Which risk increased when 18th-century navigators relied heavily on astronomical observations using sextants, under persistently cloudy night sky conditions?

💡 Explanation

Increased cloud cover obstructs celestial sightings, therefore navigators heavily relied on dead reckoning which is a process of estimating position based on prior course and speed, rather than celestial observations. Dead reckoning relies on previous estimated location, leading to accumulated error.

• Which mechanical principle allowed early steam engines to pump water from deep mines?
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• Which risk increased for the Byzantine Empire when tributary payments failed to reach frontier allies?
• Which outcome occurs if a shipwright alters the deadrise angle of a 17th-century sailing vessel during construction?
• Regarding Byzantine patterned silk textile production, decreased sericulture leads which outcome?
• Which risk increases when irrigation canal soil experiences repeated saturation/desiccation cycles in the Indus Valley?