Organized Trade Cumulus Clouds Suppressed by Climate Change | CU Experts

We present a first study showing that organization of trade cumulus (Tc); clouds can significantly enhance Tc response to climate change. Among; four recently identified states of Tc organization, the “Flower” state; has the highest and the “Sugar” state the lowest cloud fraction and; cloud radiative effect. Using large-eddy simulations, we show that the; organized “Flower” Tc state is strongly suppressed at the end of the; 21st century, unlike the less organized “Sugar” Tc state and Tc; studied previously. The primary cause of the suppression is down-welling; long-wave radiation from increased greenhouse gas concentrations, which; weakens the mesoscale circulation that organizes clouds into the; “Flower” Tc state. The cumulus-valve mechanism, which is thought to; limit Tc response to climate change, does not prevent this response. Our; work unravels an unrecognized role of cloud organization in the cloud; response to climate change.

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