Articles | Volume 26, issue 6
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-4289-2026
https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-4289-2026
Research article
 | 
27 Mar 2026
Research article |  | 27 Mar 2026

Meteorological drivers of the low-cloud radiative feedback pattern effect and its uncertainty

Rachel Yuen Sum Tam, Timothy A. Myers, Mark D. Zelinka, Cristian Proistosescu, Yuan-Jen Lin, and Kate Marvel

Related authors

Aerosol–cloud interactions in marine low-clouds in a warmer climate
Prasanth Prabhakaran, Timothy A. Myers, Fabian Hoffmann, and Graham Feingold
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 5151–5167, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-5151-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-5151-2026, 2026
Short summary
CMIP7 Data Request: atmosphere priorities and opportunities
Beth Dingley, James A. Anstey, Marta Abalos, Carsten Abraham, Tommi Bergman, Lisa Bock, Sonya Fiddes, Birgit Hassler, Ryan J. Kramer, Fei Luo, Fiona M. O'Connor, Petr Šácha, Isla R. Simpson, Laura J. Wilcox, and Mark D. Zelinka
Geosci. Model Dev., 19, 2945–2984, https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-2945-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/gmd-19-2945-2026, 2026
Short summary
Land carbon response to positive, zero, and negative CO2 emissions across Earth system models
Abigail L. S. Swann, Charles D. Koven, Cristian Proistosecu, Rosie A. Fisher, Benjamin M. Sanderson, Victor Brovkin, Tomohiro Hajima, Chris D. Jones, Nancy Y. Kiang, David M. Lawrence, Spencer Liddicoat, Hannah Liddy, Anastasia Romanou, Roland Séférian, Lori T. Sentman, Norman J. Steinert, Jerry Tjiputra, and Tilo Ziehn
EGUsphere, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1673,https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2026-1673, 2026
This preprint is open for discussion and under review for Earth System Dynamics (ESD).
Short summary
Emerging low-cloud feedback and adjustment in global satellite observations
Paulo Ceppi, Sarah Wilson Kemsley, Hendrik Andersen, Timothy Andrews, Ryan J. Kramer, Peer Nowack, Casey J. Wall, and Mark D. Zelinka
Atmos. Chem. Phys., 26, 4153–4171, https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-4153-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/acp-26-4153-2026, 2026
Short summary
Nineteen months of daily weather logging on the U.S. east coast: The WFIP3 event log
Nicola Bodini, Joseph Olson, Brian Gaudet, Giacomo Valerio Iungo, Mojtaba Shams Solari, Sayahnya Roy, Julie K. Lundquist, Nathan Agarwal, Timothy A. Myers, Bianca Adler, Jeffrey D. Mirocha, Eric James, Laura Bianco, James M. Wilczak, and David D. Turner
Wind Energ. Sci. Discuss., https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2026-17,https://doi.org/10.5194/wes-2026-17, 2026
Revised manuscript under review for WES
Short summary

Cited articles

Andrews, T. and Ringer, M. A.: Cloud Feedbacks, Rapid Adjustments, and the Forcing–Response Relationship in a Transient CO2 Reversibility Scenario, J. Clim., 27, 1799–1818, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-13-00421.1, 2014. a
Andrews, T., Gregory, J. M., Webb, M. J., and Taylor, K. E.: Forcing, feedbacks and climate sensitivity in CMIP5 coupled atmosphere-ocean climate models: Climate Sensitivity in CMIP5 Models, Geophys. Res. Lett., 39, https://doi.org/10.1029/2012GL051607, 2012. a
Andrews, T., Gregory, J. M., and Webb, M. J.: The Dependence of Radiative Forcing and Feedback on Evolving Patterns of Surface Temperature Change in Climate Models, J. Clim., 28, 1630–1648, https://doi.org/10.1175/JCLI-D-14-00545.1, 2015. a, b, c, d, e, f, g
Andrews, T., Gregory, J. M., Paynter, D., Silvers, L. G., Zhou, C., Mauritsen, T., Webb, M. J., Armour, K. C., Forster, P. M., and Titchner, H.: Accounting for Changing Temperature Patterns Increases Historical Estimates of Climate Sensitivity, Geophys. Res. Lett., 45, 8490–8499, https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL078887, 2018. a
Andrews, T., BodasSalcedo, A., Gregory, J. M., Dong, Y., Armour, K. C., Paynter, D., Lin, P., Modak, A., Mauritsen, T., Cole, J. N. S., Medeiros, B., Benedict, J. J., Douville, H. e., Roehrig, R., Koshiro, T., Kawai, H., Ogura, T., Dufresne, J., Allan, R. P., and Liu, C.: On the Effect of Historical SST Patterns on Radiative Feedback, J. Geophys. Res.-Atmos., 127, https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JD036675, 2022. a, b, c, d
Download
Short summary
This work identifies the key driver to the change of present and future climate response, known as the pattern effect, by breaking down low-cloud feedback as the radiative changes to meteorology and the meteorology changes to warming using a cloud controlling factor framework. We identify inversion strength in the Southern Ocean and the South East Pacific as the main driver to the pattern effect, and larger uncertainty remains in the sensitivities of radiative flux to meteorology.
Share
Altmetrics
Final-revised paper
Preprint