Climate Science Glossary

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All IPCC definitions taken from Climate Change 2007: The Physical Science Basis. Working Group I Contribution to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Annex I, Glossary, pp. 941-954. Cambridge University Press.

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	Climate's changed before
	It's the sun
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	It's cooling
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	Temp record is unreliable
	Animals and plants can adapt
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Examples of Cloud Feedback

Clouds have both a cooling effect and a warming effect on climate, depending on the type of cloud. Low level clouds have a net cooling effect because they are bright and reflect more sunlight, while high level clouds have a net warming effect because they trap more outgoing heat (infrared radiation). The overall "cloud feedback" in a warming world is difficult to predict because it depends on how the amount and properties of both low level and high level clouds will change.