Clouds affect climate in two major ways. First, they are an essential part of the water cycle. Clouds provide an important link between the rain and snow, oceans and lakes, and plants and animals. Clouds are an important part of the water cycle here on Earth.
The answer is that cumulus clouds are probably the most well-known of the cloud types. If updrafts become stronger, those seemingly innocuous cumulus clouds may grow taller into what we call cumulonimbus clouds. Some additional things to take a look at are cirrus, stratus, contrails, mammatus, or lenticular.
The effect of clouds on surface temperature is the net effect of three things :
Their reflecting sunlight from their top side,
Their greenhouse effect of absorbing and reradiating downward the thermal radiation of the Earth’s surface,
Their reflecting back down the thermal radiation from Earth’s surface.
Another frequently asked query is “How can clouds affect temperature?”.
Some believe that but it’s a bit complicated: Clouds can both cool down and warm up the temperatures on Earth. Clouds can block light and heat from the Sun, making Earth’s temperature cooler.
On the whole, higher temperature will produce greater moisture in the air, which will favor the formation of clouds in the cool regions of the atmosphere (which may move upward as the surface warms).
How can clouds help predict weather?
A couple additional items to pay attention too: sources, cumulonimbus clouds: severe storms, stratus clouds: fog, altocumulus clouds: warm with a risk of storms, nimbostratus clouds: rain, rain go away! Cirrostratus clouds: moisture moving in, and altostratus clouds: expect light rain.
Look at the shape of the clouds. The types of clouds in the sky can tell you a lot about the weather . In general, clouds that are white and high indicate good weather, and clouds that are dark and low mean rain or storms are on the way. White, wispy clouds usually mean that the weather will be clear.
Learn to identify the difference between cumulus and stratus clouds at low, medium, and high levels of altitude. Practice watching sequences of cloud changes associated with Nimbostratus storms vs Cumulonimbus storms. Keep a cloud and weather journal and track sequences of clouds while testing your accuracy at all times of the year. , and more items.
Altostratus clouds: expect light rain, cumulonimbus clouds: severe storms, cirrostratus clouds: moisture moving in, sources, stratus clouds: fog, altocumulus clouds: warm with a risk of storms, and nimbostratus clouds: rain, rain go away! Are a couple additional ideas to take a look at.
How do clouds help keep Earth warm?
Those high, wispy clouds actually keep Earth warm, like a blanket, by preventing heat from escaping into space. Dr. Platnick uses NASA’s Aqua satellite to determine the height of clouds, and other properties of clouds as well – like what’s inside a cloud, how much water they have, whether the cloud is primarily liquid or ice.
How do warm currents affect temperature?
One principle of physics is that material that is less dense will rise, while material that is more dense will sink. Temperature really is a measure of energy. When the water molecules of the ocean become heated, they expand. Fun facts, or sources of salt and other minerals in addition are a couple extra items to look into.