Question

What are the significance of clouds?

Answer 1

1. A large amount of water evaporates each day from the surface of the sea.
2. This is the principal source of atmospheric moisture.
3. Cool moisture-laden air gets collected around particles like dust, salt content from the sea, smoke, etc., and forms clouds.
4. Sometimes mixing of warmer and cooler air also produces clouds.
5. A visible mass of condensed water vapor floating in the air above the ground level is called a cloud.
6. The three layers of the atmosphere such as troposphere, stratosphere, and mesosphere are specific locations of clouds.
7. According to their height, clouds are classified into the following types
   1. High clouds – (6 – 20 km height)
   2. Middle clouds (2.5 km – 6 km)
   3. Low clouds (Ground surface to 2.5 km height)
8. These major types of clouds are further divided into different types, based on their shape and structure.
9. Clouds reflect a large amount of radiation from the earth's surface.
10. This prevents the entry of heat into the earth’s surface.
11. So, in areas generally of a cloudless sky, like the deserts, the temperature is very high.
12. On the other hand, on a cloudy day, the temperature is low.