Little Cloud drifted toward the clouds.
Then all the clouds changed into one big cloud and
rained!
from Little Cloud
written and illustrated by Eric Carle
Philomel, 1996
Part of my grandson’s fascination with clouds comes from his keen interest in weather phenomena, especially severe weather: hurricanes; tornadoes; cyclones. He got himself a small notebook that fit in his pocket and started studying clouds. He drew pictures of them and collected all his notes in one place.
He learned about different cloud formations and what kinds of weather they would bring. Needless to say, I was more than a little impressed with the quality of illustrated information and at least as impressed by the idea of the notebook itself.
So when I heard an article on “Living on Earth,” last Saturday, I knew I had my topic. First thing I learned is how complex clouds are. Very. While they are all composed of either water droplets or ice crystals, cloud formation, height, size, and color are all important.
In 1803, meteorologist Luke Howard classified clouds into four core types.
High-level clouds are white and delicate. Ice crystals gather to form cirrocumulus and cirrostratus. They glow in splendid sunsets.
Mid-level clouds are usually made of water droplets. Altocumulus are the most common. Many different layers can appear at the same time and cover much of the sky. Altostratus are gray and layered. Sometimes, you can see streaks of rain (virga) in the distance, hanging diagonally from the cloud and even reaching the ground. Nimbostratus are thick enough to blot out the sun. They are ragged and full of rain or snow. They fall lower to the ground as the rain or snow continues.
Low-level clouds are also made of water droplets. Cumulous clouds puff up like cauliflower on otherwise clear days, but cumulonimbus are thunderstorm clouds. They can also produce hail and tornadoes. Stratocumulus clouds are gray and honeycombed. They might look like rain is on the way, but most likely, it is not. Stratus clouds can produce drizzle, ice prisms (sleet), or snow grains (small hail).
Our current climate crisis is an energy imbalance. It is defined as a physics problem where more energy is entering our planet than leaving it.
Jennifer Francis is an atmospheric scientist conducting her research at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. (woodwellclimate.org)
In her interview on "Living on Earth," Dr. Francis explained that shrinking ice coverage exposes darker ground and absorbs more heat, adding to global warming. Here’s a paradox, though. Cleaner air reduces the toxic haze of tiny airborne particles that reflect light. So cleaner air allows more sunshine to reach the ground, too.
The white sands of deserts reflect energy back to the atmosphere. So do the massive ice sheets. City sidewalks, light-colored rooftops, and buildings do too, to a lesser degree.
In an ideal world, the energy being absorbed by dark, rich farm soil, trees, crops, and plants using the sun’s energy for photosynthesis, and even asphalt would balance out the amount reflected.
But, Earth is out of balance.
Low, thick clouds, the cumulo-forms, reflect light. High, thin clouds transmit incoming solar radiation, and, at the same time, trap some of the infrared radiation, warming Earth’s surface even more.
The balance between clouds’ effective heating and cooling depends on how high a cloud is, how big, and what it’s made of, ice or water. And what is under them.
NASA scientists discovered the gap in our energy-in-energy-out equation is partially explained by clouds.
If it was only that easy.
The scientists used satellites to measure wavelengths of energy coming from different cloud formations floating over different surfaces and marked the change over time.
They discovered that clouds made of water droplets have a much stronger influence on the energy that is trapped or absorbed than those made of ice crystals. Those that blanket the sky are good at reflecting sunlight back to outer space.
But their study also suggests that cloud cover is becoming less, especially around the equator, due to air currents and temperature changes, so more light is getting through our atmosphere and adding to the warming.
Dr. Francis confirms that “the last couple years were the warmest on record for the earth, probably going back 120,000 years…”
She adds that the cuts to NOAA and NASA, agencies heavily involved in interpreting data from their satellites, are concerning. Their scientists help us learn how much worse our climate crisis will get, where the most severe storms are occurring, and how we humans can intervene.
By cutting funding to these agencies, we are less able to predict weather patterns and less able to give people time to prepare or move out of a storm’s path.
Keeping all this in the back of my mind, I choose to concentrate on the next generation and the one after that. Those kids who draw pictures of clouds and fill notebooks with scientific information. The ones who put into practice what they’ve learned and show the rest of us how to follow their lead.
I’m reading The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult (Emily Bestler Books/Atria, 2013). The granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor learns that her neighbor was a Nazi war criminal. My takeaway is a clearer understanding of the power of Story, that we are all storytellers, and everyone’s story is an important piece of a cohesive society. WARNING: Graphic violence is depicted throughout, but especially in the grandmother’s memories of her time in Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Recommended.
Be curious! (and keep looking up)
Then all the clouds changed into one big cloud and
rained!
from Little Cloud
written and illustrated by Eric Carle
Philomel, 1996
Part of my grandson’s fascination with clouds comes from his keen interest in weather phenomena, especially severe weather: hurricanes; tornadoes; cyclones. He got himself a small notebook that fit in his pocket and started studying clouds. He drew pictures of them and collected all his notes in one place.
He learned about different cloud formations and what kinds of weather they would bring. Needless to say, I was more than a little impressed with the quality of illustrated information and at least as impressed by the idea of the notebook itself.
So when I heard an article on “Living on Earth,” last Saturday, I knew I had my topic. First thing I learned is how complex clouds are. Very. While they are all composed of either water droplets or ice crystals, cloud formation, height, size, and color are all important.
In 1803, meteorologist Luke Howard classified clouds into four core types.
- Cirro-form high, whitish, and wispy clouds made of ice crystals.
- Cumulo-form puffy with sharp outlines and usually a flat bottom. These are the ones that look like bunnies and butterflies.
- Strato-form broad and flat, like a blanket with scattered edges.
- Nimbo-form a combination of all three. Gray, heavy, and portend rain.
High-level clouds are white and delicate. Ice crystals gather to form cirrocumulus and cirrostratus. They glow in splendid sunsets.
Mid-level clouds are usually made of water droplets. Altocumulus are the most common. Many different layers can appear at the same time and cover much of the sky. Altostratus are gray and layered. Sometimes, you can see streaks of rain (virga) in the distance, hanging diagonally from the cloud and even reaching the ground. Nimbostratus are thick enough to blot out the sun. They are ragged and full of rain or snow. They fall lower to the ground as the rain or snow continues.
Low-level clouds are also made of water droplets. Cumulous clouds puff up like cauliflower on otherwise clear days, but cumulonimbus are thunderstorm clouds. They can also produce hail and tornadoes. Stratocumulus clouds are gray and honeycombed. They might look like rain is on the way, but most likely, it is not. Stratus clouds can produce drizzle, ice prisms (sleet), or snow grains (small hail).
Our current climate crisis is an energy imbalance. It is defined as a physics problem where more energy is entering our planet than leaving it.
Jennifer Francis is an atmospheric scientist conducting her research at the Woodwell Climate Research Center. (woodwellclimate.org)
In her interview on "Living on Earth," Dr. Francis explained that shrinking ice coverage exposes darker ground and absorbs more heat, adding to global warming. Here’s a paradox, though. Cleaner air reduces the toxic haze of tiny airborne particles that reflect light. So cleaner air allows more sunshine to reach the ground, too.
The white sands of deserts reflect energy back to the atmosphere. So do the massive ice sheets. City sidewalks, light-colored rooftops, and buildings do too, to a lesser degree.
In an ideal world, the energy being absorbed by dark, rich farm soil, trees, crops, and plants using the sun’s energy for photosynthesis, and even asphalt would balance out the amount reflected.
But, Earth is out of balance.
Low, thick clouds, the cumulo-forms, reflect light. High, thin clouds transmit incoming solar radiation, and, at the same time, trap some of the infrared radiation, warming Earth’s surface even more.
The balance between clouds’ effective heating and cooling depends on how high a cloud is, how big, and what it’s made of, ice or water. And what is under them.
NASA scientists discovered the gap in our energy-in-energy-out equation is partially explained by clouds.
If it was only that easy.
The scientists used satellites to measure wavelengths of energy coming from different cloud formations floating over different surfaces and marked the change over time.
They discovered that clouds made of water droplets have a much stronger influence on the energy that is trapped or absorbed than those made of ice crystals. Those that blanket the sky are good at reflecting sunlight back to outer space.
But their study also suggests that cloud cover is becoming less, especially around the equator, due to air currents and temperature changes, so more light is getting through our atmosphere and adding to the warming.
Dr. Francis confirms that “the last couple years were the warmest on record for the earth, probably going back 120,000 years…”
She adds that the cuts to NOAA and NASA, agencies heavily involved in interpreting data from their satellites, are concerning. Their scientists help us learn how much worse our climate crisis will get, where the most severe storms are occurring, and how we humans can intervene.
By cutting funding to these agencies, we are less able to predict weather patterns and less able to give people time to prepare or move out of a storm’s path.
Keeping all this in the back of my mind, I choose to concentrate on the next generation and the one after that. Those kids who draw pictures of clouds and fill notebooks with scientific information. The ones who put into practice what they’ve learned and show the rest of us how to follow their lead.
I’m reading The Storyteller by Jodi Picoult (Emily Bestler Books/Atria, 2013). The granddaughter of a Holocaust survivor learns that her neighbor was a Nazi war criminal. My takeaway is a clearer understanding of the power of Story, that we are all storytellers, and everyone’s story is an important piece of a cohesive society. WARNING: Graphic violence is depicted throughout, but especially in the grandmother’s memories of her time in Auschwitz Concentration Camp. Recommended.
Be curious! (and keep looking up)
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