Published

2 years ago

June 29, 2024

Alice Rush

Here’s how Doppler radar uses microwaves to produce the images used to forecast our weather.

Transcript
Forecasting severe weather, like tornadoes, hail, and ice storms, can protect Canadians, and save lives. But accurate forecasts require detailed information about what’s happening in our atmosphere.

Doppler Weather Radar is an important part of gathering this information. It works by sending out pulses of microwave energy and by listening as those pulses bounce back, off objects in the atmosphere, such as rain drops, snowflakes, and hail.

By comparing the data from one pulse to the next, movement can be seen within weather systems, allowing forecasters to detect the speed and rotation of storms, or identify wind shear, which is particularly important for aviation safety.

Environment and Climate Change Canada is replacing its weather radar systems across the country with new, faster, more capable units, in order to better inform Canadians about changing weather.

The new radar use Dual Polarization, which means they send out vertical as well as horizontal pulses. This gives better information on size and shape of weather systems, and enables forecasters to distinguish between rain drops, snowflakes, and hail; or even birds, bugs and tornado debris!

The new radar are also much more powerful, helping to see weather developing further away.

This is especially important for storms which may cause flooding, as less powerful radar are sometimes unable to detect beyond a close storm cell, and heavy rain from a following storm cell can be missed.

The extended range on Canada’s new Doppler Weather Radar, will allow forecasters to detect and track dangerous weather, like tornadoes, earlier and over a larger part of Canada.

Accurate and timely information about our weather helps us keep Canadians informed, so they can make plans and stay safe.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhXj3s9qwTE

Related Topics:Doppler radar images microwaves

Up Next

What are cumulative effects?

Don't Miss

Forecasting Canada’s Weather | How does it work?

Alice Rush

Climate Change Videos

How airlines can halve their climate impact

Published

3 weeks ago

December 21, 2025

Alice Rush

See how much you can rinse Nebula in 3 days: https://go.nebula.tv/simonclark

For many of us in the West, aviation is a huge chunk of our climate impact, and most of the impact of any given flight doesn’t even come from its carbon emissions. Fortunately, new analysis and field tests indicate that this impact can be mitigated quickly, cheaply, and safely.

If you wanted a message to send to your airline, perhaps something like the following?
“Hello [AIRLINE], I am one of your customers. Do you incorporate contrail avoidance into your flight routing or are you planning to take part in one of the many trials in contrail avoidance? Here’s a website explaining how easy and effective it is: contrails.org”.

REFERENCES
1. https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/carbon-footprint-travel-mode
2. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-trending-62240071
3. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/2634-4505/ad310c
4. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/acs.est.9b05608
5. https://notebook.contrails.org/the-cost-of-contrail-management/
6. https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/the-seventh-carbon-budget/
7. https://www.iata.org/en/iata-repository/pressroom/fact-sheets/fact-sheet—alternative-fuels/
8. http://contrails.org/
9. http://map.contrails.org/

You can support the channel by becoming a patron at http://www.patreon.com/simonoxfphys

———- II ———-

More about me – https://www.simonoxfphys.com/
My second channel – https://www.youtube.com/simonclarkerrata
My book – https://geni.us/firmament

Bluesky – https://bsky.app/profile/simonoxfphys.com
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/simonoxfphys
Twitch – https://www.twitch.tv/drsimonclark

———- II ———-

Music by Epidemic Sound: http://nebula.tv/epidemic
Some stock footage courtesy of Getty.
Edited by Luke Negus.
Research by Ian Campbell.

Huge thanks to my supporters on Patreon:

bitreign33 , Dave Teare, Eric A Gentzler, Gary Stark, Glen Monks, Marcus Bosshard.

Andy Hartley, Artem Plotnikov, Bastian Pranzas, Ben Curtis, Jeffry ., Jon Arlov, Marius Kießling, Paul H and Linda L, Peter Reid.

Adam Gillard, Adrian Sand, Alex, Alex Hall, Andrea De Mezzo, Andy Giesen, Andy Parr, Anže Cesar, Ashley Hauck, Ashley Steel, AYS , Baerbel Winkler, Bill Keydel, Brian Moss, Chris Laslett, Christian Weckner, Christopher Hall, Cifer, Ciotka Cierpienia, Circuitrinos, Claudia Kapp, Clemens, Cody VanZandt, Crisan Talpes, Cy ‘kkm’ K’Nelson, Dan Hanvey, Daniel Cooney, David Mccann, David Stone, Denis Kovachev, Diederik Jekel, Dominik Rihak, Duffman, FireFerretDann, flakykilowatt, Florian Thie, Forever Bulking, Fred, Gabriele Siino, GGH, Guy Markey, Hannarrrr, Haris Karimjee, Heijde, I dropped out of my PhD, & I might forgive Simon., Ian Hamilton, Igor Francetic, Ishaan Shah, j51t, Jack Fretwell, Jacob Speelman, James Gaskell, James Gurney, James Haigh, James Leadbetter, Jan-Willem Goedmakers, Jean-Manuel Izaret, John, Josef Probst, Joseph , Justin Warren, Katharina Hartmuth, Kevin B, Kirsten Athome, KJ Xiao, Knut Nesheim, Kristopher Sicari, Lach Woods, Leonard Neamtu, Marcin Wrochna, Mark Harper, Mark Moore, Mark Phillips, Mark Richardson, Martin, Matthew H, Mercure, Michael Belde, Michelle Valentinova, Miguel Cabrera Brufau, Mike, Morten Engsvang, Nathan Rohrlach, Nicholas Hamdorf, Nick Humphries, Nicklas Kulp, Nico Casal, Nico Kempe, OldGreyWolf, Oliver Pelling-Matthews, Pawel Piwek, Peter Lee, Phil Saici, Philipp Legner, Phineas, Rapssack, Real Engineering, Reid, Richard Swain, Ryan, Sean Richards, Seb Stott, Sergio Diaz, Simone, Steffan , streetlights, Sylvus , szigyi, Tanner , Ted CLAY, Thibault , Thomas Charbonnel, Thomas Newman, Thusto , Tobias Ahsbahs, Tom Painter, Tomás Garnier Artiñano, Tony, Tschäff Reisberg, Victor Gordan, Yorick Droz, Zoey O’Neill.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoOVqQ5sa08

Climate Change Videos

Al Gore just said the quiet part out loud

Published

1 month ago

December 1, 2025

Alice Rush

Watch this video on Nebula ad-free and get 50% an annual subscription at https://go.nebula.tv/simonclark

Now the dust has settled, it’s time to talk about COP30. Good COP? Or bad COP?

You can support the channel by becoming a patron at http://www.patreon.com/simonoxfphys

———- II ———-

More about me – https://www.simonoxfphys.com/
My second channel – https://www.youtube.com/simonclarkerrata
My book – https://geni.us/firmament

Bluesky – https://bsky.app/profile/simonoxfphys.com
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/simonoxfphys
Twitch – https://www.twitch.tv/drsimonclark

———- II ———-

Music by Epidemic Sound: http://nebula.tv/epidemic
Some stock footage courtesy of Getty.
Edited by Luke Negus.
Research by Ian Campbell.

Huge thanks to my supporters on Patreon:

bitreign33 , Dave Teare, Eric A Gentzler, Gary Stark, Glen Monks, Marcus Bosshard.

Andy Hartley, Artem Plotnikov, Bastian Pranzas, Ben Curtis, Jeffry ., Jon Arlov, Marius Kießling, Paul H and Linda L, Peter Reid.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=loTNEhca8wQ

Climate Change Videos

The worst month of climate news in my entire career

Published

2 months ago

November 4, 2025

Alice Rush

Want to restore the planet’s ecosystems and see your impact in monthly videos? The first 100 people to join Planet Wild with my code SIMON10 will get the first month for free at: https://planetwild.com/r/simonclark/join
If you want to get to know them better first, check out their project using beehive fences to protect elephants and humans: https://planetwild.com/r/simonclark/m10

This month has been really tough. Let’s talk about why, and how we talk about climate in general. Oh, and how I’ve been staying sane. (?)

My monthly newsletter: https://www.simonoxfphys.com/newsletter

You can support the channel by becoming a patron at http://www.patreon.com/simonoxfphys

REFERENCES
1. https://apnews.com/article/climate-change-greenhouse-gases-wmo-un-708c3d35ce6fc3d3bcaccafdba6bba45
2. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/15/record-leap-in-co2-fuels-fears-of-accelerating-global-heating
3. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/28/change-course-now-humanity-has-missed-15c-climate-target-says-un-head
4. https://files.wri.org/d8/s3fs-public/2025-10/state-of-climate-action-2025.pdf
5. https://openknowledge.fao.org/items/090d2fbb-32a6-412b-a3b8-1ce5c5905df2
6. https://www.reuters.com/sustainability/cop/super-warming-methane-gas-is-being-tackled-too-slowly-un-says-ahead-cop30-2025-10-22/
7. https://global-tipping-points.org/about-us/
8. https://livingplanet.panda.org/en-GB/
9. https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/global-banking-climate-group-collapses-after-us-policy-shift-q6szfdjkh

———- II ———-

More about me – https://www.simonoxfphys.com/
My second channel – https://www.youtube.com/simonclarkerrata
My book – https://geni.us/firmament

Bluesky – https://bsky.app/profile/simonoxfphys.com
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/simonoxfphys
Twitch – https://www.twitch.tv/drsimonclark

———- II ———-

Music by Epidemic Sound: http://nebula.tv/epidemic
Some stock footage courtesy of Getty.
Edited by Luke Negus.

Huge thanks to my supporters on Patreon:
bitreign33 , Dave Teare, dryfrog, Eric A Gentzler, Gary Stark, Glen Monks, Marcus Bosshard.

Andy Hartley, Artem Plotnikov, Bastian Pranzas, Jeffry ., Jon Arlov, Marius Kießling, Paul H and Linda L, Peter Reid.

Adam Gillard, Adrian Sand, Alex, Alex Hall, Andrea De Mezzo, Andy Giesen, Andy Parr, Anže Cesar, Ashley Hauck, Ashley Steel, AYS , Baerbel Winkler, Bill Keydel, Brian Moss, Chris Laslett, Christian Weckner, Christopher Hall, Cifer, Ciotka Cierpienia, Circuitrinos, Claudia Kapp, Clemens, Cody VanZandt, Crisan Talpes, Cy ‘kkm’ K’Nelson, Dan Hanvey, Daniel Cooney, David Mccann, David Stone, Denis Kovachev, Diederik Jekel, Dominik Rihak, Duffman, FireFerretDann, flakykilowatt, Florian Thie, Fred, Gabriele Siino, GGH, Hannarrrr, Haris Karimjee, Heijde, I dropped out of my PhD, & I might forgive Simon., Ian Hamilton, Igor Francetic, Ishaan Shah, j51t, Jacob Speelman, James Gaskell, James Gurney, James Haigh, James Leadbetter, Jan-Willem Goedmakers, Jean-Manuel Izaret, John, Josef Probst, Joseph , Justin Warren, Katharina Hartmuth, Kevin B, Kirsten Athome, KJ Xiao, Knut Nesheim, Kristopher Sicari, Lach Woods, Leonard Neamtu, Marcin Wrochna, Mark Harper, Mark Moore, Mark Phillips, Mark Richardson, Martin, Mercure, Michael Belde, Michelle Valentinova, Miguel Cabrera Brufau, Mike, Morten Engsvang, Nathan Rohrlach, Nicholas Hamdorf, Nick Humphries, Nicklas Kulp, Nico Casal, Nico Kempe, OldGreyWolf, Pawel Piwek, Peter Lee, Phil Saici, Philipp Legner, Phineas, Rapssack, Real Engineering, Reid, Richard Swain, Ryan, Sean Richards, Seb Stott, Sergio Diaz, Simone, Steffan , streetlights, Sylvus , szigyi, Tanner , Ted CLAY, Thibault , Thomas Charbonnel, Thomas Newman, Thusto , Tobias Ahsbahs, Tom Painter, Tomás Garnier Artiñano, Tschäff Reisberg, Victor Gordan, Yorick Droz, Zoey O’Neill.