How Avalanches Happen
In How Avalanches Happen, narrator Richard Hammond explains how when the power of an avalanche is unleashed, most people never see it coming. As scientists learn more about what happens between individual snowflakes in the snow pack, they can better understand what happens leading up to an avalanche and save lives. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Invisible Worlds, which uncovers the hidden forces and unseen phenomena shaping our world.
Lesson Express
Q: How does an avalanche demonstrate that small things can be deadly?
A: Avalanches are made from small snowflakes, but how the snowflakes behave before and during an avalanche makes them deadly.
Q: What happens when snow in the pack melts and refreezes?
A: The bonds between snowflakes are weakened.
Q: What makes avalanches so dangerous? How are scientists helping address this?
A: We cannot see the risk; we cannot see how weak or strong the ice pack is; scientists are using technology to measure the strength of the various layers.
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In More Than a Simple Snowflake, Professor Brian Cox explains that while every iceberg has a different shape, they are each made up of tiny hexagonal snowflakes. As snowflakes fall through the sky, electromagnetic forces draw them together. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Forces of Nature, which combines some of the most spectacular sights on Earth with what we know about the Universe to reveal how the Earth’s beauty is created by just a few forces.
In More Than a Simple Snowflake, Professor Brian Cox explains that while every iceberg has a different shape, they are each made up of tiny hexagonal snowflakes. As snowflakes fall through the sky, electromagnetic forces draw them together. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Forces of Nature, which combines some of the most spectacular sights on Earth with what we know about the Universe to reveal how the Earth’s beauty is created by just a few forces.