Development
See also: Air massAir masses are large bodies of air with similar properties of temperature and humidity that form over source regions, and the warm air masses behind warm fronts are not only warmer but higher in humidity than the colder air preceding them. Because of a warm air mass’s higher temperature and thus lesser density, mixing between the two air masses is unlikely. Being lighter, the warm air mass is unable to displace the cooler air mass and instead is forced upward along the upper boundary of the colder air in a process known as overrunning. The boundary between the two air masses has a gradual slope of 130 and lifting is slow but persistent. As the air mass rises into regions of lower pressure, it expands and cools. As it cools, water vapor condenses and forms extensive cloud coverage. The first clouds to form along the sloping surface of the cold air are high cirrus, which thicken to cirrostratus and altostratus. Once the clouds have thickened to 2,500 metres (8,200 ft) from the earth’s surface, rain can begin to fall from the heavy nimbostratus cloud.
Read more about this topic: Warm Front
Famous quotes containing the word development:
“I have an intense personal interest in making the use of American capital in the development of China an instrument for the promotion of the welfare of China, and an increase in her material prosperity without entanglements or creating embarrassment affecting the growth of her independent political power, and the preservation of her territorial integrity.”
—William Howard Taft (18571930)
“... work is only part of a mans life; play, family, church, individual and group contacts, educational opportunities, the intelligent exercise of citizenship, all play a part in a well-rounded life. Workers are men and women with potentialities for mental and spiritual development as well as for physical health. We are paying the price today of having too long sidestepped all that this means to the mental, moral, and spiritual health of our nation.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877?)
“Information about child development enhances parents capacity to respond appropriately to their children. Informed parents are better equipped to problem-solve, more confident of their decisions, and more likely to respond sensitively to their childrens developmental needs.”
—L. P. Wandersman (20th century)