"I love the way clouds billow above your head, drift lazily across blue skies and cast fleeting shadows on the ground below. These ever-shifting sculptures of vapor and light are among nature's least appreciated marvels. That's why 20 years ago, I started the Cloud Appreciation Society, to remind people to look up. Now climate science is catching up, revealing that clouds aren't just poetic; they're pivotal in helping to regulate Earth's temperature."
"How exactly cloud cover will shift in a warming world is anyone's guess; it's one of the largest sources of uncertainty in climate science. But it should also be everyone's concern. What happens to our clouds as the planet warms is so important that we need a renaissance in the study of clouds. Clouds are classified by their altitude and appearance whether they look like solid clumps,"
"Low clouds such as these puffy cumulus typically have a cooling effect, as do the clumpy layers known as stratocumulus and the smooth layers known as stratus. Animation of fluffy cumulus clouds slowly moving across a field. Much of the sun's rays are reflected off their white tops back up into space. And they are dense enough to cast shadows, cooling the surface below the natural parasol effect you feel on a beach when one drifts overhead."
Clouds billow, drift, and cast fleeting shadows while acting as crucial regulators of Earth's temperature. Climate science indicates that cloud influence on climate is evolving, and future shifts in cloud cover under warming remain highly uncertain. Different cloud types vary by altitude and appearance and exert distinct effects on surface temperatures through their balance of reflected solar radiation and trapped terrestrial heat. Low clouds such as cumulus, stratocumulus, and stratus generally produce net cooling by reflecting sunlight and radiating heat to space. A significant increase in cloud-focused research is necessary to reduce climate prediction uncertainty.
Read at www.nytimes.com
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