Gregarious convection and radiative feedbacks in idealized worlds

What role does convection play in cloud feedbacks? What role does convective aggregation play in climate? A flurry of recent studies explores “self-aggregation” of moist convection in diverse simulations using explicit convection and interactive radiation. The implications involve upper level dry areas acting as infrared windows—the climate system's “radiator fins.” A positive feedback maintains these: dry columns undergo radiative cooling which drives descent and further drying. If the resulting clumpiness of vapor and cloud fields depends systematically on global temperature, then convective organization could be a climate system feedback. How reconcilable and how relevant are these interesting but idealized studies?.