Clouds play an essential part in Earth’s climate by reflecting some of the sunlight back into space and keeping Earth cooler than otherwise. From sky-filling stratus to popcorn-puff cumulus and wispy cirrus all the way through to anvil-shaped nimbus clouds are essential in keeping its temperatures at an acceptable level.
Clouds form in areas with air that is clean enough to support condensation nuclei; without them, one of Earth’s key mechanisms for temperature regulation would cease functioning.
Weather
Clouds come in all forms–sky-filling stratus, popcorn puff cumulus, wispy cirrus and anvil-shaped nimbus–and span many physical scales. Composed largely of water or ice molecules held together by complex physics principles, clouds play an integral part in Earth’s climate by reflecting sunlight back out to space and cooling our planet while keeping its temperatures under control.
Weather reports also provide us with valuable insight into air temperature and atmospheric water content, which helps us forecast weather accurately. Furthermore, they affect how much sunlight reaches the ground versus heat escapes into space – two vital parameters when researching climate change.
Descartes Labs software created a stunning snapshot of Earth without clouds that even astronauts cannot witness–an earth without clouds! The program seamlessly stitched daily satellite images together into a live map of the globe before automatically editing out any clouds that were in its path, producing an eye-catching photo that captured every inch of the globe with ease.
Normal conditions dictate that when water evaporates from oceans and land, its heat causes condensation that forms clouds. Without clouds to act as filters for air pollution, however, excess humidity would accumulate, creating problems such as higher humidity levels; making agriculture harder; making city building much harder; and airplane flights would experience much greater turbulence compared to their current experience.
As for the rest of Earth, an environment without clouds would likely be dry and arid, and likely hotter due to lack of reflection from clouds refracting sunlight back into space. Wildfires would likely increase as a result, potentially unleashing stored carbon from ecosystems such as Amazon rainforest. There is also potential that sea levels might rise more significantly; although that remains less certain.
Researchers are intrigued by the promise of a planet devoid of clouds, so much so that scientists have taken to using software to simulate what such an earth might look like without them. Computer simulations over the past couple of centuries demonstrate this fact by showing that as Earth warms up, less clouds in the sky decrease – leading to even faster warming due to less reflective surfaces that reflect solar rays – further exacerbating global warming in a feedback loop that threatens to spin out of control.
Climate
Clouds cover roughly 70% of Earth at any given moment, from wispy wisps to thick puffy banks. Not only are clouds part of weather systems but they can also influence how much sunlight reaches Earth and heat escapes back into space; two elements which play into climate.
Clouds form when sunlight heats water on land or ocean surfaces, creating water vapor that rises until reaching an altitude high enough that its temperature starts to decrease and begins condensing into droplets that form clouds.
Without clouds, solar rays would be able to more evenly and rapidly warm the Earth’s surface, leading to less extreme variations between high altitudes and low altitudes or between poles and equator temperatures. Furthermore, clouds play an integral part in global water cycles; without them underground water supplies like aquifers would no longer automatically replenish themselves.
There have been attempts to capture an accurate cloud-free image of Earth, but it can be challenging and time consuming. For instance, 312 orbits of NASA-NOAA Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership Satellite are required in order to produce enough data that creates a clear image at night.
Scientists want to experience what Earth would look like without clouds for several reasons. One could be that such images might help verify climate models; another could be seeing what effect carbon dioxide has on clouds as concentrations continue to rise and water vapor that composes most of them becomes thinner and lighter – possibly eroding their coverage over time and making their presence harder to maintain. Such observations could then help further our understanding of climate change effects on global water cycles and Earth’s long-term temperature balances.
Oceans
Clouds cover about 70% of Earth’s surface at any given time and help regulate its temperature. Without clouds, temperatures would quickly soar, destroying habitats and killing off most wildlife species; polar ice caps would melt, sea levels would rise significantly and life on Earth might come to an abrupt halt – although experts know exactly what would happen without clouds, it will take costly climate modeling for an accurate picture to emerge; they do know however, that life on Earth would take an entirely different form without clouds – although who knows for how long!
Scientists have used satellites to attempt and create an image of Earth without clouds using nine days’ worth of data from Suomi NPP (National Partnership for Aeronautics and Space) satellite. The above true-color map of Earth at night features oceans in shades of blue while land has hues ranging from green to brown – showing where ocean currents meet landmasses.
The map also reveals an intriguing pattern. Most clouds can be found above oceans, particularly thick blanket-like stratocumulus clouds that shade them and prevent rapid warming – which accounts for the coloration of seawater as a result. This explains why oceans appear bluer.
Clouds play an essential part of the water cycle and play an indispensable role in keeping our planet habitable. Aside from providing rain, sleet and snowfall to nourish the land surface below them, clouds also help regulate global temperature by reflecting sunlight or absorbing it back to our planet – without them there would be irreparable disruption in weather patterns resulting from disrupted water cycles and temperature regulation systems.
One variable may differ is their strength, as hurricanes rely on warm waters for their strength while cooler air serves to dissipate it. Without land for them to dissipate on, their intensity could prolong and deepen further.
Another potential complication would be an increase in humidity. When exposed to sunlight, water evaporates into vapor that cools off by passing air currents before being collected by clouds for storage in the sky. Without clouds present to cool it off and form clouds, that accumulated moisture would just hang in the air until eventually reaching 100% humidity levels.
Life
From sky-covering stratus, popcorn-puff cumulus, wispy cirrus and anvil-shaped nimbus clouds span an impressive spectrum. Their tiny droplets of water, ice or other substances cover vast distances to protect Earth from solar radiation; without them the climate would change dramatically, but life would cease.
Imagine a world without clouds: without precipitation, underground aquifers wouldn’t get replenished and droughts would become increasingly frequent; but more importantly, temperatures on Earth would soar dramatically higher as temperatures increase without our protection.
Studies indicate that two-thirds of the planet is covered by clouds at any one time, including approximately 67 percent of ocean surfaces and 30 percent of land surfaces. Ocean skies tend to be cloudier than land ones, perhaps because warmer air rises, reaching cooler atmospheric layers above, condenses into cloud cover before passing back through to form an oceanic climate cycle and condenses further as clouds.
At a macro level, clouds play an essential role in keeping Earth warm by reflecting sunlight back into space and keeping temperatures stable. If clouds suddenly disappear and solar radiation reaches Earth’s surface more directly, further heating it and creating an endless cycle of warming that may be difficult to break free from.
Scientists estimate that without clouds, global temperatures would increase by 22 degrees Celsius, killing off most species as their habitats collapsed and melting away the polar ice caps; along with many human lives.
Evaporation of water marks the initial step in the formation of clouds, whether through rain or snowfall. Other factors may also play a part in cloud formation: stable weather patterns can limit cloud formation while humidity levels can restrict how much of its vapor can become clouds.
Planet rotation speed also plays a crucial role, affecting how effectively hurricane-like winds sweep across its surface. The faster a planet spins, the stronger its Coriolis effect and thus, more bands of atmospheric molecules that whip into swirling patterns.