A cloud feedback is a climate change feedback where some aspects of cloud characteristics are altered due to climate change, and these changes then further affect the Earth's energy balance. On their own, clouds are already an important part of the climate system, as they consist of liquid droplets and ice particles, which absorb infrared radiation and reflect visible solar radiation. Clouds at low altitudes have a stronger cooling effect, and those at high altitudes have a stronger warming effect. Altogether, clouds make the Earth cooler than it would have been without them.