Clouds and the Climate Tipping Point - T. Schneider - 4/24/2019

Earnest C. Watson Lecture by Professor Tapio Schneider, "Clouds and the Climate Tipping Point."

Low clouds over subtropical oceans cool Earth's climate because they reflect most of the sunlight shining on them back to space. It is unclear, however, how the clouds themselves change with climate; this gives rise to large uncertainties in climate change projections. Tapio Schneider's lecture will show how advances in computing and satellite observations are enabling breakthroughs in the accuracy of climate projections. Such advances have already revealed a tipping point of the climate system: if greenhouse gas concentrations rise high enough, subtropical low clouds may melt away, triggering dramatic global warming.

Tapio Schneider is the Theodore Y. Wu Professor of Environmental Science and Engineering at Caltech in the Division of Geological and Planetary Sciences; and Jet Propulsion Laboratory Senior Research Scientist.

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Produced in association with Caltech Academic Media Technologies. ©2019 California Institute of Technology

[reuireuiop]

It's NOT about getting more cloudy, but LESS. Less cloud cover over oceans means more warming of of the seas, making temps go up.

Essential explanation starts about 25m45. More CO2 decreases the cloud cover, thus speeding up the warming of the seas, and extra heating the climate.

[OldieBugger]

Why can't you show us the slides? There's not much to see in the professor speaking, however good he is in what he does. The slides are an important part of his lecture. By omitting them the lecture content is ruined.

[AJAYCHAUHAN-rsxn]

I wish I could join Caltech it has the scientific environment I want

[mennehgambia]

2020 was the cloudiest year in decades, it rains more in the sahara, arizona, and droughts are harsher in california nevada midwest USA and record temps in Western Canada and Alaska. Also fires in all forests but most importantly Siberia..

We already are in the phase of tipping points.

[keybutnolock]

Nice talk, thanks. More on the slides and less on the speaker please.
I was pausing it so much, the continuity suffered.
Will watch again !

[folkeholmberg]

I like those thumbs down, they prove that the deniers at least has started to listen, that's a big
for them❗

[bngr_bngr]

Its raining today in Southern California.

[jean-pierredevent]

I couldn't concentrate enough to understand it all :- ) but so it seems that the computers must be much stronger and there should be a whole fleet of autonomous solar powered drones flying around who collect more data to feed to that computer. Why is such vital investment even a problem when they have money for space and the military ??

[Neodymigo]

Problem...higher CO2 in the atmosphere causes the upper troposphere and stratosphere to be more efficient at radiating IR to outer space as well as back to the “cloud tops”. This is the opposite of what he says the model shows in this video. The net result should just be a change in the Bottom and Top of Cloud elevations mostly in accordance with the adiabatic lapse rate. As he says himself, they don’t know if the model is correct....and some basic considerations would imply that it is not.
There is no doubt that clouds are the shutters that control the Earth’s temperature....nice he stated that in the inter-media for a refreshing change.

[Deebz]

A classic example of a scientist only seening what he is trained or wants to see...
Such hubris, such hopium, such folly.

[NathansHVAC]

Nice to see the admission that clouds drive the climate.

[SherlockOhms]

Satellite feed views of sequentially spewing clouds by Steam Turbines on land.
Caltech ought to try Satellite viewing. LOL.

[touchtoomuch]

The opening statement is a lie. He compares the summertime low temperature compared to the yearly average low. The annual low is still 55.4 F, the summertime low is 64 F. Just plain deception.