Testing a new explanation of cloud feedback on global climate

一项新的分析表明，全球气候对温室气体的敏感性在很大程度上受到对流层下部水蒸气向上输送的控制，但该分析没有研究云，而云必须参与其中，才能使机制有效。拟议项目的目的是确定这一新解释所暗示的云的变化是否得到观测和过程模型的支持。如果这一解释得到证实，那么在30多年的紧张研究中，将首次有可能通过研究当今的大气来确定全球变暖的长期严重程度。这项研究的预期结果是澄清低云如何以及为什么会在气候变化的情况下变化。

A new analysis suggests that the sensitivity of global climate to greenhouse gases is largely controlled by the upward transport of water vapour in the lower troposphere, but the analysis did not examine clouds, which must be involved for the mechanism to be valid. The aim of the proposed project is to determine whether variations in cloud implied by this new explanation are supported by observations and process models. If the explanation is confirmed, then for the first time in over 30 years of intense research it will be possible to determine the long-term severity of global warming by examining the present-day atmosphere. The expected outcome of this research is to clarify how and why low clouds change in altered climates.