Thermodynamics of climate change between cloud cover, atmospheric temperature and humidity
Abstract On a global and annual average, we find a parameterization in which the cloud cover increase is proportional to the mid tropospheric temperature increase, with a negative proportionality factor. If the relative humidity is conserved throughout the troposphere, a 1 °C heating (cooling) of th...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Nature Portfolio
2021-10-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00555-5 |
| _version_ | 1818952281122406400 |
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| author | Víctor Mendoza Marni Pazos René Garduño Blanca Mendoza |
| author_facet | Víctor Mendoza Marni Pazos René Garduño Blanca Mendoza |
| author_sort | Víctor Mendoza |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract On a global and annual average, we find a parameterization in which the cloud cover increase is proportional to the mid tropospheric temperature increase, with a negative proportionality factor. If the relative humidity is conserved throughout the troposphere, a 1 °C heating (cooling) of the mid troposphere, decreases (increases) the cloud cover by 1.5 percentage points (pp). But if the relative humidity is not conserved, then the cloud cover decreases (increases) by 7.6 pp. If the shortwave reflection effect of the cloud cover is dominant on a global scale, this parameterization leads to a predominant positive feedback: if the temperature increases like in the current climate change, the cloud cover decreases and more solar radiation reaches the surface increasing the temperature even more. The contribution of the present work consists in finding that the negative sign of the proportionality factor is due to the Clausius–Clapeyron equation; that is, to the magnitude of the derivative of the saturation vapor pressure at the typical standard surface temperature of 288 K. The negative sign of the factor is independent on the conservation or non-conservation of relative humidity in the troposphere under climate change. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-20T09:47:53Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-b64260a143aa4c29995db7545f3b997e |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-20T09:47:53Z |
| publishDate | 2021-10-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-b64260a143aa4c29995db7545f3b997e2022-12-21T19:44:42ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222021-10-0111111110.1038/s41598-021-00555-5Thermodynamics of climate change between cloud cover, atmospheric temperature and humidityVíctor Mendoza0Marni Pazos1René Garduño2Blanca Mendoza3Instituto de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y Cambio Climático, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoInstituto de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y Cambio Climático, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoInstituto de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y Cambio Climático, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoEscuela Nacional de Ciencias de la Tierra, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de MéxicoAbstract On a global and annual average, we find a parameterization in which the cloud cover increase is proportional to the mid tropospheric temperature increase, with a negative proportionality factor. If the relative humidity is conserved throughout the troposphere, a 1 °C heating (cooling) of the mid troposphere, decreases (increases) the cloud cover by 1.5 percentage points (pp). But if the relative humidity is not conserved, then the cloud cover decreases (increases) by 7.6 pp. If the shortwave reflection effect of the cloud cover is dominant on a global scale, this parameterization leads to a predominant positive feedback: if the temperature increases like in the current climate change, the cloud cover decreases and more solar radiation reaches the surface increasing the temperature even more. The contribution of the present work consists in finding that the negative sign of the proportionality factor is due to the Clausius–Clapeyron equation; that is, to the magnitude of the derivative of the saturation vapor pressure at the typical standard surface temperature of 288 K. The negative sign of the factor is independent on the conservation or non-conservation of relative humidity in the troposphere under climate change.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00555-5 |
| spellingShingle | Víctor Mendoza Marni Pazos René Garduño Blanca Mendoza Thermodynamics of climate change between cloud cover, atmospheric temperature and humidity Scientific Reports |
| title | Thermodynamics of climate change between cloud cover, atmospheric temperature and humidity |
| title_full | Thermodynamics of climate change between cloud cover, atmospheric temperature and humidity |
| title_fullStr | Thermodynamics of climate change between cloud cover, atmospheric temperature and humidity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Thermodynamics of climate change between cloud cover, atmospheric temperature and humidity |
| title_short | Thermodynamics of climate change between cloud cover, atmospheric temperature and humidity |
| title_sort | thermodynamics of climate change between cloud cover atmospheric temperature and humidity |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-00555-5 |
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