Weatherwatch: Clean air over Southern Ocean alters cloud recipe

Climate modelling does not take account of how ice crystals form in the region’s atmosphere, with ramifications for meteorologists

What is the recipe for a cloud? This is like asking for the recipe for curry. There are many different types of curry, and the result depends upon which spices are used and how they are combined.

For a long time, clouds over the Southern Ocean have puzzled meteorologists; there are more of them and they hang around for longer than climate models predict. Benjamin Murray and his colleagues from the University of Leeds have shown this is because of the delicate ingredients that goes into Southern Ocean clouds.

Related: Southern Ocean sucks up 1.2bn tonnes of carbon in 2011 and buries it deep