Clouds in Earth's atmosphere can be composed of liquid droplets, ice crystals, or a combination of the two. Clouds’ thermodynamic phase is largely controlled by temperature, but other factors can also have a significant effect. Aerosols—i.e., particles suspended in Earth's atmosphere—affect cloud properties differently depending on cloud phase and can potentially have a strong influence on climate via any cloud type. Aerosol-cloud-climate interactions have been a topic of active research for more than two decades, but these interactions nevertheless currently represent one of the most uncertain forcings of climate change over the past century. Most research to date has focused on how aerosols can impact climate via liquid clouds, which are better understood and observed than their ice-containing counterparts. Thus, the problem of how liquid clouds mediate aerosols’ effects on climate is a more tractable one. However, there is no a priori reason to think that mixed-phase and ice clouds are any less affecte...

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通过混合相云和冰云对气候的气溶胶影响

地球大气层中的云可以由液滴、冰晶或两者的组合组成。云的热力学阶段在很大程度上受温度控制，但其他因素也会产生显着影响。气溶胶——即悬浮在地球大气中的颗粒——根据云相的不同对云的特性产生不同的影响，并且可能通过任何云类型对气候产生强烈的影响。气溶胶-云-气候相互作用已成为二十多年来活跃研究的主题，但这些相互作用目前代表了过去一个世纪气候变化最不确定的强迫之一。迄今为止，大多数研究都集中在气溶胶如何通过液态云影响气候，这比含冰的同类产品更容易理解和观察。因此，液态云如何调节气溶胶对气候的影响是一个更容易处理的问题。然而，没有先验的理由认为混合相和冰云的影响会更小……