Examining How Radiative Fluxes Are Affected by Cloud and Particle Characteristics
Department of Energy, Office of ScienceClimate models calculate a changing mix of clouds and emissions that interact with solar energy. To narrow the broad range of possible answers from a climate model, researchers analyzed the effect of several proven numerical stand-ins for atmospheric processes on the energy flux at the top of the atmosphere. They found that the flux is the main driver of surface temperature change.