Cloud feedback - Definition and Overview

Cloud feedback is the coupling between cloudiness and surface air temperature in which a change in surface temperature could lead to a change in clouds, which could then amplify or diminish the initial temperature perturbation.

For example, an increase in surface air temperature could increase evaporation; this in turn might increase the extent of cloud cover. Increased cloud cover would reduce the solar radiation reaching the Earth's surface, thereby lowering the surface temperature. This is an example of negative feedback and does not include the effects of longwave radiation or the advection in the oceans and the atmosphere, which must also be considered in the overall relationship of the climate system.