--- title: Climate Change: Clouds Aren't Helping as Much as We Thought description: The reflective power of clouds may be less effective at counteracting global warming than previously thought canonical: https://time.com/4287110/global-warming-climate-change-clouds/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-04-08T19:51:07.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T16:35:41.727Z article:section: Science og:title: Clouds Aren't Stopping Global Warming og:description: "Clouds do not seem to want to do us any favors" og:url: https://time.com/4287110/global-warming-climate-change-clouds/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3406de4d5f2e8616/69888e5a2dce0157cf9e8904/clouds-climate-change-global-warming.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: clouds climate change global warming og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Clouds Aren't Stopping Global Warming twitter:description: "Clouds do not seem to want to do us any favors" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3406de4d5f2e8616/69888e5a2dce0157cf9e8904/clouds-climate-change-global-warming.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Clouds Aren't Helping Stop Global Warming as Much as We Thought, Study Says  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 8, 2016 7:51 PM UTC  A winter storm clears along the mountains and hills of the Santa Ynez Valley on Jan. 8, 2016 in Santa Ynez, Calif. A winter storm clears along the mountains and hills of the Santa Ynez Valley on Jan. 8, 2016 in Santa Ynez, Calif.George Rose\_Getty Images  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Apr 8, 2016 7:51 PM UTC The reflective power of clouds may be less effective at counteracting global warming than previously thought, according to new [research](http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6282/224). Scientists behind the new research looked at clouds that contain both liquid and ice water, known as mixed-phase clouds. Most climate models suggest that clouds will better be able to reflect light into space as global warming speeds up the melting of ice water into a liquid in coming decades. Liquid water tends to reflect more light back into space than ice. But the new research, published in the journal _Science,_ suggests that most models overestimate how much ice currently exists in mixed-phase clouds. That finding could dramatically increase the forecast speed of temperature rise in the coming decades, with temperatures more than 1°C higher than anticipated in current models, according to the study. The finding suggests that it will be harder for countries from around the world to keep temperatures from rising less than 2°C (3.6°F) above preindustrial levels by 2100\. That’s the goal that countries agreed to at a [U.N. conference in Paris](http://time.com/4146764/paris-agreement-climate-cop-21/) in December. “The evidence is piling up against an overall stabilizing cloud feedback,” study co-author Mark Zelinka, of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, said in a statement. “Clouds do not seem to want to do us any favors when it comes to limiting global warming.” The study joins growing evidence in recent months suggesting that climate change may be more difficult to halt than scientists previously understood. [Research published last month](http://time.com/4277148/antarctica-sea-level-rise/) suggested that global sea levels could rise more than 3 feet due to Antarctic ice melt, much more than previously understood, and another [study](http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/4/e1501693) released this week in the journal _Science Advances_ suggests that man-made global warming may be so strong that it affects the way the earth sits on its axis. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4287110/global-warming-climate-change-clouds/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4287110/global-warming-climate-change-clouds/"},"headline":"Clouds Aren't Helping Stop Global Warming as Much as We Thought, Study Says","datePublished":"2016-04-08T19:51:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T16:35:41.727Z","description":"\"Clouds do not seem to want to do us any favors\"","url":"https://time.com/4287110/global-warming-climate-change-clouds/","keywords":["climate change"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3406de4d5f2e8616/69888e5a2dce0157cf9e8904/clouds-climate-change-global-warming.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3406de4d5f2e8616/69888e5a2dce0157cf9e8904/clouds-climate-change-global-warming.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"clouds climate change global warming","caption":"clouds climate change global warming","creditText":"George Rose_Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/climate-change/","name":"climate change"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4287110/global-warming-climate-change-clouds/","name":"Clouds Aren't Helping Stop Global Warming as Much as We Thought, Study Says"}}]}] ```