Global warming to be far worse than anyone had predicted, new cloud analysis study says
Clouds contain far more liquid, rather than ice, than had been previously presumed — and the finding could have a huge impact for current models of climate change
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Climate change could be far, far worse than had previously been precited, according to a new study.
New research explored the make-up of clouds, and found that they contained far more liquid water than ice, scientists write in a new study in Science. The ice that clouds contain helps to reflect radiation from the sun back into space — and so the more water that they contain, the more of that radiation will be able to make its way to Earth.
The study also found that fewer clouds are going to change into that state in the future. That will also mean that the planet could warm more and more quickly than had previously been predicted.
Scientists now hope to do more work to understand the exact make-up of clouds, and how it will change our models of the planet’s warming. It still remains unclear how exactly clouds will change as the climate warms, which is difficult to understand because of the fluctuations in how clouds form and are distributed.
But it could mean that previous hopes for keeping global warming to 2C could be difficult if not impossible to keep to. That upper limit on how much the planet will be able to warm could have to be revised upwards because of the huge new findings about the make-up of clouds, the researchers have said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments