Koning Winter: Let It Snow! (deel 3)
The Gulf Stream (part of the AMOC) could weaken significantly or stall as early as around 2050-2060 due to climate change and melting polar ice. This tipping point is imminent due to an increase in freshwater in the North Atlantic Ocean. The consequences are drastic cooling in Western Europe, faster sea level rise, and more extreme weather. An Elfstedentocht could easily take place in our country every year, resulting in high energy bills. There will be a lot of snow, and therefore also many snowflakes or ice crystals. Do you know how beautifully structured they are?
Snow
Snow is a form of precipitation consisting of ice crystals. Snow develops from water particles that cool below their freezing point high in the atmosphere and then fall as crystallized flakes. On the ground, the snow can accumulate and undergo other physical changes.
Snowflakes form when small water droplets become so cold that they freeze into hexagonal crystals. During their fall, they attract other water particles that are below freezing but have not yet frozen themselves (supercooling). Once on the ground and other surfaces, the snow can accumulate in layers.
Ice crystal
At temperatures below freezing, snow forms when water vapor decomposes into ice crystals without the intermediate form of water droplets. This process occurs primarily between -5 and -20 °C and optimally at a temperature of approximately -12 °C. At this value, the difference in vapor pressure between water and ice is greatest, and water molecules transition from supercooled water droplets into freezing nuclei. These freezing nuclei serve as a catalyst and accelerate the freezing process. On their way down, these ice particles gradually grow into crystals. These can take on various shapes, but they are always six-pointed (hexagonal), as can be clearly seen in photographs taken by amateur scientist Wilson Bentley as early as 1902.
When the wind blows, snow crystals, often in the shape of stars, clump together on their way to the earth and form a flake. Such a flake consists of ice and a lot of air between the ice needles, much like a pillow full of feathers with air in between. Flakes are irregular, small or large, but they all share certain patterns. Flakes form particularly in sufficiently moist air that is not too cold. At fairly low temperatures in drier air, loose snow crystals often fall. This frequently occurs in the polar region.
Research
In 1611, the German astronomer investigated Johannes Kepler the shape of ice crystals. In his *De Nive Sexangula Stellata* (On the Hexagonal Snowflake), he posed the question of why ice crystals are always hexagonal in shape. He devised a theory that it has to do with spheres which, when stacked closely, also exhibit such a structure. He realized that he did not have the means to investigate it properly.
In 1665, the English astronomer, physicist, and architect Robert Hooke sketched ice crystals in his *Micrographia* using a microscope. The American farmer and microphotographer Wilson A. Bentley (1865–1931) photographed some five thousand ice crystals. Of these, he published two thousand. A number of Bentley's photographs can be seen in *MGJ Minnaert* *De natuurkunde van 't vrije veld* (Part 2: Sound, heat, electricity).
The ice crystal has still not revealed all its secrets. Research is still being conducted by various laboratories (particularly in the United States). In recent years, development has been progressing at a rapid pace. Nowadays, it is possible to create a climate chamber with controlled conditions. As a result, it has been discovered that different crystal shapes are formed at different humidity and temperatures. A recent result is that, sandwiched between two layers of graphene, ice can form cubic crystals.
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The beauty of the crystals is just as beautiful as the blog itself! Keep up the good work, Randy!