West Main

The human body was designed to function in a very narrow temperature range. Given the intensity of sunlight heat, it is a marvel that so much of the Earth is habitable. This writing continues to describe the special ways in which our Creator has moderated temperatures that might otherwise be unbearable.

 

 

Our last issue discussed the day-night cycle, caused by the spinning of the Earth that spreads sunlight over the whole Earth rather than just one face. It also called attention to the tilt of the spin axis of the Earth, which – as the Earth orbits the Sun – alternately nods the southern and northern hemispheres toward the Sun. This results in our delightful summer-winter sequence rather than the drastic temperature zones that would result without the tilt. But there is more.

 

 

Land (where we live) is more fickle than water, in that its temperature can rise or fall more than water temperature does with the same sunlight exposure. Harsh land temperatures, however, can be quelled by steadier ocean temperatures when air currents flow across shorelines. In this way, San Diego is cooled and Seattle is warmed.

 

 

Wind at Work

 

There are many modes of winds that moderate land temperature by pulling air masses from over the oceans onto land. One of the easiest to understand is the daily heating of land that causes air to rise above it. It is then replaced with cooling sea breezes that fill the void. That is one reason for living – as I do – in Southern California, some fifteen miles from the Pacific Ocean. A hundred miles eastward from the ocean, and across a mountain range, winds from off the ocean reach there only during Pacific storms, and summer heat is more intense.

 

 

Heat-loaded winds also rise at the equator and head toward the poles, with return winds at a lower altitude. However, the path of such winds is seldom simply north and south. A west-east component often dominates this meandering flow due to the spinning of the Earth. Because most of the continental land masses have a north-south extension, this means that these winds are aimed to cross shorelines.

 

 

During World War II, when bombers began to fly at higher altitudes, west-east and east-west jet streams were discovered that helped or hindered airplane ground speed. In my own early experience with such winds, flight in a B-24 once gained an astonishing one hundred miles per hour while flying eastward. I later learned that these winds can exceed three hundred miles per hour. Meteorologists soon found that such air currents help guide storms over land and tracking them enabled long term weather predictions.

 

 

Another dominant feature of wind direction is associated with high pressure and low pressure systems that swirl in clockwise or counter-clockwise motion as they move over the Earth. These systems are somewhat self-contained and can carry a load of heat and moisture with them.

 

 

More intense versions of low pressure systems occur in hurricanes and tornadoes. These cyclones, or vortices, are energized by combinations of heat and mechanical spin calved from the spin energy of our globe. They too carry loads of heat and moisture, and may also be thought of as redistributing heat on Earth. In them, we can see that great good is often associated with danger.

 

 

The irregular shape of the continents, with subsequent variation of shoreline direction, together with different flow patterns with altitude and diurnal effects, greatly complicate wind direction. All of these put the details of this matter in the hands of those who measure and map the actual patterns of air flow. Meteorology is a humbling science that should teach us how the Earth is made much more habitable by winds in our atmosphere.

 

 

More Ahead . . .

Our next issue will deal with another large moderating influence on temperature across the Earth. Just as the atmosphere is alive with currents, so also is the ocean full of motion. Our Lord has gone to great ends for our welfare. Are we to attribute these crucial designs to mere chance?

 

– James Gibbs

 

 

 

 

Camp Baptisms . . .

We are rejoicing! We had twenty baptisms at camp this year. Our West Main members who were baptized are:

 

Lily Gann, daughter of Russ and Shawna

Juleanna Lake, daughter of Matt and Anna

Rylie Michael, daughter of Charlie and Michele

Joey Olson, son of Brad and Christi

Danny Williams, son of Sean & Kristina

 

and two teens who regularly attend our services, Steven Mein and Lacey Reed.

 

Please meet these young people and congratulate them on their baptism.

 

 

Camp Lost and Found Items  -- We have lots of items that were left up at camp - are you missing something???? You can locate your lost items on the table in the Fireside Room this Sunday. Please pick up your lost items this week. Thanks!    :)

 

 

Prime Timers Lunch at HomeTown Buffet on Thursday, July 25, at 11:30 a.m.  Plan to share the funniest event that has ever happened to you.

 

 

July 28: Friendship Sunday Please invite your friends and neighbors to join us for services and then stay for a wonderful potluck luncheon following services. Our theme for the luncheon that week is “Mexican” so please bring lots of your favorite Mexican dishes to share.

 

 

Prayer Requests . . . For Jackie Riley who has been in the hospital for a leg infection - she is scheduled to go back to her home at Fern Gardens on Wednesday...For Kim and Tony Testerman who are fighting health problems...For Chaley Johnson’s Aunt Nan, whose husband lost his battle with cancer last Friday night...For the father of Dan Beeks who will have a kidney removed this week...For the mother of Mark Moreno who fell and broke her elbow and pelvis - please pray for her healing and for her family as they take care of her when she gets home...Amber Parker requests your prayers for her former swim coach, Mike, who has throat cancer and has been in the hospital for ten days...Darold and Kathy Hutsell request prayers for their daughter-in-law, Stephanie, who is in the hospital with kidney stones - please pray for her healing and that the doctors can find the cause of her recurring stones...Kris Feichtmeir - prayers for his 92 year old mother - for her salvation and for the children to return to Jesus...For our President and all of our military men, women and families.

July 28: Friendship Sunday - Mexican Theme Potluck After Morning

              Services

July 31: CIA

August 17: Redding Water Slides

August 21: Set Up for the Clothing and School Supplies Giveaway

August 24: Clothing and School Supplies Giveaway, CIA Carnival & BBQ

August 25: Emigrant Lake Encampment