baroclinic instability

noun

meteorology

: an imbalance in the levels of pressure and density in a fluid that is one of the mechanisms determining the behavior of the earth's atmosphere

The instability that causes these particular disturbances is called a baroclinic instability which occurs when the latitudinal temperature differences become too large.

—James B. Pollack, The New Solar System, 1981

Word History

First Known Use

1959, in the meaning defined above

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