Abstract
MY objection to Mr. Deeley's suggestion (NATURE, December 16, p. 502) that cyclones are caused by an access of warmth in the stratosphere is that in that case the troposphere ought to bulge upwards over the cyclone, whereas, in fact, it bulges downwards. The inversion at the boundary renders it certain that the interchange of air between the troposphere and the stratosphere is very slow, and for the few days of the life of a cyclone we may, to get a clear idea, imagine a light but impermeable film to exist at the boundary. If a patch of air above the film were warmed by any means it would expand outwards and reduce the weight on the film, which should, in consequence, rise. If, on the other hand, the film were drawn downwards, the temperature of the air above it would rise, because each air-particle as it lost in height would come under an increased pressure, and be warmed adiabatically. If, then, the air is drawn outwards horizontally from a cyclone in the upper part of the troposphere, the conditions as to temperature and the position of the top of the troposphere that are known to prevail are readily explained.
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