Adam Sokol

Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences postdoc at the Princeton. Shamelessly and incessantly cooling to space.

[Nick Lutsko @Nick_Lutsko]

Science in action: in 2020 the Sherwood et al WCRP review estimated a -ve anvil cloud area feedback, but with large uncertainty. Now 3 papers out ~simultaneously have found a weak, +ve anvil cloud feedback using observations, high res models and simple theory

[Nature Geoscience @NatureGeosci]

Article: Greater climate sensitivity implied by anvil cloud thinning

@adambsokol @UWAtmosSci

https://t.co/jbEeiKba84

[Adam Sokol @AdamBSokol]

...completely different lines of evidence. As we write in the paper, this result makes physical sense based on our knowledge of high cloud evolution.

Altogether, the 3 papers suggest that, other than the FAT feedback, anvil clouds are more or less neutral for climate change.

[Adam Sokol @AdamBSokol]

Our new paper on tropical cloud feedbacks is out in @NatureGeosci. We show that changes in high cloud area do not provide a negative feedback on climate change like previously thought. Instead, high clouds become thinner with warming, which acts as a...
https://t.co/ecJhEejmpJ

[Adam Sokol @AdamBSokol]

...weakly positive feedback. This implies an increase (~0.3°C) in climate sensitivity relative to previous assessments that included a large, stabilizing feedback from anvil clouds.

Two other papers out this month, from @rshivpriyam & Brett Mckim, find a similar result from...

[Blaž Gasparini @BlazGaspa]

Another belated tweet; we've put together an opinion/opinionated review(?) on tropical cirrus, including their microscale and large-scale processes and feedbacks. Time is ripe to reduce those large uncertainty bars!
Under discussion for ACP:https://t.co/awWTKah339

[AMS Publications @AMSPublications]

Hartmann, Dennis L., Brittany D. Dygert, Peter N. Blossey, Qiang Fu, and Adam B. Sokol (@AdamBSokol). "The Vertical Profile of Radiative Cooling and Lapse Rate in a Warming Climate", Journal of Climate 35, 19 (2022): 2653-2665, https://t.co/q6FM6lCoEW #JClimate

[Adam Sokol @AdamBSokol]

While this doesn't explicitly tell us about changes in high cloud amount, it could (w/ more work) offer an explanation for reduced anvil coverage that is distinct from the Stability Iris. Either way, it's one more piece in the puzzle of tropical convection.

[Adam Sokol @AdamBSokol]

New paper with Dennis Hartmann is out! We use theory and a cloud-resolving model to look at the response of tropical cloud ice amount to warming. https://t.co/qIPl4ZtZq2

[Adam Sokol @AdamBSokol]

This is an increase in “latent heating efficiency”—you get more latent heating for the same *climatological* ice amount. The increase is rooted in basic warming physics (complicated microphysics...no thanks) and agrees with trends in macrophysical Precip Eff found by others.

[Blaž Gasparini @BlazGaspa]

Daytime anvils in the tropics are longer-lived and more widespread than their nighttime counterparts. A cloud initiated at 9 pm will have a significantly different evolution from the one initiated at 9 am (as shown in SAM model simulations).

[Adam Sokol @AdamBSokol]

(sound on) Check put my PhD research! I am pioneering the study of interactions between tropical convection and top-20 hits from the 2006 UK singles chart

[Adam Sokol @AdamBSokol]

or, if reading's not your thing, let my #AGU2020 poster narration lull you into your afternoon nap (session A148)
https://t.co/BB3UW2HYyh

[Adam Sokol @AdamBSokol]

My first paper is out! We find that the anvil clouds produced by tropical convection evolve towards a preferred form. What could this mean for future changes in tropical high cloud amount?
https://t.co/Lhe0DTdCx4

[Adam Sokol @AdamBSokol]

my first scientific publication....is for children! What makes the wind? https://t.co/UMUdrdTUfx