What gives clouds their shapes?

CrowdScience

BBC

Science, Technology

4.8 • 985 Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2022

⏱️ 30 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

What are the clouds like where you are? When you look upwards can you see great tufts of cotton wool, or do they stretch off into the distance, flat like sheets. Are they dark greys and purples, bringing the promise of rain or maybe there aren’t any at all. For listener John from Lincolnshire in the UK clouds looking up at the clouds is a favourite pastime and he wants to know why they look the way they do and why they are so different from one day to the next.

Join Presenter Marnie Chesterton as we turn our gaze skyward to discover what gives clouds their shape. Join us for a cloud spotting mission with Gavin Pretor-Pinney, founder of the cloud appreciation society as he helps us de-code the shapes across the sky to reveal what they can tell us about our atmosphere. Dr Claire Vincent at the University of Melbourne introduces us to one of the superstars of the cloud world, Hector the Convector to explain where thunderstorms come from. And we learn how people like you can help NASA to understand the clouds better with Marilé Colón Robles project scientist at the GLOBE programme.

Presented by Marnie Chesterton and Produced by Emily Bird

[Image: Dramatic looking clouds. Credit: Getty Images]

Transcript

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0:00.0	Take some time for yourself with soothing classical music from the mindful mix, the Science of
0:07.0	Happiness Podcast.
0:08.0	For the last 20 years I've dedicated my career to exploring the science of living a happier more meaningful life and I want
0:14.4	to share that science with you.
0:16.1	And just one thing, deep calm with Michael Mosley.
0:19.4	I want to help you tap in to your hidden relaxation response system and open the door to that
0:25.4	calmer place within. Listen on BBC Sounds. That puffy one over there.
0:36.2	Strato cumulus that one over there.
0:38.2	Okay and then what about the little one just above the trees?
0:41.0	Little one just above the trees is... Like a little tadpole coming out from behind the trees.
0:46.0	Oh right down there that is a cumulus fractus.
0:51.0	And over there, other side.
0:53.8	This is crowd science from the BBC World Service and that's producer Emily on a cloud spotting
0:59.6	mission.
1:00.6	And those are
1:04.4	are sort of little dots almost like somebody's gone in with a paintbrush.
1:04.0	Those are cumious but they look kind of dark.
1:06.0	Often when we look up at the skies it's a brief glance to check on the weather
1:10.0	but there's also a dreamier way to see the world above us, almost a game and I wonder if you've played it too.
1:16.7	Have you stared up at the clouds where you are and properly looked at them?
1:21.2	Can you find shapes? Are yours like tufts of cotton wool or
1:25.2	collieflowers? Do they stretch off into the distance, flat like sheets? Are they dark purples
	...

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