The Barometer

Here's the second instalment of the Baromter Vodcast where we show you some of the experiments we were performing in the field in Colorado this summer. Tune in next time to see what I needed balloons, cigarettes and Stanley knife for.

Join the Barometer podcasters in a LIVE episode at the Manchester Science Festival where we discuss the differences, and similarities, between weather and climate. Come along to the Manchester Museum to hear about why it’s so difficult to predict the weather, how aerosols affect both weather and climate, and how clouds can affect climate. With live demonstrations and our version of ‘ready, steady, cook’ style voting this is an episode not to be missed!

In a first for the Barometer, we have both an audio version of the live episode as well as a video edition! Both can be found below.

The Barometer Podcast LIVE at Manchester Science... by TheBarometerPodcast

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Thing have been a little quiet lately on the site as we've been planning something very special, which if you been following us on Twitter or Facebook, you'll have already seen it.

As part of the Manchester Science Festival, we'll be producing our first ever LIVE edition of the podcast!!!

You can join us in a LIVE episode where we'll discuss the differences, and similarities, between weather and climate. Come along to the Manchester Museum to hear about why it’s so difficult to predict the weather, how aerosols affect both weather and climate, and how clouds can affect climate. With live demonstrations and our version of ‘ready, steady, cook’ style voting this is an event not to be missed!

If that’s not enough to satisfy your thirst for atmospheric science and climate change then there’s the chance to explore Manchester Museum followed by Climate Change Question Time…live!

We really hope you can make what should be an evening full of fun and fascinating science. Let your friends and family know about the event too!

If you’ve got any questions for us then you can post them below the line. Also, we have a Facebook event set up so you can tell us you are coming or you could let us know on Twitter @TheBarometerPod.

Here is the inaugural Barometer Podcast Vodcast! Join Niall on his adventures making field measurements in Colorado. This episode just introduces the location with some future episodes looking at the kinds of measurements we make and what day to day life is like on fieldwork. The project is looking at the reason its been raining less in central USA by trying to find out how natural emissions from forests affect rainfall.

Remember to get your questions in for the live event next month as part of the Manchester Science Festival!

Here's part two of this months double whammy - if you haven't listened to part one yet, you might want to do that first. This time we are interviewing Dr Alice Bows who works at the University of Manchester Sustainable Consumption Institute. Amongst other things, Alice advises MPs on the environmental implications of policies, providing the link between academic research and the "real world".

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What do you think of when you hear about atmospheric ‘emissions’? Typical responses include car exhaust fumes, smoke from fires, and volcanic eruptions. There are also emissions from power station chimneys, cattle, soils, and even plants which emit the essential element for sustaining life: oxygen. There are many more sources of emissions which can directly affect air quality, health, and climate but also indirectly through interactions with other atmospheric compounds.

Join us in this episode where we delve into the world of emissions and begin to unravel the complexity behind their evolution and mitigation. We’ll be discussing their physical definition, sources, and impacts. We’ll also be finding out how, due to sheer numbers, something smaller than a five pence piece has become the second largest natural source of methane after wetlands. The scale and importance of emissions is examined including how emissions from other countries, as well as our own, need to be considered when quantifying emissions and their impacts. Finally, don’t miss out on the interview with our special guest, Alice Bows, in part 2, who reveals the importance and influence of offshore emissions.

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Planet Earth is like a discoball, reflecting and bouncing off some of the incoming sunlight back to space. The Earth's climate and weather is driven by how much light and radiation is reflected and how much is absorbed and hence goes into warming the surface and atmosphere.

Join us this episode and hear all about albedo (which is a way of describing how reflective a surface is) and how that is linked to climate and climate feedbacks. Also don't miss the interview with aerosol guru Prof Hugh Coe who explains how particles in the air can be both reflective and absorbing and how that makes it all more complex!

The above picture shows how some parts of the Earth's surface or atmosphere are more reflective than others, e.g. clouds are bright, ice/snow (see Antarctica at the bottom of the image) are white and reflective, the desert and desert dust are brighter than the darker blue ocean and darker than the equatorial forests in Africa and South America. Just check out the massive big dust storm over the ocean off the coast of North-West Africa! The image gives a good impression of the mosaic of different brightnesses and how parts of that mosaic are constantly changing, with e.g. clouds, dust storms etc. forming and dissipating all the time.

Here are the links we mentioned in the news section of this episode:

Uniweather - UniWeather is not accessible to the general public at this time unfortunately. If you are a member of the university community and you would like access then please contact Dr David Schultz.

Satellite images of Chilean snowfall & Video of Chilean snowfall

Keep updated on the hurricane season at the National Hurricane Center

Above picture credit: NASA website

Featuring: Grant Allen, Will Morgan, Jennifer Muller, Hugo Ricketts & Niall Robinson

Interviewee: Professor Hugh Coe

Production: Jennifer Muller

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Combating the effects of man-made climate change is seen as one of the greatest challenges facing us in the 21st century. Most ideas focus upon stabilising and then reducing the amount of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases in our atmosphere. We could achieve this by decreasing the amount of oil, coal and natural gas that we use by replacing these fuel sources with alternatives. In addition, we could also simply change our behaviour to facilitate less fossil fuel use. However, the pace at which we can make these changes is a topic of great debate. Scientists are now actively considering whether we need to take a more drastic route, where we artificially control the Earth's climate using something called geoengineering. The aim of such an intervention would be to cool the Earth's climate, in order to offset some of the warming caused by human activity. However, such techniques are not without their own risks and are highly controversial!

Join us in this episode to find out whether this idea is simply some science fiction writer's failed plot-line, or something that could actually be used in the future to mitigate our continued fossil fuel use. We'll discuss exactly what geoengineering is, why we might do it and the ethics surrounding it. We will also discuss a specific example, where natural clouds are modified so that they appear whiter, which potentially could cool the Earth.

Here is a picture of glass beads of different sizes. As we explained in the podcast, smaller beads are made of equally transparent material but the scatter light more, meaning they appear whiter. The same thing happens when particles are added to a cloud - more cloud droplets form and the cloud appears whiter, reflecting more sunlight to space and cooling the Earth. This is what is happening of the picture at the top of this post. The particles emitted by ships are causing clouds to form, leaving a trail along the ship's track.

You can find out more about this idea on the BBC website and at the Royal Society website, which includes information on other geoengineering schemes also.

Below is a video discussion by two of the pioneers of the cloud whitening idea, John Latham and Stephen Salter.

Here is a picture that (is meant to) demonstrate the "Kelvin Effect" that Niall and Prof McFiggans were talking about. This the effect that gases find it easier to condense on a less curved surface (bigger particle) than a more curved surface The left hand particle is small and a molecule at the surface has less other molecules next to it. This means there are less bonds (three from its nearest neighbours) holding it there. The right hand molecule is larger and a particle at the surface has more bonds (four from its nearest neighbours this time). The molecule is bound more tightly so it is less likely to leave the particle and enter the gas phase.

Featuring: Niall Robinson, Jennifer Muller, Nicky Young and Grant Allen

Interviewee: Prof. Gordon McFiggans

Production: Will Morgan

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Tornadoes are one of Earth’s most destructive natural weather phenomena, knocking over and sweeping up anything in their path. Their size, intensity and the path they travel over are unpredictable. With wind speeds ranging from 40 miles an hour to over 300 miles an hour, tornadoes are very difficult to study. However, many scientists have successfully managed to dodge lightning strikes and flying cows to record data to help better understand tornadoes. They have also captured some pretty spectacular images and videos.

Join us in this episode to find out what it is really like to be a storm chaser as we speak to Dr. Lindsay Bennett from the Institute for Climate and Atmospheric Science at the University of Leeds. You can find out more about the work in which Lindsay has been involved in her presentation here. We’ll also be finding out what tornadoes really are, how they form, and some interesting facts about which parts of the world they are found in. Visit The Weather Channel here for further information on severe weather as well as national and local weather forecasts, radar, and maps, and forecasts for world weather.

Below is a time lapse video of a tornado from the Weather Channel.

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The is the second episode in our mini-series for Science Week, which is about how to make good measurements of weather. Meteorologists (that's weathermen to you and me) have to try and do this all the time, to start the forecasts and to check they have worked. We give you our top tips for making decent measurements including:

• Temperature measurements have to measure the shade air temperature --- don’t accidentally heat the sensor up with your hands, breath, the sun, building heating or anything else hot that isn’t shady air.
• Same goes for humidity measurement --- don’t breath on them or you’ll measure the humidity in your breath.
• Wind sensors need to be in an open space, not behind a tree, a building, a budding meteorologist (that’s you btw) or anything that will change the wind.

GOLDEN RULE: make sure you are measuring what you are trying to measure, and not accidentally measuring the temperature of your finger or the moisture in your breath or something. Another thing to consider is how wiggly the thing you are measuring is. Forinstance wind data is wiggly because it gusts so its probably good to make a few measurements at a time and take the average.

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