Which clouds tend to cool the Earth more than they warm it and cloud cover affect the amount of energy that reaches the earth's surface?
Murtadha Shukur
You're right, cloud cover plays a big role in regulating Earth's temperature, and different cloud types have varying effects. Here's the breakdown:
- Cooling Champions: Low-lying, thick clouds, like stratocumulus and nimbostratus, act like giant umbrellas. They're good at reflecting sunlight back into space, preventing it from heating the Earth's surface. This gives them a net cooling effect.
- Warming Widerspensers: High-altitude, wispy clouds, such as cirrus and cirrostratus, are more transparent to sunlight. They let most of the sun's rays through, but they trap some of the Earth's outgoing heat radiation. This creates a net warming effect.
Overall, despite the presence of high clouds, studies show a net cooling effect from clouds because low-level clouds are more abundant. However, cloud cover is a complex system, and scientists are still working to understand how it will change with a warming climate.
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