Editing Altostratus cloud (section)

== Effects on climate ==
Globally, clouds reflect around 50 [[watt]]s per square meter{{efn|To break this number, <math>50 \frac{W}{m^2}</math> down into practical terms, 50 watts is enough energy to raise the temperature of 1 liter (1 kilogram) of water by .012&nbsp;°C every second or around 43&nbsp;°C every hour. This amount of energy is being reflected by the averaged global cloud cover every single square meter. <math>Q = m \cdot c \cdot \Delta T \rightarrow \Delta T = \frac{Q}{m \cdot c} = \frac{50 J}{1 kg \cdot 4186 \frac{J}{kg \cdot ^{\circ} C}} = .012 ^{\circ} C</math>}} of short-wave solar radiation back into space, cooling the Earth by around {{convert|12|C-change|abbr=on}}, an effect largely caused by [[stratocumulus cloud]]s. However, at the same time, they reflect around 30 watts per square meter of long-wave (infrared) [[black body radiation]] emitted by the Earth back to Earth's surface, heating the Earth by around {{convert|7|C-change|abbr=on}}&mdash;a process called the [[greenhouse effect]]. [[Cirrus cloud|Cirrus]] and altostratus clouds are the top two sources of this heating effect. This combination of heating and cooling sums out to a net loss of 20 watts per square meter globally, cooling the Earth by roughly {{convert|5|C-change|abbr=on}}.<ref name="cloud-heating">{{cite web |url=http://isccp.giss.nasa.gov/role.html|title=Cloud Climatology|work=International Satellite Cloud Climatology Program|publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration|access-date=12 July 2011}}</ref><ref name="CRE">{{cite web|url=https://www.gfdl.noaa.gov/cloud-radiative-effect/|title=Cloud Radiative Effect|publisher=National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration|website=Geophysical Fluid Dynamics Laboratory|access-date=29 March 2022}}</ref><ref name="Lecuyer-6213">{{harvnb|L'Ecuyer|Hang|Matus|Wang|2019|p=6213}}</ref><ref name="earthobs-global-warming">{{cite web|url=http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Features/GlobalWarming/|publisher=National Aeronautics and Space Administration|title=Global Warming: Feature Articles|access-date=29 March 2022|work=Earth Observatory|date=3 June 2010|last=Riebeek|first=Holli}}</ref>

Altostratus clouds are the only cloud genus besides cirrus clouds to exhibit a net global heating effect on Earth and its atmosphere; however, cirrus have a heating effect that is four times as potent as altostratus (2&nbsp;watts per square meter versus only 0.5&nbsp;watts per square meter).<ref>{{harvnb|L'Ecuyer|Hang|Matus|Wang|2019|p=6205}}</ref>