Clouds might seem like a nuisance if you’re headed on a Sunday afternoon picnic. But put aside your personal biases for a second and consider this: clouds can also tell the story of life on earth.
That story has become a lot clearer thanks to new maps created by scientists that document a global year in the clouds in more intimate detail than ever before. The maps — a cloud atlas if you will — provide a fine-grained view of how clouds move around in our atmosphere and represent an important link between climate and ecological research. They’re also pretty easy on the eyes.
It turns out, England is indeed cloudy for most of the year while most of the Bay Area’s clouds show up in February. Adam Wilson, a researcher at the University of Buffalo who helped create the cloud atlas, joked that you could use the maps to settle bets between friends on who lives in the cloudiest place.
More at:
http://www.livescience.com/54626-cloud-maps-life-on-earth.html
