Just for fun: A 'nebula' dataviz about some changes happening in the clouds...
The graph shows that “anvil clouds”* extend less and get higher as the surface gets warmer (this is called the “iris effect”). It also shows that they tend to extend less during the years of explosive volcanic eruptions.
The graph shows that “anvil clouds”* extend less and get higher as the surface gets warmer (this is called the “iris effect”). It also shows that they tend to extend less during the years of explosive volcanic eruptions.
Technical info
This scatterplot shows the anvil cloud cover anomaly against the surface temperature anomaly. Each dot is a year. The five colors correspond to the five quintiles of the anvil clouds height. The data is from an ensemble of 11 versions of the historical simulation (1850-2014) of the IPSL climate model (@institut_pierre_simon_laplace). This is over the tropics only (30°N-30°S) and anomalies are computed against an 11-year running mean.
Data sources
The data comes from a published scientific study that I conducted as a researcher in climate sciences; more details (including the list of explosive volcanic eruptions) and the data sources can be found in the paper: Saint-Lu et al. (2022), Clear-sky control of anvils in response to increased CO2 or surface warming or volcanic eruptions. npj Clim Atmos Sci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-022-00304-z
*Anvil clouds refer to the top part of cumulonimbus clouds, these convective towers that expand horizontally at their top, giving them their recognisable anvil shape.
*Anvil clouds refer to the top part of cumulonimbus clouds, these convective towers that expand horizontally at their top, giving them their recognisable anvil shape.
