The air above the ground is saturated with small crystals of ice or drops of water. This atmospheric phenomenon is called fog. It is, in fact, a cloud on a water or earth surface.
Where are the most foggy places on earth? And how to stay safe and sound when meeting this magically beautiful, but at the same time insidious dangerous natural phenomenon?
Fog as a physical phenomenon
Mists are divided into two classes.
Fog class | Features |
Cooling mists | They are formed by condensation of water vapor when the earth or water cools the air. There are radiation ones - this is stagnation of night air on clear quiet nights, disappearing with sunrise. The second type is advective, formed as a result of cooling of moist moist air as it moves above the colder surface of land or water. Low layered clouds can turn into them, they are transported over long distances. These are the most powerful and longest fogs. |
Mists of Evaporation | They are formed by evaporation of water from the underlying surface of a higher temperature: in winter - over open bays and wormwoods, in summer - at night after rain, in autumn - over lakes and rivers. |
There is another principle of dividing into groups of fogs. This is a continuous duration:
- Short-term - 2-4 hours (mainly continental areas).
- Long - up to several days (frequent on the shores of the northern seas, in highlands).
Autumn fogs are born over the continents, spring - over the oceans and seas.
The most foggy in the world
In Russia, the record holders for the number of fogs are Kamchatka, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands. But the Kibins on the Kola Peninsula are the undisputed leader: up to 280 such days a year!
Frosty mists that form at low temperatures are characteristic of the Arctic zone.
Another champion in this natural phenomenon in the world is Buenos Aires (the capital of Argentina). The name translates as “good winds” or “good air”, which does not prevent this policy from considering fogs to be its business card. The average rainfall here is greater than in rainy St. Petersburg and London.
The Newfoundland Bank area is the most foggy place in the Atlantic. There is poor visibility 120 days a year.
The Pacific Ocean has its own “reserves” of fog. These are areas of active interaction of the cold waters of the Okhotsk and Bering Seas, as well as the Gulf of Alaska with the warm currents of Kuroshio and the North Pacific.
Misty Albion
The British Isles are often shrouded in sea fog. Sometimes they become just a natural disaster. On such days, the work of many UK institutions is paralyzed, and road traffic is significantly hindered.
That's why England is called "foggy Albion." There is, however, another opinion: this poetic name owes its appearance not so much to the climate as to prosaic smog. He has been famous for many centuries as an industrial power. Here the fog is sometimes just industrial smoke. Numerous plants and factories forced local residents to suffocate from harmful emissions into the atmosphere and gave England a similar title.
Save life in the fog
The global geography of fogs is, of course, impressive. However, one should not forget that one can face this phenomenon nose to nose not only in distant lands, but literally at one's doorstep.
All motorists and other road users know that fog makes the weather more dangerous. There are special recommendations for this case:
- Speed reduction to 5 km / h and even up to a complete stop.
- Use of low beams and fog lights.
- Drive to the side of the road and turn on the alarm.
- Overtaking in the fog is a violation of traffic rules and a threat to life.
- Since driver fatigue is increased under such conditions, rest is recommended at the first sign of fatigue.
Not without reason in the figurative meaning of the word "fog" is something that interferes with clear vision, clouding consciousness. So you should admire the charming beauties of the "fallen down clouds", not forgetting the safety rules!