Implications of Cloud Study for Climate Engineering
Shadows cast during a partial eclipse. Image source: Yvonne Hanson/Shutterstock.com
A recent study discovered that certain types of clouds vanish during solar eclipses, shedding light on why it happens. This finding might affect efforts to control the climate. During solar eclipses, people have noticed that regular cumulus clouds over land disappear quickly.
The lead author of the study, Victor Trees, explained that although we can see clouds disappearing during a solar eclipse from Earth, it’s not enough to prove anything. Clouds change all the time, not just during eclipses.
However, accurately measuring this effect has been tricky. Satellite measurements during past solar eclipses didn’t consider that the Moon’s shadow makes clouds less bright, creating dark spots on cloud maps. In this new study, scientists from Delft University of Technology and the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute developed a new method to analyze data from previous eclipses. This method took into account how much of the Sun was blocked by the Moon across the Earth.
Trees added, “During most of the solar eclipse, there’s still plenty of light outside. Satellites can get enough reflected sunlight to measure clouds accurately after adjusting for the shadow.”
Using this new method, the team studied three previous eclipses and found that cumulus clouds start to disappear when only a small part of the Sun is blocked by the Moon.
The team explains in their paper that over land areas, shallow cumulus clouds start vanishing when the solar eclipse obscures about 15% of the Sun. Their simulations show that the clouds begin to vanish even with smaller obscuration.
The Ocean
However, over the ocean, cumulus clouds don’t disappear during partial solar eclipses because the surface doesn’t cool down as much as land does.
The team further explains in the paper that the disappearing clouds during a solar eclipse happen because the land surface temperature drops, reducing the transfer of heat from the surface to the lowest layer of the atmosphere.
In addition to confirming the odd disappearance of cumulus clouds during eclipses, the team suggests that their findings might have implications for any future attempts to control the climate.
Trees warns, “This could be a warning for climate engineering. If we block the sun in the future using technology, it might affect the clouds. Having fewer clouds could work against climate engineering efforts because clouds reflect sunlight, which helps cool down the Earth.”
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