local ecology, for example the redwood trees. [12] Climate change contributes to the warming of our oceans, directly resulting in less fog as ocean water is not cold enough to mix with hot, moist air currents to create fog. [13]
Water vapor plays a key role in lightning production in the atmosphere. From cloud physics, usually clouds are the real generators of static charge as found in Earth's atmosphere. The ability of clouds to hold massive amounts of electrical energy is directly related to the amount of water vapor present in the local system.
Thus, fog and mist are not precipitation; their water vapor does not condense sufficiently to precipitate, so fog and mist do not fall. (Such a non-precipitating combination is a colloid .) Two processes, possibly acting together, can lead to air becoming saturated with water vapor: cooling the air or adding water vapor to the air.
The word "smog" was coined in the early 20th century, and is a portmanteau of the words smoke and fog [1] to refer to smoky fog due to its opacity, and odor. [2] The word was then intended to refer to what was sometimes known as pea soup fog , a familiar and serious problem in London from the 19th century to the mid-20th century, where it was ...