Clouds and Climate (Prof. Tapio Schneider)

Title: Clouds and Climate

Prof. Tapio Schneider
Theodore Y. Wu Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering
California Institute of Technology

Abstract: Clouds are an essential regulator of climate. They cool Earth on average by 5 degrees centigrade. Yet despite their importance, the response of clouds to climate change is very uncertain. This is especially true for the low clouds that cover vast areas of tropical oceans. Their primary effect is to cool Earth by reflecting sunlight back to space. I discuss the physics of these clouds, how their cooling effect may have been very different in past greenhouse climates, and how they may be affected by rising greenhouse gas concentrations. To predict our climate future more accurately, breakthroughs in the modeling of clouds and in the accuracy of climate predictions are needed. I will discuss how they may be achieved, thanks to advances in computing and Earth observations from space and our ability to fuse models with massive amounts of data.

Prof. Tapio Schneider is the Theodore Y. Wu Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at Caltech and a Senior Research Scientist at JPL. His research focuses on how the climate of Earth and other planets comes about and may change, for example, by changes in atmospheric circulation or cloud cover.