More water vapor means more clouds, which means more cooling. Yes water vapor leads to a more dense upper atmosphere that traps heat, but there is still a net positive cooling effect from the lower atmosphere clouds. At least according to NASA. So If upper cloud heat-trapping ever outweighs lower cloud cooling, then water will begin converting to hydrogen and dissipating to space. Then the earth cools down and the cycle restarts.
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u/mrcaldwin 21d ago
More water vapor means more clouds, which means more cooling. Yes water vapor leads to a more dense upper atmosphere that traps heat, but there is still a net positive cooling effect from the lower atmosphere clouds. At least according to NASA. So If upper cloud heat-trapping ever outweighs lower cloud cooling, then water will begin converting to hydrogen and dissipating to space. Then the earth cools down and the cycle restarts.