ffwhite | East versus West, in many parts (part 2)

Many who have spent a portion of their adult lives in the northeast notice social differences when they end up working in the west. But there is a more fundamental difference, and it has to do with the earth, the wind, and how continents and oceans affect our lives.

The weather

As Stephen Fry pointed out during his road-trip across the United States, the rain on the east coast is dramatically unlike the rain in England, even though it rains in England very often. Rain on the west coast is similarly soft unless a big tropical storm is sweeping up from the equator. In the west, snow is something that predominantly exists at high altitudes, to which we travel for recreation and from which our fresh water is collected as the snow melts each year. It is foggy on the coast and dry inland, and the reasons for this have to do with the direction the earth rotates and how the sun shines upon it. You see, prevailing wind currents follow a general pattern, with slow warm winds traveling east and towards the poles near the equator, and swifter cool winds traveling west and back towards the equator the closer to the poles you get. Illustrated, generally wind currents on follow this pattern:

Now, this means the wind on the west coast mostly comes off the ocean, which is cool, and from the southerly climes, which is warm. In general, this means mild temperatures and air that isn't polluted as oceans have very few factories, power plants, and geothermal vents to "enrich" them. This also means the air is clear, so the sun shines very bright, leading to an abundance of solar power opportunities, but also less ground water and almost no snow year-round at lower altitudes.

Perhaps one of the reasons north-easterners have a reputation for being all business is a response to their climate. They are in the path of winds that are also eastward, but to the west lies a large continent from which these winds have gathered moisture and pollutants. It is highly influenced by the seasonal solar conditions, so it is hot and humid in the summer, and cold and snowy in the winter. During interim seasons, there is a respite, but with occasional thunderstorms (like the one last week) that can drop over a foot of water in a matter of days. In the east, during inclement weather, it is not comfortable to sit still - people may greet you on the street, but most everyone has somewhere they need to be and don't want to linger in the bitter cold or stifling heat. The advantage to this is an abundance of fresh-water springs, lakes, and massive rivers that fill with the rainfall and snow, and evaporate slowly because of the high humidity. Fresh water in the east is a fantastic boon, and during the warm season, plant life is as thick and green as it is in the tropics. The sun quality is somewhat diminished, however, so solar energy solutions are less efficient and the northeastern winters can be accurately described as dark.

To the unacquainted observer, it may seem that the east is less pleasant than the west, and there is some truth to that, but this is a condition that is largely due to human living and life. I never understood the charm of christmas decorations, with their gay colors and lights, until I saw them on a house covered and surrounded by snow that had been so for months. Outside of the northwestern rain forests, there is almost nothing on the west coast that rivals the forests of the east. That King and Lovecraft write of them as dense, even sinister, miles upon miles of trees is because they can obscure entire towns in their midst. However, nothing can rival the sun in the west (which is shared by western europe and pacific islands as well) as it is mild and bright all the time. The hills spend half the year golden-brown with dry grass and shrubs, and wildfires are a constant threat. Yet I still love the light here, and the fresh scent of the air from the Pacific.

- Forest F. White