Prelimsverse: Effects of High clouds and Low clouds

1. The study of clouds, where they occur, and their characteristics, play a key role in the understanding of climate change.

2. Whether a given cloud will heat or cool the surface depends on several factors, including the cloud’s altitude, its size, and the make-up of the particles that form the cloud.

3. Low, thick clouds primarily reflect solar radiation and cool the surface of the Earth. 

4. High, thin clouds primarily transmit incoming solar radiation; at the same time, they trap some of the outgoing infrared radiation emitted by the Earth and radiate it back downward, thereby warming the surface of the Earth.

TYPES OF CLOUDS 

On the basis of Shape

Clouds	Shape
Cirrus	Shape of a feather/wisps
Stratus	Strata/layer form
cumulous	Cotton like shape
Nimbus	Dark and large

On the basis of Altitude

Clouds	Altitude
High Clouds 1. Cirrus  2. Cirrostratus	10-12km
Alto/Medium Clouds  1. Alto cumulous 2. Alto Stratus	6-10km
Low Clouds 1. Low stratus clouds 2. Stratocumulous 3. Nimbostratus (Raining Cats and Dogs)	2-4km
Vertical Clouds 1. Cumulus clouds (Fair Weather Cloud) 2. Cumulonimbus clouds (Thunder Cloud)	From ground upto tropopause.

Extra Reading: 

Image Credit: NASA

The Earth’s climate system constantly adjusts in a way that tends toward maintaining a balance between the energy that reaches the Earth from the sun and the energy that goes from Earth back out to space. Scientists refer to this as Earth’s “radiation budget.”

Energy goes back to space from the Earth system in two ways: reflection and emission. Part of the solar energy that comes to Earth is reflected back out to space in the same, short wavelengths in which it came to Earth. The fraction of solar energy that is reflected back to space is called the albedo.

Different parts of the Earth have different albedos. For example, ocean surfaces and rain forests have low albedos, which means that they reflect only a small portion of the sun’s energy. Deserts, ice, and clouds, however, have high albedos; they reflect a large portion of the sun’s energy.