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THIS PAGE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK is That a fact Can Lightning Strike the Same Place Twice? , h t r a E t u o b a s stion e u Q r e h t O ent m n And o ir v n E e h t Weather, and il n Joanne Matter w. thompson in l o c y b s n io t a r lust a Lerner Publications Company Minneapolis C o n te n t s Introduction ———— 4 Does a Ring Around the Moon Really Mean Rain or Snow Is on the Way? ———— 5 Can Lightning Strike the Same Place Twice? ———— 6 Is It True That You Can Dig a Hole from One Side of Earth to the Other? ———— 8 Is It Safe to Go Outside While the Eye of a Hurricane Is Passing over Your Home? ———— 10 Can People Be Swallowed Up by a Crack in the Earth during an Earthquake? ———— 12 Should You Open Windows in a House to Prevent Damage during a Tornado? ———— 14 Are Forest Fires Is It True That Really Always Bad? ———— 16 No Two Snowflakes Are Alike? ———— 18 Can You Really Use Moss Growing on a Tree to Tell You in Which Direction You Are Going? ———— 20 Is It True That Water Drains in a Different Direction in Each Hemisphere? ———— 22 Can You Tell How Far Away a Storm Is by Counting the Seconds Between a Flash of Lightning and a Roll of Thunder? ———— 24 Is It True That the Great Wall of China Is the Only Human-Made Object You Can See from Space? ———— 26 If a Groundhog Sees Its Shadow, Will There Really Be Six More Weeks of Winter? ———— 28 Earth Is Running Out of Landfill Space? ———— 30 Is It True That Does Earth’s Distance from the Sun Really Cause the Seasons? ———— 32 Is It True That You Can Tell What the Temperature Is by Counting a Cricket’s Chirps? ———— 34 Is It True That All Deserts Are Hot? ———— 36 Glossary 38 Selected Bibliography Further Reading Index 40 39 38 Introduction Pe rh a p s rd ea h e v ’ u o y th e s e s g n i y a s n o m m t o u c o b a s f e el i or b nd a , r e h t a Ea r th , we n m en t: o th e envi r e the ik r t s ’t n a c Lightning twice! Earth is ce pace! s same pla ll fi d n la ut of running o true? s g in y a s s? hese t e r a t the storie u d B in h e b se cience ny s plore the x e e Is there a w s a g with us n lo a t whether u e o m d in Co F . re ry s and mo f e li e hear eve b u ld o o y s g in s and say ie r o t s e h t or e r a or day FAct FAct ! n o i ffict iction! 4 Ring Around the M oon Really M ean R ain o r Snow Is on the Way? Does a Yes, it often means that wet weather is coming. To understand why, you need to know what causes the ring. The ring you sometimes see around the moon is not a real ring, like the ones around the planet Saturn. It is caused by moonlight shining on a type of cloud called cirrostratus. Cirrostratus clouds form very high in the atmosphere. These clouds contain ice crystals. As rays of light from the moon pass through the crystals, the rays bend at a sharp angle. From Earth, it looks as if there is a ring around the moon. So why does a ring around the moon signal that bad weather may be coming? Because cirrostratus clouds are often followed by storm clouds. it in The moon has a ring around the photo above because of the cirrostratus clouds (background image) in the night sky. Once those big, heavy storm clouds arrive, the ring will disappear. In fact, you may not be able to see the moon at all. But if you’re outside, you will soon get wet! 5 g n i n t h g i L Can e m a S e h t Strike ? e c i w T e Plac Yes, it can! M