Climate change may be affecting Earth’s cloud cover
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.029956
NPR : Since at least the 1980s, clouds in the midlatitudes have been retreating toward the poles, according to a new study in Nature. Two driving forces have been identified: increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and the cooling effect of two volcanic eruptions. Joel Norris of the University of California, San Diego, and colleagues, who based their findings on satellite cloud data gathered over the past several decades, say the changes match those predicted by most climate models of global warming. However, other climate researchers say that because clouds are an extremely complex weather phenomenon, much more data, gathered over much longer time periods, will be needed to completely understand them and their effects on Earth’s climate.