Author Archives: Stephen Burt

Exploring the impact of the Atlantic Multidecadal Variability (AMV)

Posted on 4 December, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Dan Hodson After 140 years of observations, we now know that the temperature of the surface of the Atlantic ocean slowly varied over time, cooling and warming over periods of decades (Figure 1). These slow variations in temperature sit … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Numerical modelling, Oceans | Tagged | Leave a comment

Domestic implications of climate science

Posted on 27 November, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Jonathan Gregory I’m a climate scientist. I’ve been working in climate change research since 1990. During those years scientific information has become ever more detailed and convincing regarding the magnitude of climate change in both the past and the … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Greenhouse gases | Tagged | Leave a comment

Heat waves of the past decade in Chinese mega-cities: a quick review

Posted on 20 November, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Ting Sun Although cities are often already warmer than their rural surroundings (the well-known “urban heat island” effect), heat waves (HWs), excessively hot periods, will not only enhance the urban and rural temperatures but also exacerbate the contrast between … Continue reading →

Posted in China, Climate, Climate change, Environmental hazards, Waves | Tagged | Leave a comment

Abrupt climate change at the Royal Meteorological Society

Posted on 13 November, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Joy Singarayer Recently I was excited to be invited to attend and talk at a Royal Meteorological Society meeting in London on abrupt climate change since the last ice age. The scope of the meeting was to highlight mechanisms … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Conferences, Royal Meteorological Society | Leave a comment

The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP)

Posted on 6 November, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Charlie Williams The Undergraduate Research Opportunities Programme (UROP) is a scheme run by Careers at the University of Reading, enabling undergraduate students in the middle of their degree to work alongside an academic and gain hands-on research experience. They … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Monsoons, University of Reading | Tagged | Leave a comment

Simulating the effect of electrical charge on cloud drops using Direct Numerical Simulation

Posted on 30 October, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Torsten Auerswald In the atmosphere, clouds develop when water vapour condenses leading to the formation of cloud drops. This process is usually supported by the presence of condensation nuclei which allow drop formation at low supersaturations. Aerosol particles in the … Continue reading →

Posted in Aerosols, Climate | Tagged | Leave a comment

Forecasting the Indian monsoon

Posted on 23 October, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Arathy Menon The South Asian monsoon, which brings rainfall to India and the neighbouring countries during the boreal summer season, is a major atmospheric circulation system. India receives more than 80% of its annual rainfall during the monsoon season, generally … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate modelling, Monsoons, Numerical modelling, Seasonal forecasting | Leave a comment

Recent progress on decadal prediction in the North Atlantic

Posted on 16 October, 2017 by Stephen Burt

by Jon Robson The North Atlantic is a region of the Earth that is characterised by pronounced multi-decadal variability in surface temperatures – a phenomenon that has become known as Atlantic Multi-decadal Variability (AMV, see Sutton et al for a … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Oceans | Tagged | Leave a comment

Without the Tibetan Plateau, what would happen to the Asian summer monsoons?

Posted on 9 October, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Mike Wong The Tibetan Plateau is the highest and most extensive plateau in the world, with an average elevation exceeding 4000 metres and stretching over 2.5 million square kilometres. While it is often called the ‘rooftop of the world’, … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate modelling, Monsoons, Numerical modelling | Leave a comment

Can we use future data to improve our knowledge of the ocean?

Posted on 11 September, 2017 by Stephen Burt

By Chris Thomas An interesting problem in climate science is working out what happened in the world’s oceans in the last century. How did the temperature change, where were the currents strongest, and how much ice was there at the … Continue reading →

Posted in Climate, Climate modelling, Oceans | Tagged | Leave a comment