THE SCIENCE OF CHRISTMAS... SNOW AND ICE SEASON’S GREETINGS Welcome to Science of Christmas 2015. This is such a special time, full of magic and mystery. These weeks may be the darkest days of the year, but winter brings its own joys and wonderment, with the celebration of Christmas the central focus. This is our third Science of Christmas, in a partnership with the Irish Research Council (IRC), a Gov- EOGHAN ernment-funded organisation that HARNEY supports scientists who work in pursuit of ever higher levels of knowledge for re you dreaming of a White the benefit of society. Christmas? Maybe you The work of scientists helps us to have watched too many understand the natural world, while Hollywood films or have they also use their expertise to develop a particular Bing Crosby songA stuck in your head. But what do new ideas in all areas of life. we mean by a White Christmas? That Thanks to IRC-funded researchers depends on who you ask. in third-level colleges, along with some While Met Éireann doesn’t have a of their colleagues, this supplement definition, the UK Met Office defines a answers many seasonal questions and, White Christmas as a single snowflake in the process, provides insights into falling at any of their weather stations the role that science plays in popular during the 24 hours of Christmas Day. phenomena. That is hardly what many would think Putting Science of Christmas of as a White Christmas, which is snow lying on the ground. together has been both a fun and With bookmakers, Paddy fascinating experience. I have learned Power currently giving odds things about spiders’ webs that I of 3/1 on a White Christmas, wouldn’t have thought possible. What what do past records show? do cobwebs have to with Christmas? According to Met Éireann, I wondered about that too. Find out snow fell at any one of their Will we have on page 5. weather stations on 17 Christ- Science is all around us. Phys- mas Days in the 50 years ics, chemistry and fields such as as- up to 2012, which is 1 in 3. Snow lying on the ground at tronomy, are what are known as the 9am on Christmas Day was a White “hard” sciences. We can credit chem- recorded nine times in the istry for the comforting smells and same period, giving about tastes we associate with the season, 1 in 5. while physics lies behind the sci- If you were to place a bet Christmas? skill compared satellite technology, increased com- he traditional pic- ence of snowflakes. They are but two on snow at Dublin Airport, to the climate puter power and better methods of SABRINA ture of a white examples; through these pages, we snow fell there on 12 Christ- average. They solving the equations. However we’ll RENKEN Christmas is disap- explore many more. mas Days since 1941, but 2010 are likely to give still need to wait until about a week pearing because of But, the real spirit of Christmas is was the only year that had lying snow. Weather forecasts the same prediction, of a 1/6 chance before Christmas to know if there is increasing temper- Could global Then, Dublin had a White Christmas presented on TV and of snow falling on Christmas Day at any substantial chance of snow. atures on Earth. In wrapped up in the “soft”, social and roughly every six years or only once radio, are based on com- Dublin, as the historical record. Personally I would prefer a mild and many places snow has become behavioural sciences, the ones that T in over 70. plex computer programmes The problem with long term pre- dry Christmas Day, hopefully that will very rare. What will this mean involve caring and giving. Among the Before you place that bet, make which model the behaviour of the dictions is that the atmosphere is a help me beat my time in the local Goal for Santa Claus? themes we touch on is one that has a sure you look at the small print. atmosphere. The atmosphere, like any chaotic system. Small errors in the Mile charity run. It would also help Since the Industrial Revolu- warming force particular resonance in 2015. Some bookmakers use the snow on physical system, can be described by weather at the starting time, can Santa traversing all those rooftops. tion, which started in the late Home and homelessness are cen- the ground definition as opposed to a set of equations. Combining these lead to vastly different forecasts. For 18th century, humans have tral to the biblical Christmas story. snow falling, making those 3/1 odds with a good knowledge of the weather predicting snow, this means that if the Eoghan Harney, is an Irish been releasing large amounts For many, Christmas is, more than for a Dublin White Christmas either at the starting time, we can solve the temperature is a degree lower than ✱ Research Council scholar at of greenhouse gases into the anything, about home, but, sadly, not quite reasonable or really very poor. equations to give a weather forecast. forecast, then rain may fall instead UCD’s School of Mathematics and atmosphere. This is pollution Santa to move to If we were to have a White Christ- Monthly and seasonal forecasts are as snow. Statistics, where he researches from burning oil, gas and coal, everyone enjoys that choice. mas, when is the earliest we could performed by many meteorological The skill of forecasts has improved numerical methods used in weather to fuel cars and produce elec- know with some certainty? centres, but on the whole have little year on year, due to developments in forecasts tricity, which, in the atmos- Happy Christmas phere, traps heat and causes Katherine Donnelly temperatures to rise. the South Pole? Education Editor I make my own Christmas cards using While planet Earth has al- XINXIN these “snowy tree” images. The length ways heated or cooled naturally of any branch here is no more than one over thousands of years, human XIAO eighth the width of a human hair, while activities have speeded up the heat- each branch is about 1/250th the width ing process dramatically. Over a as the Antarctic Pole some animals actually profit from of a human hair. These snowy few decades we have not only seen continent is exclu- the melting. But why do these gold crystals look a decrease in snowfall, but also the sively surrounded by For example, Adélie penguins need like the branches of a Christmas tree? disappearance of mountain glaciers ocean waters. With rising ice free terrain on which to build their They have what scientists refer to as, and sea ice. temperatures more water nests and breed their chicks. Easy a dendritic shape. This means that they branches are Scientists report that the Arctic vaporizes into the atmosphere, access to water, as well as a steady look like trees, because the crystals sea ice around the North Pole will be a process by which it converts from food supply, is also essential. Thus, grow lots of different branches. The particularly affected by rising tem- its liquid form into a gas. the rising temperatures improve their word ‘dendrite’ comes from the Greek peratures. By the middle of the 21st At the same time, the heated air living conditions. The statistics speak ‘dendron,’ which means tree. We see this century the Arctic summer ice could has a bigger volume and, therefore, for themselves: their population has type of crystal growth and formation a actually gold? be gone. This would not only leave the the atmosphere can store more water doubled over the last 30 years with lot in nature, with my particular favourite As more water vapour in the air reach- to my work, because I want to make polar bears without home, but also vapour for a longer time. This means about 1.14 million breeding pairs now being snowflakes! Window frost patterns es the crystal it also freezes on it. If there electrodes that are really small, but that Santa Claus and his elves. that the water vapour can travel longer living in Antarctica. are another example. are any tiny bumps or protrusions on the also have a high-surface area. So, I am However, a new home for Santa and distances and reach the Antarctic So, with Arctic sea ice likely gone Snowflakes are created by a process crystal then that bump or protrusion using these branching crystals to increase his friends might be found on the oth- continent, where, because of the still in a few decades, Santa may have to known as crystallisation, whereby solid sticks out a bit farther than the rest and the actual surface area of the electrode. er side of the world, at the South Pole, very low temperatures, it falls down move to the colder, partly snowy and crystals form from a liquid or a gas, in so the “branches” grow. To make these, I use electricity to ciety, including in the Xinxin’s image has just been selected in the Antarctic. Even though Earth as snow. ice-covered Antarctica. This way he EDITOR: Katherine Donnelly hat, at first glance, might ap- this case water vapour in the air, when The gold crystals in my picture have place gold in this dendritic crystal form important area of med- as the Christmas card image for the UK is warming and ice is disappearing, Although Antarctica will face more will also make many new penguin pear to be pretty snow covered the temperature is low. It happens when been placed, using electricity, onto an onto the electrode. This allows me to ical diagnosis and moni- Royal Microscopy Society. snow still falls in Antarctica. In fact, snowfall in the future, it will not be friends! DESIGN: Susan McClean Wbranches of the Christmas tree, a tiny particle of dust or pollen in the air electrode, a conductor of electricity that produce porous and interconnecting toring and maintaining health. in recent decades snowfall has even spared from partial snow and ice melt. INM Design Studio, Belfast are actually crystals of gold. I used a comes into contact with water vapour, allows electric current to flow through structures similar to birds’ nests, which, The process could, for instance, be Xinxin Xiao is an Irish increased. Scientists forecast that with East Antarctica is already experienc- very high powered microscope, called a which coats the particle and freezes into non-metal objects. of course, are made from twigs. used to provide us with information about ✱Research Council scholar at every additional degree Celsius tem- ing sea ice melting and glacial ice Sabrina Renken is an Irish Published by Independent Newspapers Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to a tiny crystal of ice. This tiny crystal is the Understanding how to grow these Understanding how to do this properly physiological processes, such as the the Materials and Surface Science perature increase on Earth, Antarctica retreat. However, in contrast with the ✱Research Council scholar (Ireland) Limited, take this picture. seed from which a snowflake will grow. branch-like crystals is very important has lots of implications and uses for so- blood glucose concentration of diabetics. Institute, University of Limerick could experience 5pc more snowfall. North Pole, where many animals are and PhD student in the Geology 27-32 Talbot Street, Dublin 1 The increased snowfall is possible, losing their place to live, at the South Department, Trinity College Dublin

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