Category Archives: Atmospheric chemistry

Are There Climate Consequences of Using Hydrogen as a Replacement for Coal, Gas and Oil?

By: Keith Shine There are many possible avenues to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. One of these is a shift to using hydrogen (H2) as a fuel source; it could potentially be used for many current CO2-emitting activities, including industry, heating … Continue reading

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UKESM1 ready to use and in production for CMIP6

By: Till Kuhlbrodt Development of the UK Earth System Model (UKESM1) has reached a major milestone. After six years of work on the model (see my earlier blog post here) the UKESM core group, and other scientists, are now running … Continue reading

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Smoke, science, and sharks

By Ross Herbert In the August of 2017 the Cloud-Aerosol-Radiation Interactions and Forcing – Year 2017 (CLARIFY) measurement campaign took place on a tiny island in the middle of the southeast Atlantic Ocean where we were surrounded by whales, sharks, … Continue reading

Posted in Atlantic, Atmospheric chemistry, Atmospheric circulation, Atmospheric optics, Climate, Climate change, Climate modelling, Clouds, Data collection, earth observation, Energy budget, Environmental hazards, Greenhouse gases, Measurements and instrumentation, Microphysics, Numerical modelling, Solar radiation, Weather forecasting, Wind | Tagged | Leave a comment

Why was the sky Orange?

By William Davies I was sitting in my house one morning in October 2017, engrossed in what I was doing. Gradually I noticed that an eerie darkness was smothering the natural light in the room. I stopped and looked outside. … Continue reading

Posted in Aerosols, Atmospheric chemistry, Atmospheric optics, Climate, Climate modelling, earth observation, Environmental hazards, Numerical modelling, Remote sensing, University of Reading | Leave a comment

Characteristics of cumulus population and microphysical properties observed over Southeast Atlantic

By Yann Blanchard Figure 1. Cumulus in the vicinity of Ascension Island, in a 100 x 100km image (which is close to global climate model spatial resolution) from MODIS onboard AQUA (22 July 2016) Shallow cumulus cover large areas in … Continue reading

Posted in Aerosols, Atlantic, Atmospheric chemistry, Climate modelling, earth observation, Numerical modelling, Oceans, Remote sensing, Solar radiation, University of Reading | Leave a comment

What’s the secret of coarse dust?

By Claire Ryder Mineral dust aerosol particles are regularly lifted into the atmosphere in arid regions, such as deserts, and transported over thousands of kilometres by the wind, such as from the Sahara desert to the Caribbean Sea, as shown … Continue reading

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Hidden in the clouds

By Nicolas Bellouin Our atmosphere contains varying amounts of tiny liquid or solid particles called aerosols. Some aerosols have a natural origin, like the mineral dust particles that form sandstorms, or the sea spray emitted by breaking waves. Other aerosols … Continue reading

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Is the Montreal Protocol really working?

By Michaela Hegglin The Montreal Protocol, which celebrated its 30th birthday last year, is an international treaty established in 1987 to protect the ozone layer from human-made ozone depleting substances. The Montreal Protocol has been hailed as the most effective … Continue reading

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The Role of Synoptic Meteorology on UK Air Pollution

By Chris Webber In the past year the issue of air pollution within the UK has been elevated, driven by the loss of life that it causes (in 2013 > 500,000 years of UK lives lost due to air pollution … Continue reading

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Time scales of atmospheric circulation response to CO2 forcing

By Paulo Ceppi An important question in current climate change research is, how will atmospheric circulation change as the climate warms? When simulating future climate scenarios, models commonly predict a shift of the midlatitude circulation to higher latitudes in both … Continue reading

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