The looming El Niño is likely to hit hard this year, bringing bracing moments to the already warming world. Extreme weather events are no longer just anomalies; they have become far too common in this new reality. It’s clear that our environment is under unprecedented stress. Experts warn of the costs of inaction: between 1995 …[Read More]
Do not get me wrong, EGUs General Assembly is a great conference and it’s a real pleasure to explore all the science on display, reconnect with colleagues from other institutes, cities and disciplines. But, wandering the venue and seeing all the empty poster walls left a sad feeling. It’s not only singular gaps in an …[Read More]
It’s murky grey, windy, and freezing when we head out into the countryside of the Swiss pre-Alps. We are looking for low hanging clouds to serve as our natural laboratory. Wintertime low stratus clouds can cover Switzerland for days. This type of cloud is stable with temperatures below 0 ºC and it contains plenty of …[Read More]
When we gaze at the sky, our eyes often linger on blue horizons, floating clouds, or twinkling stars—rarely do we think about the critical processes unfolding 80 to 100 km above ground. This region, known as the mesopause, acts as a vital transition zone for aviation and aerospace activities (not vital for routine commercial aviation, …[Read More]
Modern atmospheric science relies on precise and stable measurements to understand how the composition of the atmosphere evolves over time. From air quality to climate-relevant trace gases, long-term observations are essential for identifying trends and detecting subtle changes. One of the key tools enabling such measurements is infrared spectroscopy, which allows scientists to identify and …[Read More]
Marine low clouds, such as stratocumulus, play a central role in regulating Earth’s climate by reflecting incoming sunlight back to space. Yet these clouds are notoriously difficult to simulate and predict. One reason is that their evolution depends strongly on the surrounding atmosphere: temperature structure, moisture, winds, and aerosols all interact in complex ways. As …[Read More]
Many people think about air as a fixed mix of gases like nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide (CO2). But the main reason the composition of air changes—water vapour—tends to get overlooked. Scientists often remove it from atmospheric samples before analysing air composition, and this convenient habit can make us forget something surprising: water vapour isn’t …[Read More]
This isn’t a new fashion trend in meteorology. For model developers, these unexpected stripes are a sign that something has gone wrong in the complex digital engine that powers our forecasts. Recently, our team at CMA Earth System Modeling and Prediction Centre (CEMC) encountered these very stripes in wind forecasts produced by an operational global …[Read More]
Machine learning (ML) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) offer powerful tools to address long-standing scientific challenges. At the molecular scale, we’ve seen projects like AlphaFold discover unknown protein structures and how they might interact with other molecules. At the planetary scale, ML-driven models like GraphCast (Google), AIFS (ECMWF) and ACE (Allen Institute for AI) are revolutionizing …[Read More]
Around the world, the most vulnerable, marginalized, and racialized are disproportionately impacted by a variety of environmental stressors such as extreme heat, health-harming air pollution, and the growing impacts of climate change. In the United States, research has uncovered how Black and Brown communities and those with lower socioeconomic status are exposed to higher concentrations …[Read More]
