Aerosol‐Cloud Interactions: Overcoming a Barrier to Projecting Near‐Term Climate Evolution and Risk

Journal article

Plain Language Summary: Clouds have a big influence on Earth's climate. They affect how much sunlight is reflected or trapped, and how weather patterns form. But understanding clouds is very hard‐especially how they interact with tiny particles in the air called aerosols. These particles come from human activities and sources like wildfires, volcanoes. The way aerosols and clouds affect each other is one of the most uncertain parts of climate science. Because of this uncertainty, it's difficult to make accurate predictions about climate change and to give clear advice to decision‐makers. Scientists have made some progress in understanding aerosol‐cloud interactions, but more work is needed. With better tools, observations, and computer models, we can learn more over the next decade. However, because the climate is changing quickly and impacts are getting worse, we need faster action now. This summary explains the current knowledge on how aerosols and clouds interact, and why it's important to reduce the uncertainty. It also highlights what steps can help improve our understanding‐such as global collaboration and sharing knowledge between researchers, governments, and the public. Making faster progress in this area is key to better climate predictions, stronger climate policies, and lower risks for people and the planet.

Authors: Im, U; Samset, BH; Nenes, A; Thomas, JL; Kokkola, H

• Publication status: Published
• Peer review status: Peer reviewed
• Publisher: Wiley
• Journal: AGU Advances
• Volume: 7
• Issue: 1
• Article number: e2025AV001872
• Publication date: 2026-02-10
• Acceptance date: 2026-01-20
• DOI: 10.1029/2025av001872
• EISSN: 2576604X
• ISSN: 2576604X
• Language: English
• Keywords: radiative forcing; roadmap; Aerosol‐cloud interactions; extreme events; climate change impacts