Editing Cumulus cloud (section)

== Effects on climate ==
[[File:Anvil of Cumulonimbus and Cu con.JPG|thumb|right|''Cumulus congestus'' clouds compared against a cumulonimbus cloud in the background]]
Due to reflectivity, clouds cool the earth by around {{convert|12|C-change|abbr=on}}, an effect largely caused by stratocumulus clouds. However, at the same time, they heat the earth by around {{convert|7|C-change|abbr=on}} by reflecting emitted radiation, an effect largely caused by [[cirrus cloud]]s. This averages out to a net loss of {{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> Cumulus clouds, on the other hand, have a variable effect on heating the Earth's surface.<ref>{{cite web|title=Will Clouds Speed or Slow Global Warming?|publisher=National Science Foundation|url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/clouds/question.jsp|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130129231359/http://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/clouds/question.jsp|archive-date=29 January 2013|access-date=23 October 2012}}</ref> The more vertical ''cumulus congestus'' species and cumulonimbus genus of clouds grow high into the atmosphere, carrying moisture with them, which can lead to the formation of cirrus clouds. The researchers speculated that this might even produce a positive feedback, where the increasing upper atmospheric moisture further warms the earth, resulting in an increasing number of ''cumulus congestus'' clouds carrying more moisture into the upper atmosphere.<ref name="Nature384">{{harvnb|Del Genfo|Lacis|Ruedy|1991|p=384}}</ref>