Without clouds Earth could boil Venus-style

• Autores: Stephen Battersby
• Localización: New scientist, ISSN 0262-4079, Nº. 2928, 2013, pág. 9
• Idioma: inglés
• Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
• Resumen

  • Whether fluffy or ephemeral, clouds may not look like much of a protector. But without them, a new study suggests, Earth would be a lot like Venus with its evaporated seas and sweltering 460°C heat. A phenomenon known as the runaway greenhouse effect is thought to be responsible for the Venusian climate. This occurs when a critical rise in temperature evaporates more water from a planet's oceans, loading its atmosphere with water vapour. Water vapour is a potent greenhouse gas, so it absorbs thermal radiation from the sun-warmed surface, making things even hotter.