Articles | Volume 20, issue 10
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6225-2020
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-20-6225-2020
Research article
 | 
28 May 2020
Research article |  | 28 May 2020

Quantifying cloud adjustments and the radiative forcing due to aerosol–cloud interactions in satellite observations of warm marine clouds

Alyson Douglas and Tristan L'Ecuyer

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Cited articles

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Short summary
Aerosols, or small, suspended droplets in the atmosphere, are released from anthropogenic activity and interact with warm clouds, leading to changes in the clouds' brightness and size. Our study evaluates how aerosols alter warm clouds and their ability to cool the Earth's surface. We find aerosols make clouds brighter and grow larger in the atmosphere; however, the cooling effect due to whiter, brighter clouds is 5 times the cooling due to an increased extent.
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