Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Atlanta canopy is tall and dense, So in Ariel photos if it's not over 4 to 5 stories the building is not going to be in the shot, This cause an illusion that nothing but a forest is running into the CBD and edge cities, When really there nearly 4 million in the immediate area of 2,000 sq mi. Under the forest.
Anywhere east of the Great Plains is going to be greener than anywhere west of the Great Plains. Especially on the west coast, in spite of all the trees, summer is a dry season. Go to Atlanta in August, and then go to Seattle in August, and you'll see why Atlanta comes out looking lush and green in comparison.
It should be kept in mind that Atlanta's canopy includes many deciduous tree species, which go bare and brown during winter. In contrast, Seattle has much more coverage of evergreen trees (albeit coniferous), helping to keep the color going throughout the year. And that's not getting into the nearby rainforests, which are absolutely dripping with all kinds of epiphytes, vines, and moss.
Anywhere east of the Great Plains is going to be greener than anywhere west of the Great Plains. Especially on the west coast, in spite of all the trees, summer is a dry season. Go to Atlanta in August, and then go to Seattle in August, and you'll see why Atlanta comes out looking lush and green in comparison.
It's not that simple. While summer is indeed a dry season in the West, many areas of the coast still have fog and/or mild temps to maintain the moisture. Of course there's also the large stretches of rainforest along the PNW, which you won't find much of (if any) back East. Besides, much of the East outside of Florida and the coastal South goes brown during winter with all those deciduous trees. So yeah, the immediate West Coast west of the ranges are absolutely lush and green, even in comparison to the East.
It's not that simple. While summer is indeed a dry season in the West, many areas of the coast still have fog and/or mild temps to maintain the moisture. Of course there's also the large stretches of rainforest along the PNW, which you won't find much of (if any) back East. Besides, much of the East outside of Florida and the coastal South goes brown during winter with all those deciduous trees. So yeah, the immediate West Coast west of the ranges are absolutely lush and green, even in comparison to the East.
Having lived in Seattle for 25 years, and now living in Kansas City (and having also grown up in NJ and gone to college in NC), I could not disagree more. The fog (which mostly stops after sometime in early July or so) doesn't do much good toward making things green.
In the winter the firs and hemlocks are green, but it's still mostly brown (hard to find Google street view in the winter). In Atlanta, you get lots of pine trees, so basically it's as "green" in the winter as is Seattle.
Having lived in Seattle for 25 years, and now living in Kansas City (and having also grown up in NJ and gone to college in NC), I could not disagree more. The fog (which mostly stops after sometime in early July or so) doesn't do much good toward making things green.
In the winter the firs and hemlocks are green, but it's still mostly brown (hard to find Google street view in the winter). In Atlanta, you get lots of pine trees, so basically it's as "green" in the winter as is Seattle.
Seattle itself is actually a rainshadow, so the territory there does not represent the true power of West Coast moisture, which absolutely blows away much of the East (see: Hoh Rainforest, Redwoods in Oregon/California, etc). Nevertheless, judging from those shots, the mild temperature seem to do a good job of preserving general flora greenery. Since the bulk of Seattle's trees are coniferous evergreens, combined with (relatively) mild winter temperatures, you have yourself quite the lush green landscape during winter. Sort of in the vein of an Irish countryside.
Yes, those lawns in Seattle are absolutely brown during summer. But lawns are also brown during Atlanta's winters. And though Atlanta has pines and other evergreens, the percentage of winter bare deciduous trees there is much larger than in Seattle. Indeed, Atlanta can see some deep, deep Arctic blasts, worse than Seattle often times.
So we see that both areas have their season of brown, summer and winter for Seattle and Atlanta, respectively. We can also see that Atlanta is much browner during winter than Seattle is during summer. Therefore, the verdict is that Seattle is "greener" year-round than Atlanta, though the latter is more forested.
The rain shadow is irrelevant in summer, because there is little moisture that time of year, *anywhere* along the west coast.
Nope, the immediate PNW coast, up to Alaska, still gets summer rainfall, just depressed compared to the winter months. These are areas like Forks, Washington or Sitka, Alaska. The summer rainfall totals may not be as high as locations in the Eastern US, but the rainfall days (frequency) almost match up. Then, farther south, down to mid-California, the rain goes away, but then there's still thick, regular fogs. Consider that the mild temperatures limit the evapotranspiration, and you'll see that these weather patterns allow more than enough moisture for spectacular lushness in these immediate West Coast areas...even during summer.
Why else do you think the temperate rainforests or giant Redwoods are all out on the West Coast, and not back East?
Quote:
Lawns are brown in Seattle during the winter, too. After all it's cold and everything's dormant.
Seattle's cold is nothing like seen back East. Not only is it less intense, it also comes with high dampness from the Pacific. The result is high amounts of cool weather greenery, like those scenes in New Zealand.
Eastern US cold snaps come straight out of the Arctic. Very severe cold compared to Seattle, also very dry. And where the winter conditions are mild enough in the East, the summers are just too hot. Just not very hospitable for the cool weather greens East of the Rockies.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jessemh431
Doesn't Seattle have a lot of evergreen trees?
Certain posters seem to be stuck in a 6th-grade textbook mindset on climate distribution, hence the oversimplification of Western US climate dynamics.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
