Climate change: a very cloudy picture

The cloud systems of our planet fundamentally shape our climate in the way they affect the flow of radiation in and out of the planet and in the way they connect key processes together to form the hydrological cycle. Although there has been a great deal of progress in understanding these pivotal influences on our climate system, both from advances in observations and modelling, major uncertainties remain with regard to how cloud-related processes affect climate change. This talk will explain why clouds represent a complicated influence on climate and emphasize the progress and important recent insights derived from global observations of clouds and precipitation. Among the cloud-climate issues addressed are: 1) the quantitative role of clouds on the planets energy balance, 2) quantitative insights on global precipitation processes and how these processes affect the energy balance, 3) cloud microphysical processes and aerosol influences on these processes including effects on cloud albedo and precipitation. These new insights will then be overlain on the performance of current climate models, including the changes to energy balances and the predictions of precipitation change associated with global warming.