More than half the globe is covered by visible clouds.

Comprehensive overview of research on clouds and their role in our present and future climate, for advanced students and researchers.

Cloud research is a rapidly developing branch of climate science that's vital to climate modelling. With new observational and simulation technologies our knowledge of clouds and their role in the warming climate is accelerating. This book provides a comprehensive overview of research on clouds and their role in our present and future climate, covering theoretical, observational, and modelling perspectives. Part I discusses clouds from three different perspectives: as particles, light and fluid. Part II describes our capability to model clouds, ranging from theoretical conceptual models to applied parameterised representations. Part III describes the interaction of clouds with the large-scale circulation in the tropics, mid-latitudes, and polar regions. Part IV describes how clouds are perturbed by aerosols, the land-surface, and global warming. Each chapter contains end-of-chapter exercises and further reading sections, making this an ideal resource for advanced students and researchers in climatology, atmospheric science, meteorology, and climate change.

Storm and Cloud Dynamics focuses on the dynamics of clouds and of precipitating mesoscale meteorological systems. Clouds and precipitating mesoscale systems represent some of the most important and scientifically exciting weather systems in the world. These are the systems that produce torrential rains, severe winds including downburst and tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning, and major snow storms. Forecasting such storms represents a major challenge since they are too small to be adequately resolved by conventional observing networks and numerical prediction models. - Provides a complete treatment of clouds integrating the analysis of air motions with cloud structure, microphysics, and precipitation mechanics - Describes and explains the basic types of clouds and cloud systems that occur in the atmosphere-fog, stratus, stratocumulus, altocumulus, altostratus, cirrus, thunderstorms, tornadoes, waterspouts, orographically induced clouds, mesoscale convection complexes, hurricanes, fronts, and extratropical cyclones - Summarizes the fundamentals, both observational and theoretical, of atmospheric dynamics, thermodynamics, cloud microphysics, and radar meteorology, allowing each type of cloud to be examined in depth - Integrates the latest field observations, numerical model simulations, and theory - Supplies a theoretical treatment suitable for the advanced undergraduate or graduate level, as well as post-graduate

Climate change is one of the biggest challenges facing the modern world. The chemistry of the air within the framework of the climate system forms the main focus of this monograph. This problem-based approach to presenting global atmospheric processes begins with the chemical evolution of the climate system in order to evaluate the effects of changing air composition as well as possibilities for interference within these processes. Chemical interactions of the atmosphere with the biosphere and hydrosphere are treated in the sense of a multi-phase chemistry. From the perspective of a "chemical climatology" the book offers an approach to solving the problem of climate change through chemistry.

Changes in climate are driven by natural and human-induced perturbations of the Earth's energy balance. These climate drivers or "forcings" include variations in greenhouse gases, aerosols, land use, and the amount of energy Earth receives from the Sun. Although climate throughout Earth's history has varied from "snowball" conditions with global ice cover to "hothouse" conditions when glaciers all but disappeared, the climate over the past 10,000 years has been remarkably stable and favorable to human civilization. Increasing evidence points to a large human impact on global climate over the past century. The report reviews current knowledge of climate forcings and recommends critical research needed to improve understanding. Whereas emphasis to date has been on how these climate forcings affect global mean temperature, the report finds that regional variation and climate impacts other than temperature deserve increased attention.

Clouds and Their Climatic Impacts Clouds are an influential and complex element of Earth’s climate system. They evolve rapidly in time and exist over small spatial scales, but also affect global radiative balance and large-scale circulations. With more powerful models and extensive observations now at our disposal, the climate impact of clouds is receiving ever more research attention. Clouds and Their Climatic Impacts: Radiation, Circulation, and Precipitation presents an overview of our current understanding on various types of clouds and cloud systems and their multifaceted role in the radiative budget, circulation patterns, and rainfall. Volume highlights include: Interactions of aerosol with both liquid and ice clouds Surface and atmospheric cloud radiative feedbacks and effects Arctic, extratropical, and tropical clouds Cloud-circulation coupling at global, meso, and micro scales Precipitation efficiency, phase, and measurements The role of machine learning in understanding clouds and climate The American Geophysical Union promotes discovery in Earth and space science for the benefit of humanity. Its publications disseminate scientific knowledge and provide resources for researchers, students, and professionals.