Category Archives: Climate

The Turbulent Life Of Clouds

By: Thorwald Stein It’s been a tough summer for rain enthusiasts in Southern England, with the region having just recorded its driest July on record. But, there was no shortage of cloud: there will have been the slight probability of … Continue reading

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How would climate-change science look if it was structured “as if people mattered”?

By Ted Shepherd The scientific understanding of climate change is represented by the Assessment Reports of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), most recently its Sixth Assessment Report. IPCC Working Groups II and III deal respectively with adaptation and … Continue reading

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The Golden Age Of Radar

By: Rob Thompson One of the most frequently viewed pages on weather apps is the radar imagery. We see them on apps, websites and TV forecasts, and have done for years. But rarely do we see much about what we … Continue reading

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Density Surfaces In The Oceans

By: Remi Tailleux Below the mixed layer, shielded from direct interaction with the atmosphere, ocean fluid parcels are only slowly modified by turbulent mixing processes and become strongly constrained to move along density surfaces of some kind, called `isopycnal’ surfaces. … Continue reading

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Is Europe At Risk From Hurricanes?

By: Reinhard Schiemann Growing up in Europe late last century, I would have been a little surprised at this question, and my knee-jerk answer would have been a firm no: hurricanes happened on TV in far-away tropical places, bending and … Continue reading

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Forecasting Rapid Intensification In Hurricanes And Typhoons.

By: Peter Jan Leeuwen We all know the devastating power of hurricanes, typhoons, and their Southern Hemisphere counterparts. It is crucial that we predict their behaviour accurately to avoid loss of life and to better guide large-scale infrastructure operations. Although … Continue reading

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A Different Kind Of Turbulence

By Miguel Teixeira It might be thought that turbulence is essentially the same everywhere. However, its mixing efficiency depends not only on its intensity (as might be expected intuitively), but also on more subtle properties, such as its anisotropy (which … Continue reading

Posted in Boundary layer, Climate, Environmental physics, Fluid-dynamics, Oceans, Turbulence, Waves | Leave a comment

What are the challenges in forecasting the impacts of tropical cyclones?

By: Liz Stephens Last year I joined the Meteorology department in a joint-post between the University of Reading and the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre (RCCC), but I still suspect most people have no idea exactly what it is … Continue reading

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Co-Producing New Sub-Seasonal Weather Forecasts in Africa

By: Linda Hirons Weather-related extremes affect the lives and livelihoods of millions of people across tropical Africa. Access to reliable, actionable weather information is key to improving the resilience of African populations and economies. Specifically, at the extended sub-seasonal timescale … Continue reading

Posted in Climate, Co-production, Energy meteorology, Forecasting Testbed, Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), Predictability, Renewable energy, Seasonal forecasting, subseasonal forecasting, Tropical convection, Weather forecasting | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

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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