Weather Geeks

Guest: Dr. David Peterson, NASA/Naval Research LabAs millions of acres have been ablaze across Australia in recent weeks, those wildfires have formed incredible smoke plumes that tower thousands of feet into the atmosphere. These “pyrocumulonimbus clouds” can transport massive amounts of smoke and ash into the sky, and some of that smoke has even been found to have circled the globe! Today’s guest is Dr. David Peterson from the Naval Research Lab, and his research focuses on the far-reaching impacts these monster clouds can have, including how they generate their own weather! We’ll discuss what techniques he uses to observe these events and whether or not we can expect more events in a warming climate.