Which scientist is credited with pioneering the understanding of extra-tropical cyclones?

Which scientist is credited with pioneering the understanding of extra-tropical cyclones?

• A. Erik the Red
• B. Vilhelm Bjerknes
• C. Louis Pasteur
• D. Gaspard Gustave de Coriolis

Answer: (B)

Understanding how mid-latitude storms form and are forecast is the idea here. Vilhelm Bjerknes and the Bergen School showed that extra-tropical cyclones arise from interactions between warm and cold air masses along fronts, and that their development and movement could be predicted from synoptic-scale patterns on weather maps. This connected weather to large-scale atmospheric processes and laid the groundwork for modern forecasting. The other figures contributed to very different areas: the Coriolis work explains how Earth's rotation deflects moving air, Erik the Red was a Norse explorer, and Pasteur advanced microbiology, not the understanding of mid-latitude storms.

Understanding how mid-latitude storms form and are forecast is the idea here. Vilhelm Bjerknes and the Bergen School showed that extra-tropical cyclones arise from interactions between warm and cold air masses along fronts, and that their development and movement could be predicted from synoptic-scale patterns on weather maps. This connected weather to large-scale atmospheric processes and laid the groundwork for modern forecasting. The other figures contributed to very different areas: the Coriolis work explains how Earth's rotation deflects moving air, Erik the Red was a Norse explorer, and Pasteur advanced microbiology, not the understanding of mid-latitude storms.