Why are clouds different shapes?
Look up into the sky and you’ll notice that clouds shift in shape and size. This is due to there being numerous common types of cloud formation, with each performing a natural role, which is determined by external factors such as altitude, condensation and disposition. These include stratus, cumulus, stratocumulus, altocumulus, cirrus, cirrocumulus and cumulonimbus.
Most cloud formations are produced in environments that are saturated, or where relative humidity is at 100 per cent. Varying mechanisms can activate this process. For example orographic uplift, which occurs as air is forced up due to the physical presence of elevated landmass. As air rises it cools as a result of adiabatic expansion, at a rate of approximately ten degrees Celsius per every 1,000 metres, until saturation occurs. Stratus clouds, for example, form when minimal upward vertical air currents lift a thin layer of air high, which is enough to initiate the condensation of excess water vapour.
