Clouds can help prevent global warming

The researcher Roger Davies of the University of Auckland in New Zealand and his colleagues analyzed the device, fixing the upper limit of the clouds by measuring their height from March 2000 to February 2010. During the last ten years, scientists have observed through the instruments of the spacecraft for NASA clouds above the Earth.

As a result, they found that within a decade the average height of the clouds decreased by approximately 1%, which is equal to 30-40 meters. The reason for this phenomenon is referred to as a small number of emerging high-altitude clouds.

It is believed that fluctuations "white-winged horses" displays the status of the Earth's climate. A slight reduction in the height of clouds cool the planet, and it is possible that slows down the process of global warming. It is curious, because if this is confirmed, we will be able to observe the process of reaction, when the rise in the average global temperature leads to a decrease in cloud cover, which in turn constrains warming. However, no one fully understands how clouds will respond to climate change.

"We can not say exactly what causes the cloud heights to lower," - the statement says researcher Roger Davies. "But it must be associated with a change in air circulation, which is at an altitude contributes to the formation of clouds».
The researchers also said that the measurements carried out in this area, it is difficult, and they can not clearly display the current trend. However, in the future, such observations will help scientists to determine the effect of the height of clouds on global climate change. The clouds, which will fall into Earth's atmosphere, will allow cooled air temperature more effectively and to some extent offset the warming caused by greenhouse gases.

The researchers presented their findings in the journal Geophysical Research Letters. By the end of this decade Terra satellite will continue to collect data. This information will help determine whether the reduction in cloud stable trend.