Abstract The response of marine low‐cloud mesoscale morphologies to climate change and emission reductions remains poorly understood. Here, we link long‐term trends in six cloud morphologies to variations in large‐scale meteorology and aerosols. The trends show strong spatial heterogeneity, with closed and disorganized mesoscale cellular convection decreasing in the Northeast Pacific and Southeast Atlantic. We develop a deep learning model (UMorNet) to predict instantaneous cloud morphologies from meteorology and cloud droplet number concentration (Nd), a proxy for aerosols. UMorNet achieves an average test accuracy of 0.55 and captures spatial patterns of climatology and long‐term trends. Out‐of‐sample test with a marine heatwave event further demonstrates the model’s performance. Sensitivity experiments identify Nd, marine cold‐air outbreak index, sea surface temperature, and inversion strength as key drivers. Different responses of clustered Cu and suppressed Cu to Nd was identified. These findings highlight the potential role of aerosols in shaping cloud morphological changes.
Observations from the Little Bunker
Last updated: February 24, 2026 10:22 PM
Atmospheric CO₂
429.9 ppm
+17.3
ppm/year
Atmospheric CH₄
1946.47 ppb
+6.49
ppb/year
Global Temperature
+1.48 °C
Peak: +1.73°C
World Population
8.1 billion
+67
million/year