THEY COVER ON AVERAGE TWO
THIRDS OF THE EARTH'S SURFACE.
SCIENTISTS STILL UNDERSTAND
PRECIOUS LITTLE ABOUT CLOUDS.
MOST CLIMATOLOGISTS BELIEVE
THEY HOLD THE KEY TO UNLOCKING
THE MYSTERIES OF CLIMATE CHANGE
. A NEW STUDY WAS JUST LAUNCHED
TO EXPLORE THEM.
JEFF GLOR WAS INVITED ALONG FOR
AN UP CLOSE LOOK.
IT IS THE DEAD OF NIGHT ON
THE CARIBBEAN ISLAND OF
BARBADOS.
FOR THE CREW OF NOAH'S ORION
PIII AIRCRAFT, THE DAY IS JUST
GETTING STARTED.
THIS HURRICANE HUNTER USUALLY
FLIES INTO MONSTER STORMS TO
LEARN HOW THEY GROW.
GO AHEAD AND TURN AND START
CLIMBING.
Reporter: ON THIS NIGHT, WE
WATCHED AS THE TEAM DROPPED
REMOTE SENSORS, ALMOST 60 OF
THEM OVER EIGHT HOURS.
I'M GOING TO HEAR THAT SOUND
IN MY SLEEP.
Reporter: TOGETHER
SCIENTIFIC DATA ABOUT A SUBJECT
THAT ONLY BECOMES VISIBLE WITH
A RISING SUN.
WHERE YOU WANT TO BE IS JUST
BELOW THAT BASE.
IT LOOKS LIKE THERE IS SOME
FIELD LINING UP.
Reporter: THE WHITE PUFFY
MELISSA CLOUSE THIS TROPICAL
REGION IS FAMOUS FOR MAYBE THE
CRUCIAL MISSING PUZZLE PIECE
FOR ANYBODY TRYING TO PREDICT
THE RATE OF CLIMATE CHANGE.
WE DON'T UNDERSTAND CLOUDS, CAN
WE EVER BE ACCURATE IN CLIMATE
MODELING?
NO, YOU CAN'T, BECAUSE THEY
ARE A HUGE PART OF THE CLIMATE
SYSTEM.
IT IS ACTUALLY COMING UP.
Reporter: CHRIS FARRELL IS
NOAH'S LEAD INVESTIGATOR FOR A
UNPRECEDENTED SIX WEEK LONG
EXERCISE CALLED ATOMIC.
THIS IS LIKE THE BIGGEST
LARGE-SCALE OPEN AIR CLOUD
LABORATORY IN THE ATLANTIC.
Reporter: YOU ARE AS FAR EAST
AS YOU ARE GOING TO GET HERE,
LIVE BARBADOS IS THE SPOT TO DO
THIS?
THAT IS RIGHT, A SWEET SPOT.
Reporter: YOU ARE FLOODING
THE ATMOSPHERE WITH JUST ABOUT
EVERYTHING I CAN THINK OF, IT
IS DRONES.
WE BROUGHT OUT A FLEET OF
SHIPS, AIRCRAFT, AIRPLANES,
EVERYTHING WE COULD THINK OF.
Reporter: THAT IS THE IDEA,
TO GET AS MANY DIFFERENT DATA
POINTS?
RIGHT.
Reporter: CLOUDS MAY LIVE IN
THE AIR, BUT THEY ARE TREATED
BY CONDITIONS ON AND BELOW THE
SURFACE OF THE OCEAN.
TO FULLY UNDERSTAND THEM, YOU
NEED A SHIP.
NOAH HAS ONE. THE RON BROWN,
STATE-OF-THE-ART FLOATING
SCIENCE PLATFORM.
THIS IS A HEAVILY
INSTRUMENTED SURFBOARD.
Reporter: AND DR. ELIZABETH
THOMPSON RUNS THE SCIENCE
PROGRAM ON BOARD.
IT IS A SURFBOARD THAT IS
TAKING THESE INCREDIBLY
COMPLICATED MEASUREMENTS?
I DON'T THINK A HUMAN WOULD
ENJOY SURFING ON IT, BUT THE
INSTRUMENTS DO A REALLY FINE
JOB.
THE ISSUE WITH TROPICAL CLOUDS
IS THEY ARE REALLY SHALLOW.
IT IS REALLY DIFFICULT FOR OUR
SATELLITE TO GET ALL THE
PROPERTIES OF THE SMALL LITTLE
CLOUDS RIGHT.
Reporter: INSTEAD OF RELYING
ON SATELLITES, THOMPSON AND HER
TEAM UNLEASHED DOZENS OF REMOTE
VEHICLES ACROSS HUNDREDS OF
SQUARE MILES OF OCEAN FOR 6
FULL WEEKS.
MOST OF THE HEAT IN THE
GLOBAL CLIMATE SYSTEM IS AT THE
EQUATOR, WHERE THE SUN BEATS
DOWN IS THE MOST WRONG ON THE
OCEAN'S SURFACE.
ALL OF THAT HEAT HAS TO GET
DISSIPATED SOMEWHERE.
CLOUDS ARE LIKE AIR
CONDITIONING SYSTEMS.
CLOUDS ARE TRYING TO
REDISTRIBUTE ENERGY.
THE GLOBAL MODEL IS TEST WITH
PREDICTING SEA LEVEL RISE IN
FLORIDA, HOW CLIMATE CHANGE
WILL CHANGE IT 100 YEARS.
ALL OF THAT IS HOW WE CAN
PREDICT WHETHER IN THE TROPICS.
Reporter: THE TROPICS
AFFECTS EVERYTHING ELSE?
YEAH, THE RATE AT WHICH THE
EARTH WARMS IS DEPENDENT ON HOW
THESE CLOUDS WORK. THAT IS WHY
WE ARE HERE.
MY TEAM HAS INSTRUMENTS FOR
MEASURING TEMPERATURE,
HUMIDITY, WIND.
Reporter: BUT THOMPSON IS
NOT ALONE HERE.
THE PROJECT IS MULTINATIONAL,
INVOLVING BRITISH, FRENCH, AND
GERMAN SCIENTIST.
BJORN STEVENS, WHO HAS BEEN
STUDYING CLOUDS FROM THE
BARBADOS CONSERVATORY FOR MORE
THAN A DECADE.
THESE CLOUDS ARE INTERESTING
BECAUSE THEY REGULATE THE
ENERGY BUCKET A LOT.
IF YOU CHANGE THESE TYPE OF
CLOUDS A LITTLE BIT, IT
INFLUENCES THE CLIMATE.
AT THE CLIMATE WARMS, THE REAL
QUESTION IS WHAT HAPPENS TO
THESE SORTS OF CLOUDS?
Reporter: STEVENS HOPES THE
DATA COLLECTED HERE WILL HELP
FIND SCIENTISTS NARROW DOWN THE
WIDE RANGE OF PREDICTIONS ABOUT
HOW MUCH THE PLANET WILL WARM
AND HOW FAST.
I WILL GO AND LAUNCH?
Reporter: SOME HAVE
FORECASTED THE WORST-CASE
SCENARIO WHERE THESE CLOUDS AND
PROTECTION FROM SUNLIGHT THEY
PROVIDE DISAPPEAR COMPLETELY,
AS WE PUMPED MORE CO2 INTO THE
ATMOSPHERE.
THEY WILL LEAD TO MORE
SUNLIGHT, WHICH WILL ENHANCE
THE PACE OF WARMING.
THE MODEL STREET IMPROVES THESE
THINGS PRETTY CRUELLY.
WE WILL SEE WHAT IS RIGHT.
YOU SEE CLOUDS EVERYDAY AND
YOU DON'T THINK WHAT A MASSIVE
ROLE THEY PLAY.
THAT IS RIGHT.
THEY HAVE PRIVATE RADARS AND
TRIES TO UNDERSTAND ONE CLOUT
AT A TIME.
I'M JUST LIKE, ONE OF THE GUYS
OUT THERE PUSHING MY LITTLE
ROCK UP A HILL.
YOU GET GIDDY WHEN TALKING
ABOUT CLOUDS.
I AM MR. CLOUD AROUND HERE!
Reporter: ALL OF IT MEANS
BARBADOS, TYPICALLY KNOWN AS A
DESTINATION FOR SUN SEEKERS, IS