For the first time in 30 years, a crop of new clouds will enter the canon of cloud varieties recognized by meteorologists all over the world. This is also a good time to talk about climate change.
"The official International Cloud Atlas has just gained a new species: Volutus is a tube-shaped mass that rotates slowly around its horizontal axis," according to an article by Clive Cookson. The International Cloud Atlas has been the definitive reference of cloud varieties for meteorologists since 1896. The new edition is the first update to the Atlas in 30 years.
"The revised edition of the atlas, published this week by the World Meteorological Office, describes Volutus as 'an example of an undular bore'," adds Cookson of one of the additions to the Atlas sure to excite weather observers, both amateur and professional.
But wait, there's more! A citizen science movement also successfully advocated for the inclusion of the Asperitas cloud in the Atlas. Another newcomers include "Homogenitus (clouds such as aircraft contrails resulting from human activity), Flumen (beaver’s tail clouds associated with severe thunderstorms) and Flammagenitus (caused by convection over forest fires)."
The article places the addition of these new clouds into the context of conversations about climate change. Scientists "emphasise the need to understand better the central role that clouds play in weather and climate," writes Cook.
The Financial Times article might be behind a paywall for some readers. More coverage of the new edition of the International Cloud Atlas is available at treehugger, Wired, and the BBC.
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