EnfieldThinks - The Life & Work of Luke Howard

In 1802 an amateur meteorologist named Luke Howard gave clouds the names that we still use today: cirrus, stratus, cumulus. This language of the skies was quickly taken up by the world’s scientists, but it also influenced writers and artists such as Shelley and Constable. Although Howard remains best known for his cloud classification, he was also the first to notice that the centre of London is warmer than the outskirts. Using twenty years’ of temperature records from his home in Tottenham, he identified what is now known as the urban heat island: he was also the first to suggest that human activity such as coal-burning was the cause of such atmospheric warming.

This talk will discuss the long-term impact of Howard's ideas, while considering how our understanding of weather and climate has changed over time, and how it is likely to change in the future.