[New Earth] Rate the (fictional) climate: Remigiusz Station (snow, hottest, warm)

[Proterra]

Remigiusz Station

Scientific station, located at 18*22'S on the exposed continental slope of the fossil Mediterranean Sea of Darwinia. Named after early new Earth explorer Remigiusz Grywalski. Elevation: 1822.5 metres below ASL.

The scientific station at Remigiusz has the most hostile climate on the New Earth of any place with a permanent human presence. Located along the exposed continental slope, it also experiences a violent amplitude in temperature when at the calm nights this inland, tropical, extremely low lying desert experiences both massive radiation of heat, as well as relatively cool airmasses making their way down the exposed continental slope during night time from the higher plains which lie around sea level. Due to this effect, the air at Remigiusz station is extremely dry, as the cooler air from higher up, which is already a desert, dries out even further when it warms up on it's way down. Because of this, dewpoints above 0C/32F are uncommon, and dew points above 10C/50F exceedingly rare. Remigiusz station receives 99.952% of available sunshine. Precipitation has been recorded twice in the last 40 years; 5.3 centimetres of snow on August 11th, 2752, and a trace of rain on October 19th, 2737. Remigiusz station not only holds the record for driest place on the New Earth, but also for being the hottest place, on December 25th, 2719 a temperature of 68.4*C/155.1*F was recorded. Satellite infrared imaging has shown, that on the abyssal plain of the fossil Darwinian mediterranean sea, temperatures average well into the 70's centigrade, and it has been estimated that the record highs here are most likely between 85 and 90 degrees Celsius.This climate, combined with the complete lack of water in a 3 million square kilometre area which consists only of salt and sand, together with barometric pressures well over 1700 Hpa (50 inches Hg) have prompted the governments of the new Earth to ban all commercial access to this region below 1000 metres below ASL. This includes overflights by aircraft, save for a small corridor leading to the strip at Remigiusz due to the impossibility of rescue in event of an unplanned landing.

[dhdh]

D-

As tempting as it sounds, I do not give it a F, first because my ethics prevent me from giving a climate the same grade as Patricius or Kaul () and more importantly because:

*Sunshine is abundant
*There are comfy hours in every month, mostly in morning, earlier in summer, later in winter

BUT:

*It is way too hot even in winter (that's not something you will hear me say often)
*Summers are lethal
*Mornings are too cold in every season
*It is way too dry

If I had unlimited A/C I would take this over Reykjavik or Murmansk, but that's still the ****tiest warm climate I have ever seen. Good job

(First I thought the daily mean was the average highs, so my first reaction was to give it a B+, then I saw the two lines above, including the horrific black line)

[Proterra]

Originally Posted by dhdh

*Summers are lethal

The abyssal plain, which lies another 2-3 kilometres further down, is much, much warmer. On average by another 25 degrees centigrade. The excessive heat on this dry ocean floor at tropical latitudes actually prevents human presence there, Remigiusz is actually the lowest point on this planet with a permanent human presence.

Of course, where continents collide, there are also subduction zones and trenches around. Somewhere on this dry ocean floor is a remnant of a trench, I guess the lowest dry point there is about 7890-8340 metres below sea level. Average temperature is a good 55-60 degrees higher there than in Remigiusz, barometric pressure exceeds 2200 Hpa. (around 67-70 In Hg) There are probably some brine lakes there, and with that pressure the boiling point of water is 124 degrees centigrade. Those lakes are probably a constant 110-115 degrees centigrade. Imagine the climate on one of those lovely shores...

Funny thing is, these sort of conditions have existed in the geological past on Earth, and will probably exist again in the near geological future. When Pangaea formed, there were probably interior remnants of oceans that dried out. This was as late as the Mid-Permian period, only 260-280 million years ago and during the early to mid-Permian there was an extensive biosphere on Earth, in some ways very similar to the one we have nowadays. And only 6 million years ago, the Mediterranean fell to about 3-3,5 kilometres below its current level. This will probably happen again in another 3-5 million years, when the northward motion of Africa will close the Straits of Gibraltar... We currently actually have one of the most boring climates that have ever existed on Earth...

[Patricius Maximus]

This has to be the most interesting hot climate I've seen thus far. Good work, Proterra. If I had to pick a hot climate to live in it would be this one, but I still don't give it anything higher than an F.

The average highs are just horrible, far too hot for my taste in all months of the year. The nights actually aren't too bad, given the daytime temperature. The extreme variation in winter between 116F and 42F would be cool to experience. The nights in summer aren't what I'd call cool, especially with the still-scorching evenings, but they're not bad at all considering that it's 140F in the daytime. The record lows are such that it can get chilly or cold at night any time of the year, which is very impressive for such a hot place. On the flipside, the record highs are torrid and in the summer, even similar to an oven.

I like that it's dry all the time, and I've always preferred a subtropical desert over a more humid version. On the flipside, the perpetual sunshine is a major negative of this place.

In the end I give it an F. I was tempted to give it an F- due to the scorching days, but I think due to the cool nights I'd take even this climate over all the other F- humid tropical/hot-at-night climates.

An interesting aspect is that the mean temperature of this place (91F) is still below Dallol's mean temperature of 94F.


Another interesting aspect is that I think this climate bears a lot of similarity to the planet the Robinsons were on in the first season of Lost in Space, but only during the summer. It got down to -120F in winter with frequent electrical storms (but come to think of it electrical storms occurred all the time regardless of season).

It got up to the 140's Fahrenheit in summer there, and it was still pretty hot at night but the dialogue implies a significant cooldown occurred. It's possible that the lows were in the 60's; that would provide a significant cooldown and it would still enable most of the night to be pretty hot. 70's for lows are also possible. The place was a desert and no one ever complained about humidity, so we can safely assume dew points were low, too.

Lightning and electrical storms were common at all times of year, and sometimes they got a cosmic storm (basically an electrical storm with a lot of wind, plus some sci-fi effects ). Curiously, precipitation hardly ever fell there. I can recall only one instance where it ever rained at their home base, and I can't recall any time when it snowed (apart from what might have been flurries in one scene). There was heavy, pouring rain when they were out at sea, though, along with the obligatory lightning. However, the maritime storm didn't even send so much as a cloud as far as the shoreline.

Originally Posted by Proterra

The abyssal plain, which lies another 2-3 kilometres further down, is much, much warmer. On average by another 25 degrees centigrade. The excessive heat on this dry ocean floor at tropical latitudes actually prevents human presence there, Remigiusz is actually the lowest point on this planet with a permanent human presence.

Hmm...if the climate is already this hot at that level, the climate in the deepest depths must really be something.

Average temperature is a good 55-60 degrees higher there than in Remigiusz, barometric pressure exceeds 2200 Hpa. (around 67-70 In Hg) There are probably some brine lakes there, and with that pressure the boiling point of water is 124 degrees centigrade. Those lakes are probably a constant 110-115 degrees centigrade. Imagine the climate on one of those lovely shores...

Indeed.

We currently actually have one of the most boring climates that have ever existed on Earth...

Actually I'd beg to differ. If you look at the long-term normal for this time in geological history, we actually have some of the more interesting climates, with all those deserts, oceans, polar deserts, and huge ice caps, plus a very unstable climate prone to changes, and a lot of storminess. Of course, most of those characteristics are part of glacial periods. We're currently in a warmer interglacial, but glacials comprise more than 80% of recent geological time. The uniform tropical or subtropical temperatures that characterized previous eras is far more boring.

However, I do grant that a dried-up Mediterranean would be more interesting.

[Flight Simmer]

F. unrealistic and impossible.

[dhdh]

Anyone who spent a few minutes inside a sauna knows that 60°C/140°F is very, very manageable if the RH is extremely low though.

Highest I've experienced was 90°C/194°F in one of them in Budapest. Extremely hot, uncomfortably so, but certainly not lethal if you don't stay for too long and drink a lot. I stayed inside for 5 minutes.

[dunno what to put here]

F- no redeeming qualities at all.

I don't think we should be comparing this to a sauna either..

[Candle]

Originally Posted by dhdh

Anyone who spent a few minutes inside a sauna knows that 60°C/140°F is very, very manageable if the RH is extremely low though.

Highest I've experienced was 90°C/194°F in one of them in Budapest. Extremely hot, uncomfortably so, but certainly not lethal if you don't stay for too long and drink a lot. I stayed inside for 5 minutes.

Factoring in the sun with those temps and it would definitely be lethal.

F- climate btw.

[Proterra]

Originally Posted by Patricius Maximus

Actually I'd beg to differ. If you look at the long-term normal for this time in geological history, we actually have some of the more interesting climates, with all those deserts, oceans, polar deserts, and huge ice caps, plus a very unstable climate prone to changes, and a lot of storminess. Of course, most of those characteristics are part of glacial periods. We're currently in a warmer interglacial, but glacials comprise more than 80% of recent geological time. The uniform tropical or subtropical temperatures that characterized previous eras is far more boring.

However, I do grant that a dried-up Mediterranean would be more interesting.

You're right, "boring" was not the right word, "moderate" would be a better description of our current global climate. The only time in geological history when Earth had a similar climate and biosphere to the Neogene/Anthropocene, was during the late Carboniferous, a time most people would associate with global tropical conditions, while in fact the places where nowadays the major population centres lie where then more or less in the equatorial region. Earth as a whole was surprisingly temperate, there was even a lot of glaciation taking place near the poles. But throughout Earth history, the climate has been on average much, much warmer than it is nowadays.

On the other side, imagine having one of these, where the most balmy climates on the planet resemble those found nowadays in Faeroer or the Aleutians...

[Patricius Maximus]

Originally Posted by Proterra

On the other side, imagine having one of these, where the most balmy climates on the planet resemble those found nowadays in Faeroer or the Aleutians...

That would certainly be a nice switch, but even I wouldn't want most or all of the planet to be covered in ice sheets. I'd gladly take a Hoth over a Dagobah, but I think this is about right:







A view from space:



And a ground view from the Basque Country: