- 1Department of Applied Physics and Applied Mathematics, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- 2NASA Goddard Institute for Space Studies, New York, NY, USA
- 3Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
- 4Lamont‐Doherty Earth Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, NY, USA
- 5Department of Meteorology and Geophysics, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria
- 6Atmospheric, Oceanic and Planetary Physics, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
Cloud responses to warming are a known uncertainty for temperature projections, yet how these same responses affect precipitation has been little evaluated. Here we explore how cloud radiative feedbacks influence the global mean precipitation change per degree of warming (hydrological sensitivity). With radiative kernels, we examine how warming-induced changes in cloud amount, altitude, and optical depth alter the atmosphere’s ability to radiatively cool and form precipitation. Our results suggest that high cloud responses are the single largest cause of spread in hydrological sensitivity across climate models. Applying the cloud locking methodology to one model, we find that cloud radiative responses reduce hydrological sensitivity by 14% and investigate the controls on this value.
How to cite: McGraw, Z., Polvani, L., Gasparini, B., Van de Koot, E., and Voigt, A.: Cloud Feedbacks Affect Hydrological Sensitivity, EGU General Assembly 2025, Vienna, Austria, 27 Apr–2 May 2025, EGU25-12505, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu25-12505, 2025.