baroclinic instability

noun

Definition of baroclinic instability

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

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The first known use of baroclinic instability was in 1959

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