They bounce much of the incoming sunshine back to the sun and they stabilize the climate, acting much like an automatic thermostat. Shaw speculates that clouds covering our Earth might act like the white daisies in the computer model by creating feedback loops that make sure our planet is covered at all times with a certain amount of cloud cover. Clouds bounce incoming solar radiation back toward the sun and keep the Earth's surface cool enough for life to exist here. Phytoplankton, microscopic organisms living in the ocean that represent most of the living mass on Earth, may be part of the negative feedback loop that keeps the world from burning up, Shaw said. As the climate gets warmer, he explained, so does the ocean.
Phytoplankton thrive in warmer temperatures, reproducing at amazing rates.
They emit sulfur gas that converts to aerosols, or fine particles. The aerosols serve as condensation nuclei for water vapor to cling to, and clouds are born. Shaw said there are many other systems affecting global climate, but thinks systems such as the relationship of phytoplankton to cloud formation may be the key to the Earth's amazing ability to cover itself with a fairly constant layer of clouds, and thereby regulate its own temperature, at least so far. And any deviation from a natural state could result in extreme worldwide warming or cooling, creating conditions that ultimately could be disastrous for life on Earth, including both daisies and human beings.