If the atmosphere is radiating this much, it must be absorbing that much. Clouds, aerosols, water vapor, and ozone directly absorb 23 percent of incoming solar energy. Evaporation and convection transfer 25 and 5 percent of incoming solar energy from the surface to the atmosphere.
However, some heat from the Sun does get down to Earth. Clouds can trap that heat from the Sun. At night, when there’s no sunlight, clouds are still trapping heat. It’s sort of like clouds are wrapping Earth in a big, warm blanket. During the day, clouds can make the temperature on Earth cooler by blocking heat from the Sun.
Do clouds cool the Earth’s surface?
Well, that depends on where the clouds are in Earth’s atmosphere. Clouds within a mile or so of Earth’s surface tend to cool more than they warm. These low, thicker clouds mostly reflect the Sun’s heat. This cools Earth’s surface.
Another frequent question is “What is the role of clouds in the atmosphere?”.
Our answer is In addition to the warming effect of clear air, clouds in the atmosphere help to moderate the Earth’s tempera- ture. The balance of the opposing cloud albedo and cloud greenhouse forcings determines whether a certain cloud type will add to the air’s natural warming of the Earth’s surface or produce a cooling effect.
This begs the query “How much of the Earth is covered by clouds?”
At any given moment, about two-thirds of our planet is covered by clouds. So it’s not too surprising that clouds play an important role in Earth’s climate! A cloud-covered part of Earth, photographed by an Expedition 40 crew member on the International Space Station.
Why don’t we see lightning in clouds?
First off quite some energy must be present in clouds: a lightning path is quite long, and electrical breakdown of air requires about 1MV/m. Most (many, smaller) electric discharges are not seen because they occur within clouds. The electric energy built up can also be lost in other ways (i. e. Lorentz force).
Why are clouds so difficult to understand?
In fact, clouds are considered one of the most challenging aspects of climate science. That’s because truly understanding clouds requires a deep understanding of the entire atmosphere.
Most (many, smaller) electric discharges are not seen because they occur within clouds. The electric energy built up can also be lost in other ways (i. e. Lorentz force). Some of it comes to ground and when it happens it has such large peak power (on average about a trillion watts) that it can not efficiently be harvested.
What are the disadvantages of cloud seeding?
It uses compounds that can harm the ecosystem, especially plants and animals. Silver iodine is not currently known to be harmful to our health today, and it might change 3. In the future as more research is done. This technique is usually used on clouds that already show early signs of rainfall, so it is.
Risks or concerns like unwanted ecological changes, ozone depletion, continued ocean acidification, erratic changes in rainfall patterns, rapid warming if seeding were to be stopped abruptly, airplane effects, to name a few, may just not be bad enough to override the imperative to keep.
This begs the inquiry “Why cloud seeding is bad?”
It uses potentially harmful chemicals. It is important to know that cloud seeding does involve the use of chemicals into the air, which means that it can potentially harm the environment, especially plants and animals.
The full impact of cloud seeding is still not fully known, but it is helpful to what its pros and cons are so far. List of Pros of Cloud Seeding. It creates rain. One big benefit of cloud seeding is being able to create rain in regions that are most affected by droughts, lessening the impact of the harsh climate.