Special Report - Climate Research - From Science to Society
Clouds help clear up global warming questions Is Earth's climate
really changing? Climate researchers have answered this question
with a resounding "Yes!" It is widely accepted that Earth's
temperature will rise two to three degrees Celsius over the next
50 years if current fossil fuel emissions continue to grow at
their present rate. The next question is how this warming trend
will affect the climate—particularly water resources.
Researchers at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are working
to answer this and other questions related to physical climate
change by developing a better understanding of clouds, which can
be used to improve global climate models. "Climate change will
affect us first and foremost in water resources," said Tom
Ackerman, who is the chief scientist of the Atmospheric
Radiation Measurement Program, ARM. "To understand how we will
be affected and to move forward, we must be able to understand
clouds." ARM was created by the