When you hear the word “barometric pressure,” what comes to mind? If you’re like most people, it’s probably something like this: high barometric pressure is good, and low barometric pressure is bad. However, that’s not really all there is to know about barometric pressure. The other things you probably don’t know about it are these: What types of barometric pressures are there? How does barometric pressure affect your day-to-day life? Is there a difference between high and low barometric pressure? Keep reading to find out!
What Is Considered High Barometric Pressure?
High barometric pressure is a reading that exceeds the normal range of 29.53 inches of mercury (inHg) to 31.00 inHg. Barometric pressure is measured by a barometer, which is a device that measures the pressure in the atmosphere as well as the weight of the atmosphere above us.
How Does Barometric Pressure Affect You?
It Affects Your Weather
The weather is affected by the pressure of the air. When the air is at a higher altitude, it has more weight and therefore creates more wind. This means that when you are in a place with high barometric pressure, there is more wind and therefore more precipitation.
It Affects Your Health
High barometric pressure makes you feel sick, which is why people living in low-pressure areas often complain of feeling ill. You can also get headaches or migraines from this type of pressure as well as chest pains and other ailments.
It Affects People Around You
People around you get sick when they’re exposed to high barometric pressure for too long. This means that if you live in a high-barometric-pressure area, it’s best to stay indoors as much as possible to avoid catching any illnesses from your neighbors!
It Affects Your Body Temperature
People who live in high-barometric-pressure areas tend to have higher body temperatures than those who live in low-barometric-pressure areas. There are many theories as to why this is, but the most popular one is that air is less dense at high altitudes, which allows more heat to escape from your body.
It Affects Your Circulation
The blood vessels in your body are also affected by barometric pressure. When you’re exposed to high barometric pressure, the blood vessels in your brain, heart, and other organs get smaller and smaller and can eventually be damaged. The longer you stay at a high altitude, the higher your risk of having a stroke becomes.
It Affects Your Mood
If you’re exposed to high barometric pressure for too long, it can alter your mood and make you feel depressed or anxious. This is because the pressure causes changes in the brain chemistry that make you feel like you’re goingure areas.
It Affects Your Heartbeat
High barometric pressure causes your heart to beat faster, which increases your risk of heart disease and even cardiovascular disease.
It Affects Your Immune System
People in high-barometric-pressure areas are more likely to get sick than those in low-barometric-pressure areas because their immune systems are weaker than those of people living in low-pressure areas.
It Affects the Temperature Around You
As mentioned earlier, high barometric pressure causes people to have higher body temperatures and a higher heart rate. This causes the air around you to be hotter than normal, which raises the temperature of everything else around you as well!
What Causes High Barometric Pressure?
- Weather: Overcast skies with warm air, winds blowing from the north or south, and low humidity.
- Pressure Systems: High-pressure systems develop in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and move eastward at high speed.
- Jet Stream: These are narrow bands of high-speed winds that cross the northern hemisphere every day at high altitudes. They are caused by changes in temperature and moisture over the North Pole.
- Convergence: When high pressure develops over many areas, it is called convergence. As a result, low pressure develops over other areas to suck up heat from those converged areas and create a “heat dome.”
- Tropopause: This is a layer of the atmosphere that separates the troposphere (the lowest part of the atmosphere) from the stratosphere (the uppermost part of the atmosphere). The tropopause is about 6 miles in height above Earth’s surface at sea level on Earth’s surface, but it can be as much as 60 miles in height at the poles. The troposphere is the layer of air nearest the Earth’s surface.
- Stratospheric Processes: These are processes that take place in the stratosphere, which is a layer of Earth’s atmosphere that extends from about 10 to 50 miles above Earth’s surface.
- Stratospheric Temperature Inversion: When it gets cold in the stratosphere, it can get warmer on the ground because of this temperature inversion effect. So, high pressure can lead to extreme cold and high winds can lead to extreme heat.
- Stratospheric Circulation: This is a large-scale circulation pattern that occurs within the stratosphere when heat moves from areas of low pressure to areas of high pressure and back again during each day or night. As a result, it leads to extreme weather conditions such as hot or cold spells, storms, and blizzards (snow storms).
Types Of Barometric Pressure
Absolute Barometric Pressure
Absolute barometric pressure is the pressure exerted by the weight of air outside the earth. It is measured in millibars (mb) or absolute pressure.
Relative Barometric Pressure
Relative barometric pressure is the pressure exerted by the weight of air inside a closed system, such as a building, car, or plane. It is measured in hectopascals (hPa).
Maximum and Minimum Barometric Pressure
Maximum and minimum barometric pressures are measured at sea level to determine weather conditions at various altitudes. They are measured in millibars (mb) or absolute pressures.
Atmospheric Pressure
Atmospheric pressure is a measure of how much force there is on an object placed above sea level at sea level in a vacuum with no other forces acting on it like wind, gravity, or buoyancy effects from water/air interactions. It is measured in millibars (mb) or absolute pressure.
Atmospheric Pressure Increase
The increase in atmospheric pressure is the change in atmospheric pressure when an object is moved from sea level to a higher altitude. It is measured in millibars (mb) or absolute pressure.
Atmospheric Pressure Decrease
The decrease in atmospheric pressure is the change in atmospheric pressure when an object is moved from a higher altitude to sea level. It is measured in millibars (mb) or absolute pressure.
Atmospheric Pressure Difference
The atmospheric pressure difference is the change in atmospheric pressure when an object is moved from sea level to a higher altitude. It is measured in millibars (mb) or absolute pressure.
Atmospheric Pressure Index
The atmospheric pressure index (API) is one of the most commonly used measures of air quality. It takes the instantaneous value of air temperature and relative humidity into account to determine a specific percent change in the amount of pollutants present in the atmosphere. The API can then be used to predict whether a pollutant will increase, decrease, or remain constant as conditions change over time. It is measured in millibars (mb) or absolute pressure.
Final Words
Barometric pressure is the force exerted by the atmosphere against the Earth’s surface; it is measured in millibars (mb) or inches of mercury (Hg). It can also be used as an indicator for health and weather forecasting. Depending on the weather, barometric pressure can change quite drastically; this is why it’s important to understand what it is and what it means. Barometric pressure is measured in millibars (mb) or inches of mercury (Hg).
FAQ’s
How is barometric pressure measured?
Barometric pressure is measured using an aneroid barometer. The aneroid barometer is a device that measures air pressure with a mercury column. A small hole in the top of the device allows air to pass through, and the column of mercury moves with it.
How does barometric pressure affect weather?
Barometric pressure affects many things in nature, including weather forecasting. When there is a change in barometric pressure, changes occur in temperature and humidity; these changes cause different weather conditions to occur, such as rain, fog, or snow. Barometric pressure also affects how much water evaporates from the Earth’s surface; if the Earth were completely covered by water, then meteorologists could predict rainfall by measuring the amount of water on the surface at any given time. But since there is always some water on the surface, meteorologists use barometric pressure to predict rainfall.
What does barometric pressure mean?
Barometric pressure is measured in millibars (mb) or inches of mercury (Hg). The abbreviation for millibar is “mb”; the abbreviation for inches of mercury is “Hg”.
