How Cloudy Is the Earth?

Bjorn B. Stevens
Profile Picture of - Bjorn B. Stevens

Bjorn B. Stevens

Abstract information

It has been heretofore understood that patterns of cloudiness are controlled by large scale weather systems. In this video, BJORN STEVENS challenges this orthodoxy, arguing that small and intermediate scales of motion play a key role in determining the Earth’s cloudiness. Using aircraft to measure the vigor of intermediate scales of motion and groups of scientists to examinesmall scale patterning, Stevens identifies distinct patterning of clouds at these smaller scales. He suggests that the role played by small and intermediate scales of motion in cloud patterning is a previously neglected piece of the puzzle which will give us vital insight into how the cloudiness of the Earth might develop in the future.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10822

Researcher

Bjorn B. Stevens is Director of the Department for the Atmosphere in the Earth System, at Max Planck Institute for Meteorology and teaches at the University of Hamburg. Previously, Stevens was a Professor of Dynamic Meteorology at the University of California, Los Angeles (USA). Stevens has made major contributions to the research on atmospheric convection in the climate system. He was awarded the Clarence Leroy Meisinger Award of the American Meteorological Society, and is an associate fellow at various institutions, including the Alexander von Humboldt Society.

Institution information

Max Planck Institute for Meteorology

The Max Planck Institute for Meteorology (MPI-M) is an internationally renowned institute for climate research, founded in Hamburg in 1975, affiliated with the Max Planck Society and the University of Hamburg. Scientists at MPI-M investigate what determines the sensitivity of the Earth system to perturbations such as the changing composition of its atmosphere, and work toward establishing the sources and limits of predictability within the Earth system, developing and analysing sophisticated Earth system models complemented by targeted measurements and satellite observations. The MPI-M comprises three departments: Climate Dynamics, Climate Physics, and Climate Variability.
Max Planck Institute for Meteorology
Cover Photo of - Max Planck Institute for Meteorology

Original Publication

Measuring Area-Averaged Vertical Motions with Dropsondes

Sandrine Bony,

Björn Stevens

Published in

Sugar, Gravel, Fish, and Flowers: Mesoscale Cloud Patterns in the Tradewinds

Björn Stevens,

Sandrine Bony,

Hélène Brogniez,

Laureline Hentgen,

Cathy Hohenegger,

Published in

Citation

Bjorn B. Stevens, 

Latest Thinking, 

How Cloudy Is the Earth?, 

https://doi.org/10.21036/LTPUB10822, 

Credits:

© Bjorn B. Stevens 

and Latest Thinking

This work is licensed under CC-BY 4.0