At any given moment, some 1800 of these clouds unleash thunderstorms around the planet. Much of the sun s heat goes to warm this up and turn it into water vapor. This vapor rises in the atmosphere to form clouds. It takes a lot of heat to turn water into vapor and when that vapor is released into clouds, all that heat is released. That may cause an inbalance in the cold higher atmosphere that clouds frequent.
Clouds affect the weather greatly.
Not only do they carry rain or snow, but they block out the sunshine, causing the cool weather during the day. At night, however, they prevent the earth s warmth from escaping into outer space. That is why a cloudy night sky is actually warmer than a clear night sky. Though man has recently attempted to manipulate the weather by seeding clouds to induce rain, he is still at the mercy of the clouds. All of his best laid plans can quickly be nullified with the release of the contents of a cumulonimbus.