Listen to this PodcastMore 60-Second Earth
"I wandered lonely as a cloud" o'er fields of scientific inquiry, with nary a precise understanding, of all my complex processes. Or words to that effect (apologies to Wordsworth).
You might forgive atmospheric scientists for having their heads in the clouds. After all, seemingly simple, fluffy clouds actually involve a complex interplay of fluid dynamics, turbulence, convection and mixing that changes depending on whether one looks at larger or smaller scales.
Perhaps that's why scientific understanding of clouds has not advanced as much as might be expected. As geophysicists point out in the February 18 issue of Science, we still cannot definitively answer questions posed more than 50 years ago in a similar essay on cloud physics.
These issues are more important than just developing a better understanding of precipitation. That's because inconstant, perplexing clouds play a major role in climate change, both trapping heat and reflecting sunlight.
Fortunately, new lab facilities dedicated to the study of clouds will soon wrest that field from poets, the geophysicists argue. And perhaps refine our understanding of whether a cloudy day is indeed, as Shelley called it, " sunbeam-proof."
—David Biello
See what we're tweeting about
6 Comments
Add Commentim afraid the download link is invalid now...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe guy that writes a formula to simulate clouds will surely get a Nobel prize. Daunting...
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI always had a doubt: do clouds have a living things-let's say bacteria and algae- population of their own? Anybody knowing the answer?
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere is some evidence that bacterial particles contribute to cloud formation by providing surfaces for water to condense onto. As far as clouds having populations exclusive or nearly exclusive to them, I have no idea, but I have to think that anything living in clouds must have a way to survive on the ground too because of it getting rained out all the time.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisyou have got to be kidding me. LOOK UP! They could create clouds by the 50's. When someone accidently combined nickle with the solution they were working with. Teslas skyshield is well underway. What else could these 'THOUSANDS OF WHITE JETS BE CRISSCROSSING ALL OVER OUR SKIES EACH DAY. So much for this site (TOO BAD ART BELL!, THEY GOT YOU)
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisYou have got to be kidding.LOOK UP! They discovered the components of clouds in the 50"s when nickle was accidentley placed in with other elements they were working with. Tesla's shield has been in operation for the last 4 years or so. WHAT ELSE COULD THE THOUSANDS OF WHITE JETS BE SPEWING OUT OVER OUR SKIES EACH DAYLooks like this site has been hijacked too, what a shame ART BELL!>
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this