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Jost Heintzenberg

Jost Heintzenberg is Professor and Chair in Physics of the Atmosphere at the University of Leipzig and Director of the Leibniz-Institute for Tropospheric Research, Leipzig.

Titles by This Editor

Clouds in the Perturbed Climate System

Their Relationship to Energy Balance, Atmospheric Dynamics, and Precipitation
Edited by Jost Heintzenberg and Robert J. Charlson

More than half the globe is covered by visible clouds. Clouds control major parts of the Earth's energy balance, influencing both incoming shortwave solar radiation and outgoing longwave thermal radiation. Latent heating and cooling related to cloud processes modify atmospheric circulation, and, by modulating sea surface temperatures, clouds affect the oceanic circulation. Clouds are also an essential component of the global water cycle, on which all terrestrial life depends.