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Forecast: 'Astonishing' New Cloud Type

If recognized, new variety would be first since 1951

By Nick McMaster,  Newser Staff

Posted Jun 15, 2009 3:01 PM CDT
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(Newser) – A photo taken by an Iowa paralegal may help secure the recognition of a new cloud type, USA Today reports. Meteorologists are analyzing the cloud's characteristics to determine whether it's an example of an unrecognized type. If the move to recognize the cloud type succeeds, undulus asperatus, whose Latin name means “turbulent undulation,” would be the first new variety recognized since 1951.

Consideration of undulus asperatus began in part because of a 2006 photo taken by Jane Wiggins of Cedar Rapids and posted on the website of the Cloud Appreciation Society. The possibility of a new type, helped along by the spread of digital cameras, shows what "changing, amorphous, ephemeral things clouds are," says the founder of the society.

This June 20, 2006 photo taken by Jane Wiggins from a downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa office building shows what may become the first new cloud type to be recognized by scientists since 1951.
This June 20, 2006 photo taken by Jane Wiggins from a downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa office building shows what may become the first new cloud type to be recognized by scientists since 1951.   (AP Photo/Jane Wiggins)
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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 29 comments
Hip
Jun 19, 2009 12:58 PM CDT
Unless, of course, if the sun is the primary cause in global climate change. One last question...what happened the last time the Earth had no polar ice caps? Did it burn up? Thanks SL. Good talk. More people on these boards should be as interesting and willing to converse as you. Hopefully we can clean up the air on this planet and have another conversation such as this one in 50 years...
riffran
Jun 19, 2009 10:47 AM CDT
can you imagine that on a bit of peyote..lol...OMG DID YOU SEE THE SIZE OF THAT CHICKEN!!!... :)
Snowleopard
Jun 17, 2009 8:32 AM CDT
well firstly, let me say that I do appreciate having a conversation with someone with a good understanding of the science behind climate. I would disagree that there was any kind of agreement that the earth was cooling in the 70s. It's my understanding that there were a couple of magazine articles about that possibility, but that it was hardly any kind of scientific consensus. You also mentioned some negative feedback loops that help to cool the planet when there is more CO2 (cooling from clouds and rain, and CO2 re-uptake by vegetation). The first point is valid. As there is more CO2, there will be more clouds, rain, and severe flooding. While the floods are bad, it's a good thing that the earth has this cooling mechanism (the Gaia hypothesis is interesting in this respect). I disagree that the vegetation re-uptake is a significant factor simply due to the rate of global deforestation. If anything, the shrinking of forests is making the CO2 problem worse. To answer your question "why then has the globe not been warming consistently?", the primary reason is because of the ice-caps. As the oceans and the atmosphere warms, the ice-caps melt, releasing tons of cold water into the oceans. This has keep the temperature at a relative point of homeostasis. The problem here is that the ice-caps are melting at an alarming rate. Once they're gone, there will no longer be a backstop against the rising temperature.

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