It\u2019s midday, and the sun is high in the sky, a natural cyan canvas peppered with puffy, cauliflower-shaped clouds. With little warning, the clouds cluttering the horizon start to vanish before your eyes. Not long after, the world begins to darken, as the golden orb that sustains life on Earth swiftly disappears from view. <\/p>\n
For the entirety of that sliver of time when the moon passes between Earth and the sun, blocking the star\u2019s rays and causing it to disappear momentarily for those best positioned to bear witness to the rare phenomenon, those fluffy, white masses will stay gone \u2014 reforming only once the sun has made its triumphant return. <\/p>\n
That\u2019s at least what scientists expect to take place in swaths of Mexico, Canada and the United States during April 8\u2019s total solar eclipse. If weather permits, those living in the 49 US states where a partial eclipse is expected could also spot some clouds vanishing. <\/p>\n
Related article<\/span> Fake eclipse glasses are hitting the market. Here\u2019s how to tell if you have a pair<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n During an eclipse, shallow cumulus clouds start dissipating in large proportions when only a fraction of the sun is covered, and they don\u2019t reform until the end of the event, according to a study published February 12 in the journal Nature Communications Earth & Environment. The findings also suggest the phenomenon may have implications for sun-obscuring climate solutions such as solar geoengineering. <\/p>\n But this doesn\u2019t mean your vantage point of the forthcoming eclipse is guaranteed to be cloud-free as the research isn\u2019t applicable to all clouds \u2014 only the shallow cumulus kind found hovering over land. <\/p>\n \u201cThose are the low, patchy, puffy clouds that you normally find on a sunny day,\u201d said Victor Trees, a doctoral candidate in the department of geoscience and remote sensing at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands, who led the study. \u201cIf you see those puffy clouds during eclipse day, then have a close look, because they might disappear.\u201d <\/p>\n Low-level cumulus clouds begin to disappear in large numbers over cooling land surfaces when just 15% of the sun is covered, the new paper revealed. Although awareness of the phenomenon isn\u2019t new, according to the study authors, the evidence to back it up and provide clarity around timing is. <\/p>\n \u201cPeople have seen this before from the ground. \u2026 If you\u2019re standing on the Earth\u2019s surface, you can count the clouds and then you can watch them disappear,\u201d Trees said. <\/p>\n Related article<\/span> Whether you\u2019re using a fancy camera or a smartphone, here\u2019s how to take great eclipse photos<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n But it was never known from what precise moment the clouds began reacting to the obstruction of sunlight, he added. \u201cThat is very difficult to determine when you\u2019re standing on the Earth\u2019s surface, because the clouds are constantly changing shape and size.\u201d <\/p>\n That\u2019s why Trees and his colleagues decided to study them from above using satellites. Satellites measure the sunlight reflected by Earth, and from the reflected sunlight, scientists can derive properties of clouds. But prior, similar research never took the moon\u2019s shadow during an eclipse into account, Trees explained \u2014 a necessary step to be able to analyze clouds that were otherwise hidden inside the shadow of the moon. <\/p>\n The research team focused on data collected during three solar eclipses that took place over Africa between 2005 and 2016. They discovered that cumulus clouds dissipate during eclipses because of the relationship between solar radiation and the formation processes of the clouds. <\/p>\n During an eclipse, the surface cools rapidly from the moon\u2019s shadow blocking the sunlight, Trees explained, preventing warm air from rising from Earth\u2019s surface \u2014 a core ingredient in the formation of cumulus clouds. That rising air process leading to the production of clouds usually takes roughly 15 to 20 minutes, according to simulations. <\/p>\n This means that even if you see those clouds vanishing when the sun is already partially obscured by the moon, the origin of this effect was already initiated. <\/p>\n \u201cWhen there\u2019s still plenty of light outside, and people commonly do not realize the solar eclipse is happening, the clouds already are changing,\u201d Trees said, noting that when there\u2019s only minimal obscuration, the atmosphere is already affected. <\/p>\n \u201cAnd then, with a delay, you see it in the clouds.\u201d <\/p>\n Far more than masses of water droplets that drift across our skies, clouds are indispensable elements in our atmosphere. Not only are they an essential part of the water cycle, but they also help control Earth\u2019s energy balance and influence the planet\u2019s climate. <\/p>\n Shallow cumulus clouds, in particular, serve a critical function. These boundary-layer clouds, or clouds in the lowest part of the atmosphere most impacted by Earth\u2019s surface, are widespread across the globe and the world\u2019s oceans, occurring sporadically year-round. They don\u2019t tend to produce rain, but certain conditions can facilitate their growth into cloud forms that do. They are also very effective in reflecting sunlight back to space. <\/p>\n Related article<\/span> Will weather spoil your eclipse view? Here\u2019s an early look<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Shallow cumulus clouds are among the better understood clouds, in part because they are low-altitude liquid clouds, according to Jake Gristey, a research scientist at the Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, or CIRES, at the University of Colorado Boulder who studies the relationship between shallow cumulus clouds and solar radiation. <\/p>\n \u201cThe reason that this study focuses on shallow cumulus clouds is because the sunlight reaching (Earth\u2019s) surface really has a direct impact on the evolution of these particular types of clouds in a way that is not the case for other types of clouds,\u201d said Gristey, who was not involved with the paper. <\/p>\n Typically, as the sun comes up in the morning, the intensity of the sunlight increases and that causes the temperature of the land surface to increase. The warmer land then heats up the near surface air directly above it, and that results in the air rising in an updraft, where it expands and condenses to form the clouds. They often persist throughout the afternoon before dissipating in the evening when the sun goes down. <\/p>\n An eclipse presents an opportunity that \u201cdoesn\u2019t really occur under other circumstances\u201d to study the impact of rapid change in sunlight intensity on clouds that are driven by solar heating, Gristey said. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s important that we\u2019re able to understand the processes that (cause) these clouds to form and persist as they\u2019re a key component in the climate system,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n Related article<\/span> Why the 2024 eclipse will be a different experience from 2017<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n But what exactly shallow cumulus clouds\u2019 role is when it comes to the rapidly warming climate remains a long-standing subject of uncertainty in the scientific community. Throw an eclipse into the mix, and things get more complicated. <\/p>\n \u201cThere are a lot of things we don\u2019t know regarding clouds, regarding their behavior and evolution during the eclipse,\u201d said Kevin Knupp, a professor in the department of atmospheric and earth science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville who was also not involved with the study. <\/p>\n What\u2019s new and noteworthy about the paper, Knupp noted, is that it\u2019s using more data to establish the relationship between the eclipse-induced cooling and reduction in cloud cover. <\/p>\n The new findings on the high sensitivity of shallow cumulus clouds to an eclipse-driven decrease in solar radiation call for more research on proposed solar geoengineering techniques, noted study coauthor Stephan de Roode, an associate professor at Delft University of Technology. <\/p>\n \u201cWe should actually ask whether geoengineering techniques, which intend to diminish the solar radiation over much longer time-scales, could potentially lead to changes in global cloud patterns,\u201d said de Roode, who studies the effect of global warming on clouds. <\/p>\n Scientists have spent decades studying how to best tackle the idea of decreasing the planet\u2019s temperature through solar geoengineering techniques \u2014 one of the world\u2019s most controversial climate solutions. Diminishing cloud cover could be an unexpected consequence of some of the main techniques that would aim to obscure the sun, according to the authors behind the new paper.\u00a0 <\/p>\n \u201cIf you diminish the solar radiation by, say, a certain fraction, then the effective fraction of solar radiation that you receive at the ground surface will actually be more than you have been anticipating because you have less clouds,\u201d de Roode said. <\/p>\n \u201cThat means that more solar radiation can reach the ground surface, despite the fact that you\u2019re trying to diminish the amount of radiation by geoengineering techniques,\u201d he said, adding that this feedback effect could make such techniques \u201cless efficient.\u201d <\/p>\n Related article<\/span> Some perplexing animal mysteries stumped scientists during the 2017 eclipse. Here\u2019s why<\/span> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Others are not so sure. \u201cI think we have to be a bit careful. There is probably a lot more work that\u2019s needed to connect the results of their study to geoengineering proposals,\u201d CIRES\u2019 Gristey said. <\/p>\n One piece of this research that the study does acknowledge needs further investigation is the \u201cvery different timescales involved,\u201d when comparing the duration of an eclipse to several proposed solar geoengineering methods, Gristey added. \u201cFor example, even if aerosols are injected into the stratosphere \u2026 those aerosols will persist in the stratosphere for much longer than a couple of hours that we see with the solar eclipse,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n De Roode hopes those across North America gearing up for the next solar eclipse remember to keep an eye out for any vanishing low-lying cumulus clouds. Even some of the millions of people outside of the eclipse\u2019s path of totality may be able to spot the disappearing clouds the day of \u2014 weather and geographic conditions permitting. <\/p>\n \u201cI hope that people will all take a curious look up into the skies during the eclipse to see if what we found for Africa, the disappearance of the shallow cumulus clouds, whether Americans also observe this in their country,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s such a spectacular phenomenon.\u201d <\/p>\n Ayurella Horn-Muller<\/em>\u00a0has reported for Axios and Climate Central.\u00a0She is the author of \u201cDevoured: The Extraordinary Story of Kudzu, the Vine That Ate the South.\u201d <\/em> <\/p>\n\n It\u2019s midday, and the sun is high in the sky, a natural cyan canvas peppered with puffy, cauliflower-shaped clouds. With little warning, the clouds cluttering the horizon start to vanish before your eyes. Not long after, the world begins to darken, as the golden orb that sustains life on Earth swiftly disappears from view. For <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":17440,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-17439","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17439","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17439"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17439\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17439"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17439"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shareperformanceinsight.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17439"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}} Eclipse effect<\/h3>\n
\u2018Key component in the climate system\u2019<\/h3>\n
Climate geoengineering controversy<\/h3>\n