// lecture 10

Question 1

cloud radiative effect (CRE)

Answer 1

• the amount by which today’s clouds change the top-of-atmosphere radiation balance

Question 2

longwave cloud radiative effect

Answer 2

clouds trap LW emission from blow and emit at their colder temp - a warming effect

Question 3

shortwave cloud radiative effect

Answer 3

clouds reflect more solar radiation than the earth without clouds - a cooling effect

Question 4

net cloud radiative effect

Answer 4

the sum of LWCRE and SWCRE; is it pos or neg?

Question 5

The Cloud Radiative Effect is

Answer 5

The amount by which the radiation balance at the top of the atmosphere changes if you insert the clouds and leave everything else, e.g. temperature and water vapor, unchanged.

Question 6

more low clouds…

Answer 6

could lead to less warming than predicted

Question 7

less low clouds…

Answer 7

could lead to sig. more warming

Question 8

LW cloud feedback is likely pos…

Answer 8

because high clouds will get higher i.e. more GH effect - basically a result of water vapor increasing with temperature

Question 9

amount of of low clouds will

Answer 9

decrease in the tropics and subtropics in a warmed earth – more absorbed solar radiation which is a pos. feedback

Question 10

IPCC conclusion:

Answer 10

cloud feedback is likely pos, 66% probability.