Dispelling the "Plastic Snow" theory
As some of you may have seen on Facebook, Twitter, and other outlets, there are rumors and conspiracy theories that the Government is using "Chemtrails" to create this fake snow and cause mayhem throughout the nation. Here it is.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JBQ7oVsH3iE
So the basic idea of this is that the government used chemtrails to create snow and cause mayhem. My argument is that because the snow is so dry (40:1, 30:1, and even 20:1 snow ratios) that no water would melt from it due to the low water content of the snow. Moving on, the black marks that are seen on the snow is because of the fuel that is used in the lighter, not because of it being plastic. Lastly, the trails behind planes are "Contrails" not "Chemtrails". Here is the American Meteorological Society's definition of a condensation trail ("Contrail")
Quote:
condensation trail
(Or contrail;
also called vapor trail.) A cloudlike streamer frequently observed to form behind aircraft flying in clear, cold, humid air.
Condensation trails may persist and encourage the formation of a layer of cirrus clouds. Condensation trails may form by either of two distinct processes. First, addition of water vapor to the swept path of the aircraft inevitably accompanies exhaust of combustion products from the engines. If the humidifying effect of this addition overbalances the concomitant addition of the heat of combustion, exhaust trails may form depending on mixing with air from the environment. The thermodynamics of this process is such that the effect becomes important only for rather low temperatures of the order of those encountered near the tropopause, so this type of condensation trail is only usually observed for high-altitude flight. On occasion, exhaust provides needed condensation nuclei, but this effect has not been fully investigated. Second, in air that is clear, but almost fully saturated, the aerodynamic pressure reduction that accompanies flow of air around propeller tips and around wingtips can so cool the air as to induce condensation and form aerodynamic trails. The latter propeller-tip trails and wingtip trails are seldom as dense as are exhaust trails. Under some conditions the pressure reduction lowers the temperature below that for homogeneous condensation of ice and the trail consists of ice particles even at ambient temperatures as warm as -15?C. Wingtip trails only occur with aircraft of such heavy wing-loading as to yield very strong tip vortex circulations. Interceptor planes pulling out of dives, and hence imposing temporarily heavy wing-loading, may produce transient tip vortex trails. Faint vortex trails may appear aft of the corners of flaps during aircraft landings.
The basic gist of this one is that the exhaust gives the necessary nuclei to create condensation for the water vapor molecules that are present in the air. Once the condensation nuclei is attached to, a cloud is formed in the cirrus category. So all of these conspiracy theories are silly and I'm sick and tired of seeing them.
