Climate forcings

The term climate forcing or “radiative forcing” has been used in a specific technical meaning, to denote an externally imposed perturbation in the radiative energy budget of Earth’s climate system, which may lead to changes in climate parameters. In affect these are forces that change climate but are not affected by climate. The sun or a volcanic erruption are examples. Contrast that with clouds. They can change the climate but are also affected by the variation of water vapor.\

A positive climate forcing is a warming of the climate and a negative is a cooling