Facebook Pixel Can we forecast weather precisely? | The Island - newspaper - Lees dit verhaal op Magzter.com

Poging GOUD - Vrij

Can we forecast weather precisely?

The Island

|

December 05, 2025

Weather forecasts are useful. People attentively listen to them but complain that they go wrong or are not taken seriously. Forecasts today are more probabilistically reliable than decades ago. The advancement of atmospheric science, satellite imaging, radar maps and instantly updated databases has improved the art of predicting weather.

- BY Pror. KIRTHI TENNAKONE (KTENNA@YAHOO.CO.UK)

Yet can we predict weather patterns precisely? A branch of mathematics known as chaos theory says that weather can never be foretold with certainty.

The classical mechanics of Issac Newton governing the motion of all forms of matter, solid, liquid or gaseous, is a deterministic theory. If the initial conditions are known, the behaviour of the system at later instants of time can be precisely predicted. Based on this theory, occurrences of solar eclipses a century later have been predicted to an accuracy of minutes and seconds.

The thinking that the mechanical behaviour of systems in nature could always be accurately predicted based on their state at a previous instant of time was shaken by the work of the genius French Mathematician Henri Poincare (18641902).

MEER VERHALEN VAN The Island

The Island

When the self-righteous turn unspeakably brutal

Only about 35 crew members of an Iranian frigate survived a torpedo attack by the US, off Galle, on Wednesday.

time to read

2 mins

March 06, 2026

The Island

Library crisis hits Pera university

Library facilities at the University of Peradeniya have been suspended, with main libraries across seven faculties remaining closed, disrupting academic activities of students.

time to read

1 min

March 06, 2026

The Island

'IRIS Dena was Indian Navy guest, hit without warning', Iran warns US of bitter regret

A day after a US submarine sunk an Iranian Navy warship off the coast of Sri Lanka, the Foreign Minister of Iran, Sayed Abbas Araghchi, has warned that the US would “pay bitterly” for targeting a ship in international waters, The Tribune has reported.

time to read

2 mins

March 06, 2026

The Island

Female lawyer given 12 years RI for preparing forged deeds for Borella land

A female attorney-at-law convicted of preparing forged deeds relating to a land in Borella was yesterday sentenced to 12 years rigorous imprisonment by the Colombo High Court.

time to read

1 min

March 06, 2026

The Island

Iran to allow only Chinese vessels through Strait of Hormuz: Sources

The Strait, which provides the Persian Gulf ports access to the open sea, is a key chokepoint that Iran has blocked since the conflict began

time to read

2 mins

March 06, 2026

The Island

Sinking of Iranian ship: Government abides by International Law: Jayatissa

Another Iranian vessel in Lanka’s exclusive economic zone

time to read

2 mins

March 06, 2026

The Island

The Island

Silence is not protection: Rethinking sexual education in Sri Lanka

Sexual education is a vital component of holistic education, contributing to physical health, emotional well-being, gender equality, and social responsibility.

time to read

5 mins

March 06, 2026

The Island

University of Wolverhampton confirms Ranil was officially invited

University of Wolverhampton has confirmed that it invited Ranil Wickremesinghe in his capacity as President to attend the awarding of Honourary Professorship to First Lady Maithree Wickremesinghe and join graduation lunch on 22 September, 2023.

time to read

1 min

March 06, 2026

The Island

The Island

End of 'Western Civilisation'?

When I wrote in this column an essay on 4th February 2026 titled, the 'Beginning of Another 'White Supremacist' World Order?', my focus was on the hypocrisy of Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney's Davos address on 20 January 2026 to the World Economic Forum.

time to read

6 mins

March 06, 2026

The Island

Risk of power cuts due to use of low-quality coal, PUCSL warns

The Public Utilities Commission of Sri Lanka (PUCSL) has warned of a possible risk of power cuts due to the use of inferior quality coal affecting generation capacity at the Lakvijaya Power Plant, according to a recent commission report.

time to read

1 mins

March 06, 2026

Listen

Translate

Share

-
+

Change font size