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Wind power could make ground warmer, study finds

419 views · Published 7 November 2018 · 1:01 · Indexed 6 October 2026

Channel: News Direct · 2018 · Education

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A new Harvard study simulated the effects of switching the country's entire power grid to wind power to look at the effect turbines have on local temperature.

Wind turbines can alter local temperatures by increasing the mixing of air at and above the surface, Ars Technica reports.

Researchers Lee Miller and David Keith from Harvard University used a high-resolution climate model of the United States to simulate what would happen if enough wind turbines were placed in the middle third of the country where the winds are highest to meet all current power needs.

Their results showed the continental U.S. would get warmer by about 0.2 degrees Celsius on average, while the regions with the wind-turbines would warm by around 0.5 degrees Celsius. The study was published in the journal Joule.

The study found that temperature fluctuations are greater at night and smaller during the day because surface warming and Sun driven convection are greater than the effect of the wind turbines.

At night when the air is calmer, wind turbines mix warmer air down toward the cooling surface.

An important point is that the wind turbines are not generating heat, rather they are moving existing heat around.

Greenhouse gases from fossil fuels on the other hand continually accumulate and last for centuries.

RUNDOWN SHOWS:
1. U.S. power supplied by only wind and its effects on temperature
2. Study found continental U.S. would warm by 0.2 degrees Celsius, while wind turbine regions would warm by 0.5 degrees Celsius
3. Temperature fluctuations were greater in night than day
4. Wind farm

VOICEOVER (in English):
"A new Harvard study by Lee Miller and David Keith simulated the effects of switching the country's entire power grid to wind power to look at the effect turbines have on local temperature."

"Their results showed the continental U.S. would get warmer by about 0.2 degrees Celsius on average, while the regions with the wind-turbines would warm by around 0.5 degrees Celsius."

"Temperature fluctuations would be are greater at night and smaller during the day because surface warming and Sun driven convection are greater than the effect of the wind turbines. At night when the air is calmer, wind turbines mix warmer air down toward the cooling surface."

"An important point is that the wind turbines are not generating heat, rather they are moving existing heat around."

SOURCES: Ars Technica, Forbes
https://arstechnica.com/science/2018/10/wind-power-helps-limit-global-warming-but-causes-some-local-warming/
https://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelmarshalleurope/2018/10/05/no-wind-farms-are-not-causing-global-warming/#11024aa6f8ce

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Wind power could make ground warmer, study finds

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